eisenbahnstudio

Here I am starting a blog about my hobby – model railroading in PROTO:87. I have never blogged in my life, so bear with me as I figure this WordPress thing out.

The posts will be a loose succession of updates on various projects that I hope will be enjoyable and informative at the same time.

And while we are talking about getting started, let me outline how I ended up involved with PROTO:87 in the first place.

The railroad bug had bitten me as a child in the early 80s, and I remember lying awake at night thinking how I would set up my H0 starter kit. I must have pestered my parents about it enough so that in 1985, I did get my first used Märklin set. It so happened that an acquaintance of my father was selling his Märklin M-track layout and thus I was well underway to building my model railroad in the basement – with steam engines, diesels, catenary and all!

I was tinkering and reworking the layout over the years making first attempts to get closer to the prototype by repainting structures, weathering engines and cars and even attempting to model catenary with fine wire – an attempt that failed miserably.

Starting in the early 90s, my interests changed somewhat, and I didn’t return to model railroading until the fall of 2004 when my then girlfriend  - and now wife  - noticed how my eyes lit up in the train department of a Stuttgart toy store while on a visit to Germany. It quickly became clear that Märklin was not going to be good enough anymore – I just couldn’t get past the unrealistic contacts in the center of the rails and the steep prices of Märklin rolling stock and accessories.

For a long time, I had favored Roco rolling stock over Märklin and was the proud owner of several such engines –  even during my early Märklin days. Now I felt ready to make the switch for good. Along with my first purchases, I found out about RP-25 wheels and started converting my growing collection.

While getting deeper and deeper into the hobby, I rediscovered FREMO, the European railroad club known for its big modular layouts and prototypical operation. I remembered that their concept had fascinated me even when reading Ivo Cordes’ articles in Eisenbahn Magazin back in the 80s.

I became a FREMO member in 2006, and having moved back to Germany, I looked for a FREMO faction that fit my preferences. After attending an H0-fine meeting, I thought, when you change your wheels and super every car anyway, why not go all the way and do it in PROTO:87, or H0pur® as it is called in Germany? So joining FREMO:87 – the club’s PROTO:87 group – just seemed right for me.

It has been a great couple of years, and model railroading has never been more challenging and fun!