Press release from 23.01.2025: Introducing the model railroad layouts for Faszination Modellbahn Mannheim 2025!
Track II m (G): Sauerland segment layout + alternate connection point HilMa
The core of the layout is a prototypical roll car layout that demonstrates the transfer of standard gauge freight cars to narrow gauge roll cars.
The motifs are based on the Plettenberg and Hohenlimburger Kleinbahn in the Sauerland region. This includes a small depot with a two-track wooden locomotive shed for the narrow-gauge traction units, behind which the new fiddleyard adjoins as a stabling facility for train compositions.
In addition, another station layout (Elsemühle station) with transfer facilities and some sidings is shown. There is also a sand drying shed and a storage shed of a railroad maintenance depot.
A special eye-catcher is the three-rail turnout with an additional threading out of the meter gauge. The turnouts installed within the elaborately designed road surfaces are designed as prototypical road turnouts.
In addition, the Sauerland segment layout is supplemented by a standard-gauge layout section called “Awanst HilMa” (HilMa alternate connection point), newly built by Gerhard Seelbach.
Operator: IG Spur II Wolf Groote & Gerhard Seelbach, D-58840 Plettenberg
Size: 21 x 6.5 m
Track 2m (G): Kleintal Birkenmoor
The layout shown consists of two parts, part 1 is a part of the LGB Freunde Rhein/Sieg club, part 2 is a part of a layout of a club member from Neu-Ulm.
The Kleintal layout is located in Phantasieland on the North Sea coast, in the immediate vicinity of the sea. A small interurban station in the village of Kleinbach on a meter-gauge narrow-gauge railroad forms the center of the layout.
From Kleinbach you can reach a small railroad depot or the passenger and freight trains can reach the next village “Birkenmoor”. Here you reach a small, 2-track station on a partially electrified, meter-gauge small railroad with its surroundings. The station has a small locomotive station with a shed and a wagon ramp for loading standard-gauge freight wagons. Various sidings for goods handling are served around the station: a factory with its own wagon turntable and the rest of a field railway siding as well as a fall platform for ballast with a field railway siding. In addition, a freight port with a functioning loading crane is connected to the station.
At Birkenmoor there is also a pier for a ferry and typical narrow gauge freight and passenger trains as well as a small railcar run on the layout. Various locomotives run in shunting service in the Birkenmoor section of the layout.
The entire system is digitally controlled.
Operator: Club der LGB-Freunde Rhein/Sieg, 41239 Mönchengladbach
System size: 21 x 3 m
Gauge 1 and 1e: Narrow gauge traffic in the Jagst valley with rolling stock traffic
The combined 1 and 1e gauge layout recreates the narrow gauge operation with rolling stock traffic in the Jagst valley from Dörzbach to the sugar factory on a fictitious standard gauge line.
The passenger service ends in Dörzbach and starts in a fictitious station with a three-rail track. Dörzbach station is a faithful replica of the original. The narrow-gauge line passes the Berlichingen bulkhead works and a warehouse. Here, as in Bieringen in the Jagst valley, G-wagons have to be transferred from the rolling stock to a standard-gauge track for loading and unloading.
This standard gauge track is only used for loading and unloading in front of the warehouse. This procedure was necessary because the Jagsttalbahn had too few rolling blocks. To make matters worse, a country road crosses the standard and narrow-gauge tracks between the rolling stock pits. This situation is also recreated. Beet wagons loaded along the line are taken to a sugar factory via another pit and emptied there. This sugar factory has a complete interior, and molasses wagons, sugar wagons and wagons from sugar factory customers are shunted on the access road.
Operator: Pi`s Modellbahnfreunde, 74613 Öhringen
Builder: Thomas Pauli. Construction time so far over 10 years.
System size: 14 x 6 m
Track 1: Tinplate toys from Nuremberg 100 years ago
The Friends of the Freinsheim/Pfalz Toy Museum (Bing Museum) present a rare 1-gauge layout from the years 1900-1928. The models are mainly from Bing and Bub.
The layout impresses with its large suspension bridge with a length of 2.2 m and 2 circles with long trains! Some trains run with real steam. Streetcars and rack railroads are shown inside! Many technical gadgets can be triggered by visitors with buttons, such as the level crossing, the guard coming out of the house, the dispatcher raising the flag, etc.
There is also a roller coaster and funfair models on display, all in operation, some powered by Sterling motors.
Another highlight is a train depot with a turntable! The presentation is decorated with historical trees, bushes and tinplate buildings
Operator: Freinsheim Toy Museum, 67251 Freinsheim
System size: 11 x 2.5 m
Track 0: Gate 4 operating diorama
The model railroad layout is an operating diorama in gauge 0.
The subject is a subordinate single-track factory connection with shunting facilities and a terminus of the aforementioned single-track branch line.
Shunting takes place by means of 4 points and a crossing either into the factory building or the double track connection for liquids of various types.
This module will demonstrate that even in 0-gauge with little space, extensive driving operations can be represented in an exemplary landscape.
In terms of era, the layout is in the style of the late sixties of the last century on DB tracks. The attached fiddleyard provides for varied train operation.
Operator: Spur H Nuller Willich, 47877 Willich
System size: 8 x 2 m
Track 0: Merzebach
Merzebach is a German fantasy model railroad from Era III.
A village with a station was built on the right-hand side of the layout. The station yard consists of an entrance track, a segment turntable, a shunting track, a loading and unloading track for the furniture factory and a track to the furniture factory.
From the station, the train crosses a bridge over the level crossing through a rural landscape past a farm towards Fiddleyard, only to be turned around there.
The system consists of 10 modular barges and 1 fiddleyard, in future 3 more modular barges with a station with shunting facilities will be added.
Operator: VAMES Track 0, NL – 7314 HR Apeldoorn
System size: 11 x 0.8 m
Gauge 0: A lot of driving on this layout
On an area of 36 m² Claudius Schüle from Karlsruhe shows his gauge 0 layout. Nostalgia fans will get their money’s worth with this Tinplate layout. Märklin, Bing, Lionel and various other manufacturers from 1935 to 1953 can be found on this layout, which has numerous sidings. Unlike two-lane plants, the plant fills the entire area. A lot of driving is guaranteed on this layout!
Here, visitors can also have a go at running their own 0-gauge models on the nostalgic tracks. So the models of the visitors are also in the spotlight! Locomotives can run in 3 wire AC or DC Märklin style, so no steam vehicles. Clockwork locomotives are also welcome.
Operator: Nostalgie Spur 0 Karlsruhe, D-76199 Karlsruhe
Plant size: 10 x 3 m
H0 gauge: Fantasy model railroad layout
The model railroad layout of the MEC Pfullendorf is a double-track main line in pure fantasy design.
The 6-track station is richly decorated with an old town backdrop and has a length of 8 meters. It has an external subway station, where a festival with carnival and beer tent is taking place on the outskirts of the city. There are also vehicles with the Car System on the street.
The layout of the line is rural and winding on both sides of the station.
A reversible module shows an ancient old town with a modern open-air cinema located in front of the town wall. Here, homemade films are shown live on a screen via a projector.
The second turning module has a 4-track staging yard. In addition to a dam wall with E Werk, everything is landscaped with a spacious petting zoo. There is also a sawmill, a restaurant with an illuminated wine cellar and a nursery.
Operator: Model Railway Club Pfullendorf, 88639 Pfullendorf
System size: 10 x 6 m
H0 gauge: Modular layout of the Endersbach model railroad group
The modular layout of the Endersbach e.V. model railroad group has no real-life model.
The individual modules show self-contained themes, which can be combined almost at will and still convey a harmonious picture to the viewer. The entire layout is designed as a double-track main line and leads past lovingly designed landscapes.
The two three-track through stations are the operational centers. These allow for interesting and varied operations, including reversible trains.
The aim of the model railroad group is to present the viewer with a wide variety of train sets from different eras.
The modular system is fully digitalized and is controlled centrally and automatically using the Rocrail® software.
Operator: Endersbach model railroad group, 73249 Wernau
System size: 13 x 6 m
H0 gauge: Modular layout single-track main line
The system consists of 66 modules and has a total length of around 90 meters.
A single-track main line with 6 different operating stations is shown. The vehicles used correspond to Era 3. The traction units at the two terminal stations are prototypical. In between is the multi-track crossing station “Kirchzarten”, which reproduces the prototype station as it was in the mid-70s of the last century.
The stations allow a variety of shunting movements. In addition to the prototypical train sets, freight traffic is also demonstrated in the form of local freight trains with delivery to loading points and sidings in the stations and transfer trains that deliver freight cars to neighboring stations or loading points or pick them up there.
Operator: Eisenbahnfreunde Breisgau, 79100 Freiburg
System size: 20.5 x 14 m
H0 gauge: BEANS US-Modelrailroad
The elongated HO layout with center backdrop from Beans, H0 is set in Iowa. The all-round layout can be driven on both sides over the full length of 17.50 m and offers two independent themed areas separated by the center backdrop.
One side is characterized by the small Lotzburgh country station with a few loading sidings, a small depot, a farm and agricultural businesses with sidings.
On the second side is the town of Dakota City with a marshalling yard, many businesses, a container yard and a large diesel store.
The attraction of the layout lies in the combination of the long trains running on the main line and the busy shunting traffic due to the many sidings.
Operation is digital with radio hand controllers. This means that the “engine driver” accompanies his train around the layout and has a fascinating view of a wide variety of scenery. US trains of all eras can be driven.
Operator: IGM BEANS US-Modelrailroad, 42109 Wuppertal
System size: 18 x 3 m
H0m gauge: Railways through the German low mountain range
The single and double-track model railroad layout of Era III and IV has no fixed model. It is based on models that can be found in the German low mountain ranges (Eifel, Bergisches Land). Stations are located on the single-track sections for the purpose of train crossings.
To the right and left of the tracks you will find a brewery, timber operations/sawmills, reservoir with power generation, fair, weekly market, restaurants, farms and a replica of the Moselle bridge of Bullay.
To involve visitors, the model railroad layout has various push buttons that can be used to set figures or the like in motion on the layout.
The modular system is operated digitally. If visitors (especially children) are interested in operating a station or running a train themselves during the exhibition, this is possible under supervision.
Operator: Rhein-Sieg Railway Club, 53721 Siegburg
System size: 20 x 6 m
Gauge H0: Modular layout Wajcha Poznan
The modular system from Wajach Poznan in Poland consists of seven segments.
At both ends there is a hill into which the trains can enter and the cars with the Car System also have their loops. The trains run in a closed circuit on a double-track line! There are six tracks behind the scenery so that trains from eras I to VI can be shown.
The model railroad layout has interactive buttons with which visitors can set the Viessmann figures in motion. The landscape design of the model railroad layout with a beautiful viaduct bridge is very detailed!
Operator: Wajcha Poznan, Poland – 62-030 Swarzedz
System size: 11 x 1 m
HO scale: Single-track fictitious branch line with terminal station and depot
The modules and segments layout is in epoch end 3 beginning 4. The railroad is part of the whole but not the dominant theme.
The background was painted by Mr. Christoph Laubmann with oil paints according to the builder’s instructions. The two-wire layout is controlled with a Märklin CS3 in semi-automatic operation, so that there is still an operation for a dispatcher.
A railroad festival with an “open day” is taking place in the railroad depot with its 4 permanent engine shed. Young visitors can visit the interior, which has been recreated down to the last detail.
A mobile crane is used to lift the cover of the oil separator between the turntable and the locomotive line and place it to one side. When the work is done, the cover is put back in place. Two rails run from the turntable to the station. Steam locomotives can be turned here and re-coupled to their wagons.
There is a loading track with a gantry crane at the small rural station. It can be used to load goods from road to rail. The loading works with small motors and magnets via a control panel, just like in reality.
There is also a beet loading area as was common at the time. Next to the station is a restaurant with a beer garden where 5 couples dance in a circle to music. Powered by a motor and cogwheels under the module.
On the next module there is a campsite with a bathing lake and restaurant. Through the windows you can see the interior of the restaurant with bar and the kitchen. On the hill is a cemetery with a small church where the bells ring regularly. Opposite in the forest, a UFO with the drive lands under the module.
The ride continues to the next module, where the Kurhotel Schönblick with spa gardens is located, behind which there is a small stopping point. The ride continues over a small bridge with a stream that flows into a lake, on which an excursion boat is getting ready to dock, past a field with a potato harvest.
Now we reach the medieval market with a jousting tournament and its 16 stalls. There is a procession moving towards the Ferris wheel, children’s carousel and flying carpet. The train disappears into a tunnel to the staging yard, above which Felsenstein Castle towers.
The staging yard is covered with vines and a farm. The small Y-shaped castle towers above the vines. The Y-castle in Stetten i.R. has been faithfully recreated.
Operator and builder: Bernd Schmitz and Ursula Schmidt
System size: 8 x 1.25 m
Track H0 / H0m: Berkelo
Berkelo is an imaginary small Dutch town in the late 1950s, situated on the river Berkel with poor rail and road connections to the hinterland. The railroad bridge over the river was blown up during the Second World War and has still not been repaired. Therefore, the streetcar is still in operation, which has a connection to the hinterland, albeit via a detour.
The industry on the railroad uses the railroad for its intensive freight transport. The small port also uses the railroad to transport its goods!
This route is pure fantasy, but it really could have been like this. In the 1930s, such rail and streetcar lines were still common in Holland. But shortly afterwards, partly before, but especially after the war, the streetcar lines disappeared.
Operator: Paul Roodbol, NL – 7242 KE Lochem
System size: 3.5 x 0.6 m
H0e gauge: Tramway on the Sint Janstraat in Uden (first performance)
The railroad hobby club “De Tenderloc” from Uden (NL) has brought along its new streetcar line: a “spectacle” in the Sint Janstraat in Uden around 1910. All the buildings were recreated using old photos.
“De Tenderloc” is known for its self-developed moving figures, which can also be found on the streetcar layout, such as: the waitress and the innkeeper, cat on the windowsill, dance with shutters, the cattle car, pair of horses with fire engine, etc.
The association is also working hard to build the “Veghel” steam streetcar itself with matching carriages that stopped in front of the station in Uden.
Operator: De Tenderloc, NL – 5401 AZ Uden
System size: 1.8 x 0.6 m
Gauge H0 2L: Huchlerhausen branch station with through traffic
The layout effectively shows the necessary and extensive shunting traffic at a secondary station and the hustle and bustle. However, there is no shortage of passenger and freight traffic, as the station is constantly passed by passenger and freight trains. Steam and diesel locomotives are waiting for their turn.
The special features can be seen in uncoupling and assembling certain individual freight cars! The layout is not quite finished yet. But there are already many great scenes to see. In terms of time, we are in eras 3-4-(5) with digital control.
Steam and diesel locomotives will be on display – as well as the freight wagons of a busy operation in the branch station.
The special attraction is the combination of maneuvering and driving and detailed representations.
Operator: Modellbahnfreunde Leutkirch, 88410 Wurzach
Plant size: 6 x 3 m
TT gauge: Berk’sche Bimmelbahn – Kranichfeld-Bad Berka section
The theme of the layout is the railroad line Weimar – Kranichfeld in Thuringia. Built from 1886 to 1888, the line experienced an eventful history and is indispensable in the Weimarer Land.
The ride starts at Tannroda station. The passenger train brings mainly students from Bad Berka to Kranichfeld. Arriving at the Kranichfeld dead-end station, the real work begins for the locomotive crew. This means that after the passengers have disembarked, they are shifted. In the best case, a second locomotive is available. So uncouple the previous locomotive, couple the new locomotive at the other end.
In the GDR Reichsbahn era, the most important locomotive was the BR110 and its sub-types. But other typical Reichsbahn locomotives also run on the layout, such as the Ferkeltaxe, V60 and V36. Steam locomotives could also be found on the line. The most important locomotive is the BR 58, it shares with BR86, BR56 and BR92 the transportation of goods and passengers on the Berk’s Bimmelbahn.
Operator: TT-Modellbahn-Freunde Weimar, Mr. Ronald Jansig, D-994236 Weimar
Plant size: 9 x 5 m
N Gauge: Diverse railroad operation
The N-Club International (NCI) organizes the construction of plants from modules of its members. The standardized module transition means that new layouts can always be displayed. The focus is on train traffic and the small details along the track.
An analog and a digital layout will be on display at Faszination MODELLBAHN. Once again, a member of the model railroad club “spur-N-schweiz” (sNs) with Swiss modules and another club member from England with his modules on the German THW (Technisches Hilfwerks) provide international flair in the analog layout.
The focus of the large analog layout is the double-track main line and the terminus station “St. Dominic”, which is connected via a more than 7 m long T-junction main line. On one side of the branch, the replica of the “Bridge of Remagen” follows after a curve, followed by some modules with German motifs and the already mentioned Swiss section. After a branch to the operational station, three modules follow, two of which will be on public display for the first time. The third module is the replica of the “Ladenburg Bridge”.
The digital layout takes up the classic theme of “double track main line with (single track) branch line”. The plant is controlled by hand controllers in a kind of “block station operation”. The line offers four different stations on an area of about 10 x 9 m – a terminus station, a separation station, a single-track through station and a double-track through station. The terminus station “Buchhorn Hbf” as well as the adjoining line have also never been shown by the N-Club. Varied operation is provided by the branches and the single-track section, even without a service station. Many details on the modules (e.g. also a button-pushing action) also invite you to take a closer look.
Operator: N-Club International e.V., D-70599 Stuttgart
System size: 14 x 6 m
N gauge: VAMES N track
The Vames N-Bahn is a single-track line with a rural atmosphere from Era III/IV. Various details and scenes can be seen and discovered on the 25 meter long modular layout. Peace, nature and places where you would like to be are the focus of the railroad.
The scenes are based on North German themes from her own imagination.
Scenes such as a flock of sheep on the heath, with a cozy beer garden at the brewery. An operable bridge over a river. Various crossing stations and farms and much more!
The club members operate the layout with Z21 and are happy to answer visitors’ questions and provide information about the construction and technical details, such as the electronic reverse loop of the layout!
The VAMES N-Bahn had never been presented outside the Netherlands before!
Operator: VAMES N gauge, NL – 1322 BB Almere
System size: 11 x 5 m
Z gauge: Small railroad big time
During Faszination Modellbahn Mannheim, Z-Freunde International will be presenting several interesting modular layouts and dioramas.
Operator: Z-Freunde International, D-56856 Zell
Plant size: 12 x 6 m
You can find images for use free of charge for your reporting under:
www.faszination-modellbahn.com/presse/
Contact: Messe Sinsheim GmbH, phone +49 7025 9206-100, e-mail: presse@messe-sinsheim.de