The H0 scale model railroad plants introduce themselves

H0 gauge: Altbach 1963

The subject of this model railroad layout is a small town in central Germany on a small single-track local railroad. The whole thing is set in 1963, when many trains were still pulled by steam locomotives, but the first diesel locomotives also appeared.

At Altbach station, trains can cross each other and there are also various shunting facilities for loading and unloading freight cars. There is an additional road track where the rail-road bus can travel off the tracks to reach the smaller villages in the area.

A staging yard with 5 tracks allows for varied train traffic. The model railroad layout is extremely detailed and shows many facets that were typical of the 1960s. The track has a combination of a photographic and painted background and its own LED lighting.

The buildings, sidewalks, roads, cars and even rolling stock are realistically outdated and dirty.

Operator: Ronald Heijne, NL-6951 LS Dieren
Plant size: 3.5 x 1.5 m

H0 gauge: single track with authentic environment

This H0 modular line with about 70 modules is a single track Franconian branch line of epochs III and IV with several small to medium sized stations as well as other operating stations. Interesting scenes alternate with expansive landscape sections. In many cases, the scenery is enriched with elaborate technology. The audience can actively participate with triggerable actions.

Operator: Club of model railroaders Würzburg, Mr. Martin Klein, D-97082 Würzburg
Plant size: 20 m x 5 m

H0 gauge: Snowy winter landscape

A historic winter sports special train passes the riding signal box at the station entrance of Bad Eisbach. At the end of the main station of Bad Eisbach there is a lot of through traffic as well as bus traffic on the station forecourt. The panoramic view of the winter landscape gives a foretaste of the vastness of the H0 layout. Hurried operation for the relief train: The unit hauled by the Köf is on its way to a VT 98 that has broken down on the single-track line. The inspection train of the Westfälische Landes-Eisenbahn (WLE) cannot be missing during the inspection of the new line from Bad Eisbach.

Operator: Lippstädter Eisenbahnfreunde, Mr. Thomas Vieth, 59555 Lippstadt, Germany
Plant size: 13 x 1.65 m

H0 gauge: Winter in the Odenwald

(unfortunately had to cancel participation in the fair at short notice for personal reasons)

It is shown how it was in the 50s and 60s (epoch III B – IV). The plant is driven digitally and switched manually. Two stations with passing sidings and one stop at each of the two reversing loops allow up to four trains to run simultaneously. The background conveys the impression of a complete scenery. The larger themes are represented, such as that of a ski resort, a winter forest with a castle, or the completely illuminated streets with their crossings of the railroad tracks. You can also see snowball fights, ice skaters, a Christmas market and the SWR television team. The rolling stock consists of a realistic snowed-in rail bus, as well as diesel and steam locomotives with passenger cars and lighted passenger cars.

Operator: Winter-Modellbahn-Freunde, Mr. Francisco Rodriguez, 69469 Weinheim, Germany
Plant size: 11 x 2 m (in L-shape)

H0 gauge: Saarland impressions

With the plant, a perfect image of their Saarland home was created. A double-track main line runs through rolling green hills, past half-timbered houses and vineyards. It was created over many years of painstaking work one of 2173 handmade vines. A country road also winds through the area. The focus is on vehicles that have been familiar for decades, from the ocean-blue and beige 216 to the old sheet-metal Rheingold cars. Up to 9 trains can run on the layout. The operational center is the five-track through station at St. Wendel (Saar). It is the starting point of a double-track main line. The romantic landscape is interrupted by industrial plants and shopping malls, just like the original. In the industrial area, sidings ensure busy shunting operations.

Operator: Modellbahnfreunde Bliesen e.V., Mr. Heribert Horras, D-66606 St. Wendel

Plant size: 7 x 4 m

H0 gauge: KIRMES modular plant

On module layout are numerous fairground rides with function, which were elaborately equipped with SMD lighting technology. On the bumper cars alone, more than 900 SMDs were installed and wired via chaser controls. Many of our road vehicles are equipped with lights. Several hundred little prizes enliven the plant. In the rows of houses stores and apartments were decorated with interiors and figures. The smooth transport of the fair visitors is provided by the streetcar, which runs through the entire city. The line runs from the streetcar depot through the new housing estate, the town hall, the festival area, the fire in the tax office to the town church with the cemetery and the old town. Special emphasis was placed on a detailed design with many small scenes. To round out the overall picture, of course, is the aging of buildings and vehicles.

Operator: IG Modellbahn Görlitz, Mr. Ingolf Feldt, 02826 Görlitz
Plant size: 5 m x 4.5 m

H0e gauge: Sidi Fontana, Morocco 1918

(unfortunately had to cancel participation in the fair at short notice for personal reasons)

The city of Sidi Fontana in Morocco is fictional, but inspired by one of the longest narrow track in the world, with more than 2000 km. The railroad system allows the French army and civilians to move goods. The rolling stock consists of Pechot, Decauville and generic narrow gauge cars. All locomotives as well as the rolling stock come from commercial manufacturers or laser-cut 3D printers. The sound runs via DCC and media sounds of Camel, Donkey are played in parallel

Operator: Franck Combe, F-92600 Asnierses-sur-Seine
Plant size: 1.5 x 1 m

H0 gauge: Model railroad and traffic history by Hagen von Ortloff

The popular celebrity presenter Hagen von Ortloff from the well-known TV series “Eisenbahn-Romantik” (Railway Romance), together with Lutz Mäder and Rolf Brändle, will present a show layout set in the 1950s and 1960s entitled “Model Railway and Transport History”.
This layout features trolley buses produced by the Esslingen-based company Eheim in the 1950s and 1960s, later continued by the Brawa company. It runs a monorail from Schuco, a state-of-the-art monorail from the late 1950s, but which was not very successful as a toy and is now accordingly sought after and expensive. On the other side of the layout, streetcars make their rounds, a Stuttgart streetcar from the Ulm company Gog and a Dresden streetcar from the local company BeKa. In addition, there is a Loren cable car from Eheim, a cable car from Brawa. As the highlight and centerpiece of the layout, the funicular from Brawa is on the move.
The railroad that connects all the other vehicles and circles the layout comes from the Göppingen model railroad company Märklin. The trains, mainly from the fifties, rattle over the metal tracks, some still with center rails. In addition, there are buildings from the traditional companies Faller, Vollmer and Kibri, whereby the legendary ‘Villa im Tessin’ should be highlighted at this point, which has been sold a total of over 400,000 times in four decades. The Elbe from its source to its mouth, depicted on picture postcards, some of which are over a hundred years old.
110 images, somewhat enlarged and zigzagged together, create a colorful background more than 20 meters long.

Operators: Hagen von Ortloff, Lutz Mäder and Stephan Kraus
Plant size: 8 x 5 m