Breitefurt (my first layout)

[Jeff]

Ah! The joy of building in a scale that doesn't have full commercial support I remember how that used to be n N scale- I got my first N scale stuff in 1962. At that point, it was 'sort of' N scale.

[Chris]

Hi Jeff. Even with full commercial support, I doubt anyone would make a bridge like this, spanning 1+3 tracks with 1+2+2 flights of steps and at this height. The basic Märklin kit is twice a high and can span 2 or 4 tracks. It's almost more suited to N scale!

It's been a bit of a struggle over the last few days but I've posted daily updates with a few images added. Not the world's most interesting except, possibly, for the bird's eye view (less bridge 'cos it would fall off.
   All the best,
      Chris.

[Jeff]

"The basic Märklin kit is twice a high"

Of course it all depends on what they're modeling. It may be that they picked a tall prototype. So... better publish yours as an engineering standard for  your railroad In real life, it's likely that there are no two bridges exactly the same height, though there are certain minimum clearances needed. The situation with tunnel portals is similar, but much more critical. Consider the situation here in the U.S.- the railroads can't use the very tall Superliner passenger cars anywhere east of the Mississippi River because tunnels, bridges, and (yes) pedestrian walk-bridges don't have the clearance for them.

[Chris]

Hi Jeff.

I take it that if the superliners cannot be used then doubling up of containers is also a no-no. I used my memory (flawed) of Aviemore station in the Highlands where there is no catenary involved and the footbridge is not very high. Still more clearance that I have left. When the British railways were electrified I think there would have been a lot of lowering of trackbeds and raising of structures.

Best wishes,
Chris.

[Jeff]

Actually, Chris, there are many routes where double stack containers are just fine- they simply designed the flatcars they travel on with a 40 foot well in the center. The lowered center section drops the total load height when two containers are loaded. Unfortunately (for them), passengers object to being stacked like that

[Chris]

I'm sure I saw double decker coaches in the East Coast. Maybe they are limited to commuter trains. Containers are 8ft high which is the ceiling height in UK houses. Germans have double decker coaches where the lower deck is down steps from the carriage doors. I would have thought double deck coaches would be common in US long distance trains. Obviously it would be difficult to fit then with a vista dome, though the whole top deck could become a vista deck.

Sorry, it's a bit messy but I typing in my sleep!!

Best wishes,
Chris.

[Jeff]

Hmm. All I can say is that there are a few on specialty service (Auto-Train from Virginia to Florida and also various commuter runs that are local to some cities), but not in general service. These days there are all kinds of things to be seen in isolated instances. It's just like your 'people bridges', headroom is scarce as the area you're in gets older. I know that it seems otherwise to me, too having grown up in the Northeast U.S., but those big passenger cars don't fit through the tunnels well. I can certainly understand the railroads' reluctance to expand them! I grew up near a place where to save that cost, they rerouted the track through a slot cut in rock 100 feet thick, bypassing an old tunnel that was only 50 feet away.

[Chris]

Dear Friends,
Just a short note. The layout is all ready for it trip to the Dundee expo tomorrow. I took a few photos shortly before and after closing it up. Sadly they didn't come out too well; I don't think the auto focus was working properly. Still they do give an idea of where I am at.
All the best,
Chris.

[David]

Good luck Chris!

Looks good.

I was at a show last weekend in Belgium with a friend's layout, and it's always a big question if everything works as expected

David.

[Chris]

Dear David,
Thanks for your message.

... it's always a big question if everything works as expected.

Oooer! Tell me about it. I've had my bad exhibitions.

All the best,
Chris.

[RhB_HJ]

I'm sure I saw double decker coaches in the East Coast. Maybe they are limited to commuter trains. Containers are 8ft high which is the ceiling height in UK houses. Germans have double decker coaches where the lower deck is down steps from the carriage doors. I would have thought double deck coaches would be common in US long distance trains. Obviously it would be difficult to fit then with a vista dome, though the whole top deck could become a vista deck.

Sorry, it's a bit messy but I typing in my sleep!!

Best wishes,
Chris.

Hi Chris,

Check out the Amtrak Superliners, that's the American example, certainly used on the long runs across the continent.

The luxury train in Canada called the Rocky Mountaineer has double decker cars for those people who can afford the Gold Service. I shot quite a few videos of those trains, there in the Rocky Mountaineer Album

[Chris]

Hi Hans-Joerg. Thank you for that. I will look them up when I get back. The name TriRail comes to mind, probably by West Palm Beach, FA.

Best wishes,
Chris.

[Jeff]

"certainly used on the long runs across the continent"

Sorry HJ, but if you consult Amtrak's published schedules, you'll find that east of the Mississippi River there is maybe one run that uses Double-high cars. That one is the special trains that carry passengers AND their automobiles to and from Virginia to central Florida. This saves people from having to deal with driving that nearly 1000 miles down and back, not to mention having to rent a car while visiting Disney World and the other resorts. There are also several routes (not owned by Amtrak) that use the double-ended commuter train version, but they are strictly limited to areas around Miami. I know that Metro-North (commuter trains around NYC) use older equipment. It's VERY much older- They have FL-9's (the passenger diesel AND electric version of the F-9) and up until the past 10 or 15 years, at least, they were using heavy-weight passenger cars.  For runs that go towards New Haven, CT, they use multi-unit commuter equipment. The same ones are used for any train going north along the Hudson River so long as they don't go further than Croton-Harmon station. They're fun to ride (since you can get right up to the front door with its glass window), but they lack the decades of 'character' that the old coaches have.

I was always sad that passenger service on the west bank of the Hudson didn't survive into modern times. There's some spectacular scenery to be appreciated from there...

[RhB_HJ]

Jeff,

That's why I carefully phrased it

certainly used on the long runs across the continent.

That isn't the same as coast to coast, it's just West Coast to Chicago as the hub . The Empire Builder, the California Zephyr, the Southwest Chief.

The Sunset Limited actually runs from Coast to Coast - starts ends at New Orleans - and connects to the Texas Eagle which again heads to Chicago.

All of them use the Superliner cars.   

[Jeff]

Sorry, HJ, but I found this statement "that's the American example, certainly used on the long runs across the continent" a little ambiguous While I agree that TECHNICALLY speaking, "coast to coast" can be used when talking about the U.S. Pacific coast to the Gulf of Mexico or to the coast of Lake Michigan, I assure you that we don't often use that term for those areas. When we speak of coast to coast, it applies to Pacifc to Atlantic (or the other way round, depending on location and context.