2019

I wish you a happy, healthy and relaxed New Year!

Special thanks to everyone who has supported spur1info with a subscription, articles, photos, information, comments, samples and advertising. I appreciate this very much.

Together with Exclusive Models in the Netherlands, Accucraft is re-launching the CIWL Pullman sleeping cars.

Dingler had some of his models of the Ae 4/7 of the SBB photographed.

With this pre-Christmas view of Bremen Central Station I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays with time to relax and enjoy.

Take time for those you love - and for what you love.

The Christmas presents are never ending: Fine Models announces tomorrow the Bavarian rack locomotive PtzL 3/4. Here already are the details and photos of the handmade samples.

More details and photos of the novelty announcement.

Today I have the pleasure of presenting to you exclusively a new gauge 1 model - for subscribers only.

Gauge 1 usually suffers from too long vehicles and too short tracks. But you can, strictly following the example of the DB Regio, extend the journey time with a trick. German TV satirical program Extra3 showed the method again yesterday.

Recently model railway friends met in Lodz in Poland for a small model railway fair. There were also three 1-gauge enthusiasts.

If you can read German, I would recommend in the German thread of spur1info my review of a German-language book about station restaurants from all over the world.

Or maybe you would like to give it away to someone who can read it.

Schuco has released the Deutz F3 M 417 universal tractor, built between 1942 and 1952, as a 1:32 scale die-cast model. This interesting tractor model is suitable for 1-gauge dioramas and layouts of epochs II to IV. A presentation with 27 images.

Fine Models has now defined details for the Bavarian low side cars. Details for spur1info subscribers.

There's something going on at the model railroad shows.

New projects, changed prices and postponed and confirmed delivery dates - the updated project list provides updated information on gauge 1 projects.

Märklin offers the high-heeled S 3/6 in H0 scale, Wyko-Echtdampf now has 1-gauge livesteam model. And also a somewhat special model is present.

Schuco has delivered the Kirovets K-700 T. The die-cast model is a three-axle special version of the Russian large tractor with front loader and available at €89.95.

Until Epoch IV, the collection and transport of scrap metal was a rustic business. My photos show what it really looked like back then.

For the last time this year, we are looking at the list of 1-gauge projects that has grown once again. About 50 were delivered in 2019, but the list contains well over 220 projects.

In the office he analyses the stock market for a large German business magazine, in the evening he works on his main station Hof in H0, which fills an entire basement room. He is one of the many silent model builders in the country who consistently pursue a theme and still want to become a little better. And he does so in a very relaxed way.

They are extremely rare on model railways - especially not on 1-gauge. They have also been removed in many places: safety points or trap or catch points.

Wunder will announce 23 new car models for gauge 1 over the next few days. Spur1info already has the details.

Modelle von Lokomotiven, die man selbst erlebt und fotografiert hat, sind relativ selten. Umso erfreulicher ist es, wenn von Kiss Modellbahnen eines der letzten Exemplare der Baureihe 78 als Spur-1-Modell angeboten wird. Die 078 192-2 war zuletzt im Bw Rottweil eingesetzt und fuhr von Rottweil aus Personenzüge nach Tuttlingen, Villingen und Horb – und auch den letzten nach Balingen.

Wie gut ist das Modell gelungen und stimmt es auch mit dem Vorbild überein? Fünf Vorbildfotos und über 70 Bilder des Modells erleichtern die Beurteilung.

The archive of Spur1info with over 2,000 articles and a few ten thousand photos is of course still available for subscribers. Access is not difficult, but you need to log in differently.

Märklin's 1-gauge model of the DB class 78 entered the market at the end of December 2018 and was very successful. In a few days I will introduce the 78 from Kiss, which is now being delivered.

The review of the Märklin model is still available in the archive. To compare and because the reproduction of the 73 photos in the new system is better, I present the article about Märklin's 78 440, article number 55077, here once again.

At the third Sauerland gauge 0 and gauge 1 meeting, three gauge 1 layouts and dioramas were shown, which demonstrated craftmanship at the highest level. My colleague Stefan Karzaunikat from Spur-Null-Magazin provided us with photos which offer many suggestions for a realistic design of layouts and dioramas in 1:32 scale.

Op de derde Sauerländer Spur 0 und Spur 1 Großbahntreffen wurden drie systemen en diorama's getoond, die de modelbouw op het hoogste niveau demonstreerden. Mijn collega Stefan Karzaunikat van Spur-Null-Magazin heeft ons foto's geleverd die ons veel suggesties bieden voor een realistisch ontwerp van faciliteiten en diorama's in schaal 1:32.

Catenaries are very complicated to model. However, you should pay attention to details in a gauge 1 layout with overhead contact line that only become apparent at second glance.

You have to come to that first: Märklin is connecting cakes with model railways. Because it's very Christmassy.

On the way to Mulhouse in Alsace I tried to photograph some vehicles of the Dreiseebahn in Seebrugg. The collection is interesting.

At the station you will also find relics of past times.

45 photos.

The new Sommerfeldt overhead contact line for gauge 1 should be somewhat simplified and inexpensive. How good are the components and how do you differ from the Wunder product range?

The Sommerfeldt overhead contact line for gauge 1 has gone into mass production and is available. But before we get to grips with the model, I would like to convey some facts about the original and outline the limits in the model.

An exhibition worth seeing with staged photos from the USA and an interesting newspaper article with documenting photos show many railway motifs from the 20th century.

If 1-gauge models are to be oiled, repaired or for other reasons not to stand on their wheels, you will need a foam locomotive cradle. It shouldn't be expensive.

Dear readers,

Good news: The photos are now visible and are displayed in greater brilliance and sharpness.

The password spur1info only needs to be entered once and then replaced by your own password. From then on everything will work as usual. If you have any problems with this, please call me or send me your personal password, which I will enter minutes later.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

A cohesive train appearance as with the prototype is a matter of nerves of steel with four-axle passenger cars on gauge 1. Even the fine motor skills of a surgeon won't get you far. But there are now practicable tools to solve these problems cleverly and to ensure an automatic connection of the cars.

As of today, spur1info, the world's only online magazine on gauge 1, is presenting itself in a new look. Publisher Friedhelm Weidelich and web developer Andreas Lochmann from byte-werk have deliberately dispensed with fashionable bombast and huge photos on endless start pages. At its core, spur1info has remained what it has been for almost eight years: elegant, straightforward and user-friendly.

MiniArt has released a new car kit that fits well to epoch III. And quite by chance we learn why a related Mercedes-Benz looked very similar to a Volkswagen Beetle - or was it the other way round?

More pictures, information and a video arrived from Hong Kong. The event had prominent visitors.

Dingler has now the versions of EW 1 passenger cars for BLS, SOB and SBB.

From Bauma I received snapshots of the production sample of the Bavarian tender locomotive D XII, which will also be available as class 73^0-1 of the DRG.

The Bavarian two-axle car models by Fine Models, shown in raw condition in Sinsheim, are now painted and lettered.

Finally 39 photos from the Cité du Train in Mulhouse, France. Here we meet two world record locomotives and many other exciting railway vehicles.

We encounter a salt keg, a Bugatti and two Americans on our further tour in the Cité du Train in Mulhouse, France.

In the summer of 1869, the Rottweil - Tuttlingen section of the Gäubahn went into operation. A nostalgic photographic supplement.

Locomotives from 1844 onwards and very old cars characterise Hall B of the Cité du Train in Mulhouse, the largest railway museum in Europe. 42 photos of models that would appeal to many collectors in scale 1:32.

One visit is by no means enough to see the many exhibits at the Cité du Train in Mulhouse, France. A tour through the first hall with 35 photos.

Modern locomotives need modern freight cars. MBJ Modellbau Jaegers has new colorful models under construction. Especially impressive is the detailed, 810 mm long carrier for 80 ft containers.

The new SNCF diesel locomotive CC 72000 from Modelbex are impressive. A short photo session with 38 photos.

In the Cité du Trains in Mulhouse, France, several blue Pullman cars are exhibited. These cars of the 1920s offered an impressive luxury to European travellers.

A French SNCF gauge 1 diesel locomotive is being built in France as an after-work project. This could also be interesting for Germany.

In the Cité du Train in Mulhouse, France, you will find the 241 A1. It is the prototype of a steam locomotive series, of which Märklin chose the 241-A-65 as a reference. 21 photos of the impressive steam locomotive and little known facts.

With a total of 173 photos I have portrayed the private "Layout #10". In the sixth and last part of the picture series, subscribers enjoy the worth seeing layout by evening light and at night.

25 scenes from the railway depot of Layout #10 and the holding sidings.

32 photos present trade and industry at Layout #10.

In part 3 of the picture series you will see scenes at the station and at the goods station. 33 photos.

Part 2 of the picture section of Layout #10 presents a branch line with 24 photos.

I had the opportunity to photograph an outstandingly well-done private gauge 1 layout. A total of about 170 photos are showing the qualities of the masterfully designed system.

Dingler's four-axle gravel cars from Switzerland have quite modern prototypes. A series of 47 pictures gives an insight into what the cars look like in operation.

[gt]A kit with German filling pumps for the period from 1927 to about 1948 is now available.

In the 1970s - and again today - you could experience a T 3. Irretrievable photos taken in 1972 of a locomotive with a train in proper style and a station that had long since disappeared.

What does the new 1-gauge freight car from Wunder have that others don't? spur1info shows it vividly.

Deutsche Bundesbahn had only two class 66 locomotives built, a beautifully proportioned steam locomotive. The first brass model from MBW for gauge 1 brought DB's 66 001 and 66 002 convincingly to 45 mm tracks. 67 large-format photos showing the qualities of this scale model and not so well-done details.

Wema-Bahn has new figurines in their assortment. They can be used almost universally.

American railway models are admired worldwide for their independent technology. Märklin has now decided to adapt the Golden Spike Set for gauge 1 to honor the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railway. This set will be announced shortly by Märklin. spur1info was exclusively invited to take a close look at the samples. 77 large format photos and the facts.

As a surprise and without announcement Dingler has produced another 1-gauge model of a modern hopper. spur1info had the car in the photo studio and exclusively presents 32 photos of the attractive model, which is internationally in use.

Dingler is currently delivering the new four-axle hoppers of the Falls type. Beside the famous "Weiacher" there are also other colorful models. I had the blue HASTAG car on my photo studio desk. 39 photos of the very attractive modern freight car.

One year ago the Tipo FF with long wheelbase from Lucchini Rail Models was announced here. The Italian freight car will be available in Sinsheim.

Garden railways need robust weather-proof turnout drives. Proform Spur 1 has developed a turnout drive for gauge 1 that can withstand rain and snow. The drive is also suitable for LGB tracks.

Modern railways are no longer a pure niche topic for gauge 1. Modern commercial vehicles are needed as cargo and for road scenes. The Volvo FH16 750 truck from MarGe Models is the first in 1:32. 34 pictures of a fine truck model.

MarGe Model in Zwolle, the Netherlands, has manufactured a 1:32 scale Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van in China. The model comes in a glossy black box and has a Daimler license, but no specific designation. On the rear side 316 CDI can be read under the magnifying glass. It must be the W 906 built between 2006 and 2013. It is also available as Dodge Sprinter with a slightly modified radiator grille.

The almost 19 cm model has a die-cast body and a plastic chassis. The headlights, rear lights and vents are also made of plastic, as are the interior fittings of the driver's cab. The steering wheel rotates against the direction of travel of the steering axle. The buttons and knobs on the dashboard are delicately printed. The rubber tyres are finely profiled.

All doors are movable. The sliding door can be opened with a handle under the car floor. For the four doors with a minimal gap, a kind of plastic crowbar is included to open the doors. With this aid it is easier to reach into the door handles than with your fingernails. The hinges of the rear doors are somewhat coarser than on the original - this is the only way with injection moulding.

The loading space is painted from the inside and invites to loading scenes. The mirrors are equipped with mirror foil, the side fenders are plastic parts. A spare wheel is mounted under the floor of the car. The step can be replaced by an enclosed towing hook. License plates for ten European countries are also included.

I can highly recommend this model. In silver, black and white, the Sprinter costs 67 €, with Veenhuis, Nooteboom or Claas printing € 69,95.

The high-gloss finish was a particular challenge when photographing. Of course, everything is reflected, you have to work with large light shapers like automobiles. And if you move the flash units, there will be differences like in pictures 6 and 7. This slightly cloudy varnish is also found in the products of the automotive industry, but the effect is greatly increased on the model. The railway industry paints locomotives, multiple units and coaches glossy. But I now understand that the model railway industry prefers to use matt to semi-matt paints. As the Sprinter model demonstrates, even the smallest dust particles and fingerprints become visible. They are easy to remove, but they are not fun to photograph, clean or digitally edit.

MarGe Models

My first long journey in search of interesting locomotives led in summer 1968 to Ulm and Augsburg. 17 pictures from times long past.

Do you have 190,000 EUR on your hobby account? That's how much you'd need to buy all the 1 gauge models that are likely to be shipped in 2019.

MBW wants to supply a German steam locomotive, which never has been built, as a 1 gauge model in 2020.

With part 2 of the report, the corner house "Dorfstraße 9" by Stangel will be completed. Prerequisites for the successful completion of the semi relief structure for gauge 1 are patience, improvisation and new roof tiles.

After the Stangel's kit Dorfstraße 7 I decided to build Dorfstraße 9. The "work" progressed quickly, but here, too, you must find your own ways during assembly.

Today Märklin announced the French 241-A-65 as a summer novelty in the Youtube show.

Aujourd'hui, Märklin a annoncé le 241-A-65 français comme une nouveauté estivale dans le spectacle Youtube.

Märklin today announced a 1-gauge model that may seem irritating at first glance, but should sell well. 62 large-format photos of the hand sample.

Jacek Wysocki hat schon einige polnische Lokomotiven im Maßstab 1:32 gebaut. Nun arbeitet er an der Fertigstellung des sechsachsigen "Dragon" der Newag, der ein attraktives Design hat.

Slowly my photographic range of action is increasing in 1968. But first we take a look at passenger trains with three-axle conversion cars and at freight traffic.

1: Once again my afternoon perspective in Aldingen, about 16 o'clock. A Rottweil P 8 brings the conversion car train to Tuttlingen. The guard wears the blue-black uniform with the high hat usual at that time. The conductor in the luggage compartment gives the departure signal.

2: The turntable in Tuttlingen is defective, so the 38 3637 with closed cab rund backwards.

3: Aldingen celebrates a festivity on the sports ground. Why the 38 2039 reverses is unknown. The locomotive crew watch the hustle and bustle as they drive past.

4: In June, another V 100 comes into play. That's what locomotive drivers looked like on the V 100! The V 100 1218, built by Henschel in 1962, already bears the new "computer number" because the two German railways are introducing electronic data processing on a larger scale.

5: Again and again a Rottweil 44 pulls the conversion cars - due to circulation or because the 38s are slowly running short.

6: At the southern end of Aldingen's station, the 38 2242 takes a bend. In the background the church on the Dreifaltigkeitsberg.

7: In Ebingen (Württ) - today Albstadt-Ebingen and reduced to two tracks - a typical passenger train with auxiliary baggage car and conversion cars is waiting for the oncoming train.

8: 44 1376 reaches the end of the incline from Rottweil to Aldingen with a typical mixed freight train. The fireman has already burned the first tonne of coal on the 11 kilometers.

9: An unfortunately rare perspective from Aldingen. The freight train with sliding wall cars and many different boxcars is waiting for the passenger train. On platform 1, women and children (in knee socks) and the handcart are waiting for the next train, luggage and express goods. In the foreground are the steel wires that control switches and form signals. They come at the kilometer marker from the signal box extension from the 1930s. Since a few years the annex has been removed.

10: A short local freight train with hopper and sliding wall cars.

11: Spaichingen's Köf II no longer has a special coupler. Because the signal box in the direction of Tuttlingen was only occupied at train crossings, the shunting locomotive always arrived on track 3 with its "handover". By order of the dispatcher she then drove past the switch in the direction of Rottweil. Then the turnout was switched by wire and the shunting locomotive driver was ordered by manual signal to move to track 1. From there, further marshalling movements on the loading tracks were organized.

12: A local freight train in Tuttlingen. At that time freight trains looked like this, four-axle freight cars were still rare. Goods were often covered with tarpaulins. - The range of freight cars for gauge 1 is unfortunately quite small.

13: A refrigerator train rolls past Bernau in Bavaria. Today, refrigerated goods travel by truck.

14: Spaichingen's Köf II has now been renumbered 323 740-1. The "Deutsche Bundesbahn" lettering has not yet been replaced by the DB logo. An E 040 with scrap and a boxcar will be brought immediately to Spaichingen.

15: Freight traffic is still strong in Trossingen City, the terminal of a private shortline electrified from the beginning in 1898. The container car must have been quite new, the container still belongs to the DB. Someone painted smilies on the buffer plates. - The 1-gauge industry still strongly neglects the topic of containers, although it can be used over the epochs III to VI. These two-axle carrying wagons are still in operation.

16: 50 2970 from Bw Radolfzell reaches the end of the gradient on 24.12.1968 with her long freight train in Aldingen. For good reason there are no new locomotive numbers on the outside. Inside the cab the number 052 970-1 should have been indicated since 1.1.1968. It is one of her last trips: One week later the steam locomotive is taken out of service, on 3.3.1969 it is decommissioned. The steam locomotive era at Deutsche Bundesbahn is coming to an unstoppable end.

Who remembers the Deutsche Bundesbahn about 50 years ago? I have checked my photo archive. 14 photos from times long past.

Who remembers the Deutsche Bundesbahn about 50 years ago? I have checked my photo archive. 14 photos from times long past.

Gebäude verwittern mit der Zeit, wenn sie nicht gepflegt werden. Und sie zeigen Spuren von Umbauten. Einige Fotos.

There are 1 gauge fans in Spain who build modern models because there is nothing to buy in 1:32 scale. Here José describes the homemade construction of a modern Euro 4000 Vossloh diesel locomotive. The prototype is operating in Portugal. Text in Englich and Spanish.

Märklin has reissued an old Hübner model of the Deutsche Bundesbahn V 23 stock car. The 1-gauge model is essential for epoch III.

The Lang family from Wema Figurenatelier has grown. Following the Wirtschaftswunder post-war era, there are now three children.

At the Intermodellbau in Dortmund, Volker Gerisch presented his diorama of a factory in the Sauerland region in 1/22.5 scale. The interior furnishings in the offices and the porter's lodge are of the highest level.

Modellbau Marcus Jaegers has long announced Res and Remms low side cars. Now there are handmade samples. First pictures.

At Intermodellbau 2019, MBW Spur 0 had only one gauge 1 model on display, the class 66. There's still a little delay in delivery.

Steiner Modellwerke had their first trade fair appearance at Intermodellbau 2019. In addition to the hand sample of the class 81 already presented here in detail, two samples of the glass box without blind shaft were presented - but for gauge O.

A long series of Fine Models' Bavarian beer cars for gauge 1 attracted the attention of visitors at the Fine Models and Spur1-Exklusiv exhibition stand - and two steam locomotive versions of the Palatine and Bavarian railways as well.

It doesn't always have to be a steam locomotive, because there are more than enough of them for gauge 1. Dingler Präzisionsmodelle has decided on a model that actually ran on electric power. 6 photos of the handmade sample.

This year the summer novelties were not announced on the Intermodellbau. In May Märklin will try out a new format and present the new products online.

Wunder's three-axle DB conversion cars are represented by a handbuilt sample of the "Deutsche Weinstraße" buffet car in Dortmund. The level of detail is enormous. 30 photos.

Fresh from Asia came two unpainted hand samples of the Deutsche Bundesbahn's makeshift baggage cars. The gauge 1 cars are very detailed.

Seven years ago spur1info.com published its first articles and pictures. To date, it is the world's only online magazine for 1 gauge train models and 1:32 scale accessories.

Travelling by train trough Europe on the panorama deck and dining with the star chef - this dream can now be fulfilled with the most luxurious parlor car in the world. I had the opportunity to experience the atmosphere in Luxon and to meet the highly decorated chef.