eisenbahnstudio

It is customary that FREMO groups keep inventory of engines and cars. The main reason being that each piece of rolling stock needs to have a unique number. This is not only true to the prototype but also avoids confusion during operating sessions. When a member wants to register a newly acquired model, he emails the particular number to the list keeper.

The list keeper of the FREMO:87 group recently changed and the new admin suggested a few additional data sets including a quality score to added to the list.

Introducing a quality score

This quality score, which is assigned by the rolling stock owners themselves, is supposed to encourage the continued improvement of models and has three levels:

I think introducing a quality score is a great idea but I am not sure if three levels are enough to accurately represent the varying degrees of detailing.

My proposed scoring system

Instead, I am proposing a 10 point system in which a point is awarded for each addition.

• Spring-loaded buffers, basic PROTO:87 wheels, unique number and original couplers (the bare minimum)
• Brake hose
• Etched or wire grab handles
• Cast or echted steps
• Brake lines and cylinder
• Brake shoes with hanging gear
• Etched axle holders with cast bearings or scale bogie/truck
• Scale frame
• PROTO:87 wheels with prototypical wheel contour
• Weathering

Looking at my current PIKO Tds926 project it would score six out of ten once it is weathered. A fully assembled and weathered brass kit would most likely score ten out of ten.

Summary

I think my system has three distinct advantages:

• It makes less of a distinction between ready to run models that have been supered and complete brass kits.
• It focuses more on the effort of the modeler who spend a considerable amount of time and money on detailing their rolling stock.
• It is flexible and can be easily adapted because it doesn’t try to categorize models by attributes.

Your turn

What do you think about my system? Do you have suggestions for improvement? I am looking forward to your comments.

The past year has been a good one and was packed with life-changing events. My wife and I decided to leave Germany and move back to the United States. We both found good jobs and have settled into a nice little apartment on Manhattan’s west side.

I am also grateful for my Eisenbahnstudio readers who come back again and again, read the RSS feed, subscribe to the email updates or follow Eisenbahnstudio on Twitter . Over time, this blog has developed a small but faithful following that I hope will continue to grow in 2010.

But before I start talking about the new year, let’s review 2009 here on the Eisenbahnstudio blog…

The most popular posts

In terms of pageviews, the following five posts were the most popular among readers in 2009. If you missed any of them, review them at your convenience.

Working with TurboCAD Mac Deluxe – The most important features to learn in order to start working in 3D with TurboCAD.

Rail 2009 PROTO:87 Convention – My report from the inspiring PROTO:87 event in Houten, Netherlands.

My new macro photo studio – First pictures from my macro photo studio.

Benchwork for my FREMO project – An overview of the module set-up of the Fessenheim project.

Assembling Weinert’s original coupler - Instructions for optimizing the coupler for operation.

How readers found Eisenbahnstudio

One of the things I find most fascinating about managing a website or blog is looking at the keywords that visitors use to find the site. I went to Google Analytics, exported the keywords and made a tag cloud to visualize how individual keywords rank in searches.

2009 Eisenbahnstudio keyword cloud.*

Overall, the keywords focus around topics that are representative of what I write about. I expected words such as proto, fremo and related keywords to be represented prominently. To my surprise, a high number of searches included the word marklin, which brought a sizable number of visitors to Eisenbahnstudio. This makes me wonder if I should consider not using this brand name on the blog because I imagine that many visitors looking for Märklin-related content will be disappointed.

What’s in store for 2010

Settled into a new apartment and job, I intend to spend more time modeling and reporting on my projects – possibly including US prototypes.

The interview series with other prototype modelers will continue, and I plan to write more about general prototype modeling topics, report on community events and share PROTO:87 industry news.

If you are interested in anything in particular or have suggestions on specific PROTO:87 topics, please leave me a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

*Image created by the Wordle.net web application.

H0pur® / PROTO:87 rolling stock is usually hard to find on eBay, but this week I noticed a few of them. While they are not particularly interesting to me, you may want to check out franzburg’s items on eBay Germany if you are a fan of the DB post-war era.

On the one hand, it’s always a little sad when you see a fellow PROTO:87 colleague give up their collection to pursue other interests, but on the other hand these are also great opportunities to add another piece of motive power or car to your collection – some maybe even for a good price. Let the bidding begin…

At the beginning of the month, I attended the Rail 2009 PROTO:87 Convention in Houten, Netherlands. FREMO:87 participated with a small, yet large enough layout to demonstrate prototypical operation with timetable and fast clock. This was a special occasion for us as we normally do not set up layouts in public and because we exhibited at a train convention for the first time ever.

A passenger train stopping at Hölle station on the FREMO:87 layout.

Even though the group was quite busy keeping the layout running at all times, there was ample time to get to know and exchange ideas with fellow proto modelers from throughout Europe. Personally, I was very impressed by the high level of detailing that was shown in many of the French and British layouts. It was inspiring to see how much care went into modeling even the smallest scene that could be easily overlooked at first glance.

A scene from a French PROTO:87 industrial layout.

Module showcasing various track parts available from CLUB PROTO 87.

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!