German 4' x 9.5' layout

[el Gato Gordo]

For a change of pace, allow me to show my German layout, which I have dubbed the Rheinland Bayern Bahn. It is modern, Eras V & VI, mostly passenger service. Here is the track plan:



The lower levels are representative of the Rhein River valley. The upper center & left represent Bavaria, and the upper right is in honor of friends who have a vacation home in the Black Forest. Underneath is a U-Bahnhof, an underground train station: the Frankfurt Airport has two levels - one for local & regional trains and one for express service. Here is the Hauptbahnhof:



Here is my waterfront. The Faller bus system makes a route stopping at the KD Tour Boat dock, the Hauptbahnhof, the Rathaus (City Hall) in the upper town, and back to the Hauptbahnhof and thence to the docks:


I particularly enjoy detail. While the gentleman is checking out the wine selection, the lady is checking out the gentleman's derriere:


And finally (for now) a Thalys TGV and and ICE 3, both capable of 320 kph (200 mph) setting in my U-Bahnhof. Since this is my staging area I chose not to run catenary. The catenary on the rest of the layout is for looks and is not functional.



Cheers! Time to chill some beer -
Gordon

[Mobile One]

Very nice. It's a lot to take in. While I'm not familiar with Non-American railroads, I like seeing them in layout form to see what the rest of the world is doing. We certainly need more of it here on this site. Thanks for sharing!

[ChicagoNW]

Really intense layout.

Sorry to hear it is only partially powered. Running European equipment you have the advantage that most of it is already set up to use the overhead.

I would love to see more photos. The layout seems jam packed with lots of interesting vignettes.

[ike8120]

Great looking layout, nice work

[el Gato Gordo]

Thank you all! Here are a few more details. Faller's Lichtenstein Castle is said to be N scale, but on completion I felt is was closer to Z. I had a house on the layout that was true N, and it seemed way out of proportion to the castle. What to do? I removed it and installed this formal garden:



In about 1890, a Dr. Schreber, of Leipzig, proposed a use for the waste ground around railroads. He felt that city folks needed a healthy outlet, such as gardening, and proposed leasing small plots of land to city dwellers. Today Germans living in apartments can have a small garden house and plot of land - Schrebergarten or Kleingarten as they are known:



Cheers, amigos!
Gordon

[el Gato Gordo]

One of my many favorite beers is Landwehrbräu. The prototype brewery doesn't resemble this, but in Germany the brewing kettles are usually copper, which you can see inside. Outside, the supervisor distracted the forklift operator, who backed into a stack of kegs.


At shows, kids love the house fire scene. They can push a button and it activates the fire, smoke, emergency vehicle strobes and siren sound, for 35 seconds:



Bavarian friends of ours inherited a 10 room Gasthaus in the Black Forest, which they are turning into their vacation home. After visiting them, I carved this replica of their house from foam:


So, one fine August day during our visit my friends insist we are hike up the mountain. Four miles. Hot (for Germany). But at the end of the trail is a Biergarten and hot tub, which I also replicated in foam:


Cheers!
Gordon

[ScottL]

Fantastic layout! I love the idea of the U-bahn as another element.

I've been slowly collecting items for a modern layout in Brandenberg or Berlin- the German trains are irresistible to me. Maybe someday I will build it.

[el Gato Gordo]

Thanks, Scott, and everyone for the encouraging words! I used to have one of those oversized HO layouts (American ), but after riding the trains in Europe on several vacations I fell in love with modern German passenger service. The HO layout has been sold and now I spend my efforts on this one.

Cheers,
Gordon

[migalyto]

Looks like time well spent!!!! Great looking layout you have there!!

[ScottL]

Gordon, that is what has happened to me. I have been visiting Germany for work over the past ten years and love the trains.

[dave68124]

Gordon - See you are in the Springs. Did you have this layout up at the Denver train show a few months back? If this is the same layout, I recall you misplacing your iPad and using your phone as the controls. If so, I thought you had the best layout in the place.

Trying to get a sense of your vertical height between the front and the back. Send more pics if you would please. Also in the phase of buying European rail stuff and hope to have a smaller German based layout someday.

[el Gato Gordo]

Yes, Dave, I did show the layout at the Rocky Mountain Train Show at the Merchandise Mart last December. I was too busy to get much of a look at the other layouts, but my wife & I both thought the HOe (?) by the guys at Caboose was spectacular. it was a modular layout that was seamless between sections, which is quite an accomplishment.

My room at the Ramada was burglarized Sunday morning. My clothes, hat (!!!!!), a couple of trains, and the tablets that I use to control the Z21 digital system were stolen. I had to run the trains from my S5 phone all day. All of my stuff, including my hat (unstained) were recovered by the end of the day. By the way, we will be exhibiting at the Rocky mountain Train Show at the Forney Transportation Museum July 30&31. Don't know if we will stay overnight due to horse care.

The upper deck is 7" (17,5 cm) above the main deck. I used a 2 1/2 turn helix at 4% slope on the right side, then got lazy and did a 1/2 turn at 5 1/2% on the left to get the altitude. None of my Euro-trains have trouble with the grade - hooray for traction tires! So, Dave, I took this pic just for you.



In the following street scene we have a couple of guys hanging out at the fountain trying to pick up the two chicks on the left. I'm an incurable romantic. In the background are folks enjoying glasses of Rhein Wein at the local Weinstube. I really need to work on getting the stemware a tiny bit smaller:



So far as I know, there is one other person in Colorado Springs doing German N scale, and one in Pueblo West. We should all get together at a brewery for a chat!

Cheers!
Gordon

[dave68124]

Thanks. Have to look to make a trip to Forney and say hello. Great looking layout and my daughter talked about your layout the rest of the show.

[CHUCKGEO]

Looks great. European layouts are always interesting. In-Laws are from Munchen (Bavaria) so I'm familiar with landscape from vacations. Plus I was a member of the Denver Area N Scale Club at the old Forney Transportation Museum in the early 80s.

[el Gato Gordo]

STOP! Do not scroll down if you are under 18 years of age......



And for the prurient.....



Don't say I didn't warn you.... (and I sincerely hope I've offended no one - please delete if this violates forum rules).

Cheers!
Gordon

[dave68124]

Always like someone with a sense of humor.

[YellowBeard]

Gordon, that is AWESOME!!! love the humor big time!

[Maurice]

Amazing layout, quite interesting and entertaining. Would enjoy seeing any videos of it in operation. BTW That looks like an American Ladder truck fighting that fire. That is some long distance mutual aid!.
Thank you for posting.
Cheers.

[ChicagoNW]

That lady in the bedroom was very popular when she and her friends came out. At the shows they were hard to find. Not because of what they were doing but they sold out, very fast. Do you remember who made them?

[el Gato Gordo]

Noch makes 3 versions: bed, office, chair.