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S-Trains Presents ....
![](Cover.JPG) |
The Model Railway on exhibition in the
Nuremberg Toy Museum, KarlstraBe 13, at the 2nd floor, is of special
interest at the moment. The lay-out measures about 325 sq.ft.
and the whole construction is hand-made. It was built between 1950
and 1974 in Nuremberg by Dr. Wolfram Bismarck in his spare time.
The scale of the lay-out is 1:64 (gauge S = 3/16") i. e. half the
size of gauge no. 1. The main components are hardboard and plywood
of various widths. Altogether the lay-out consists of 565 ft.
of tracks. Strips of wood were planed, coloured and cut up
into 12,500 sleepers. Steel of 0. 1 " was used for the rails
themselves. The last section is made of argentan. A special
characteristic of this model railway is that the stations themselves,
their outbuildings, the tracks, and the points, as well as all the
rolling stock are handmade.
For his own interest the designer chose an American railway
lay-out as a prototype. He did so because the American railway
system displays features and technical idiosyncrasies of special
interest. This model shows the Omaha/Nebraska junction on the west
bank of the Missouri River. This has the advantage of beeing
able to simulate the railway traffic between several stations from
one electric control panel. The rolling stock and railway traffic
flow on the model resembletheera between 1940and 1965. On the other
side of the river opposite the town of Omaha lies Council Bluffs.
The bed of the river forms the border between the states of Nebraska
and Iowa. |
Ten different railway companies converge on the junction of Council
Bluffs. Here all the railway traffic passes into the hands of
the Union Pacific Railway and proceeds to Omaha to be classified
and re-dispatched. The lines which leave the two main stations
fuse into a main line on a lower level of the lay-out. Several
hidden sidings have been built into this part of the circuit.
To these sidings rolling stock is admitted, stored, and released.
From there it heads for one of the main-line destinations.
This ingeniously conceals the missing stretches of tracks beneath
the lay-out. So the trains, as they embark on the imaginary
stretch of line between Council Bluffs and Omaha, simply disappear out
of sight.
![](Council.JPG)
Council
Bluffs goods station
Omaha is both a passenger and a goods station. The passenger
station is joined to two electric circuits. The station has three
through tracks, eachwith itsown platform. The motor rail coach repair-shed
and goods-depot are linked tothe outercircuitsto the left and rightoftheomaha
Union Station building. The old engine-shed in the motorcoach repair
yard, the goods-shed and all the other build- ings correspond to
the prototype. The large Omaha Union Station building required eight
months of work. Half of this time was used to recreate
the interior (see the original photos of the interior). In
some parts of the building seven layers of plywood had to be
laid one on top of the other in order to reproduce the appropriate
relief of the building. By means of carving and burning
intheart Decoarchitectureof the main building and its two wings has
been reproduced. The heating-plant joins the main station
building from the direction of the rail-coach repair shed, behind
which there is a shed for luggage waggons. Next comes
a section of the city park of Omaha with a memorial to the last Omaha
Indian of the Sioux tribe.
General View ![](General.JPG)
In order to show the Omaha goods shed in its proper light the
loading area in front of it is shown to be still under construction.
Of particular interest here, as on the layout as a whole, are the
hand carved figures. Including the model passengers in
the local and inter-city trains, these total more than 300. A look
through the doors at the loading ramp of the goods-shed into
the illuminated interior shows the complete lay-out; just as a look through
the front windows revealsthegoods registration officewithfurniture,
telephone, freight tarif tables, and staff at work. Opposite
the goods shed, but still within the goods yard, the two main industries
of Omaha are depicted: grain stozage and a meat packing business.
The cattle in the stock cars are taken along the siding to the cattle corral.
At the same time meat products leave the factory and are loaded
into refrigerator cars. A covered grain waggon stands on the
siding by the grain storage plant. This simulates an unloading system
operated by compressed air. Omaha goods-station is joined to
both of the main circuits. This means that trains can both enter
and leave in either direction via the appropriate points.
The problem of space has meant that the lay-out of the tracks in the goods-
yard has had to be thoroughly simplified. Thus there is
![](CTC.JPG)
CTC-control panel and eastern entry to Council Bluffs Station only one
entrance and one exit line. This is sufficient to
illustrate the flow of the goods traffic. When a goods train enters
this area the engine can be electrically uncoupled from the train
and taken into the loco storage tracks for refueling. At the same
time the shunting engine can push the waggons over the hump of the double-incline.
On this simplified lay-out the waggons are sent into sidings heading for
four different directions:
1) Chicago
2) North-West Line via Montana, Idaho to Tacoma and
Seattle in the State of Washington
3) the historic Western line of the first trans-continental
railway via Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Reno, Sacramento
to San Francisco
4) everything, that has to go via Kansas City and St. Louis
either to the east in the direction of New York
and the whole
Atlantic Coast, or to the south in the direction
of Oklahoma - New Orleans. |
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