A video

I've taken a few videos of Eskalon operating, here is the first.

Integrating stock

My first loco D16 is semi-permanently coupled to the coach set i have got, thus i needed my second loco to be able to work with my Liliput wagon (the only wagon i had got before today). No. 17 doesn't work directly with the wagon alas but if one of the little industrial wagons is used as a match wagon then it does work. Here is the Eskalon engineering train then.

No. 17

We have a second locomotive! No. 17 is a Minitrains Plymouth switcher and also has a rake of small industrial wagons. Some modeller's licence is being employed to incorporate such a train with the Zillertalbahn so just think of it of Eskalon being a shared line between the big railways and an industrial railway bringing wagons down from the mines.

Hitting the buffers

Although Eskalon is not really true to a prototype (and shouldn't be taken for anything like a close representation of Austrian Railways) i have done a fair bit of research. One thing i couldn't find much out about though was the humble buffer stop. Photographs of Austrian Railways always seemed to crop out these vital yet usually forgotten about pieces of railway architecture. In the end i got some PECO buffers for 009 scale. Buffers probably do not vary that much world wide in any case...

Mixing up the trees

The eagle-eyed may have noticed in some of the latest progress photos that the original batch of trees has been joined by some fir trees. The idea has been to mix up the scenery a bit and also to try and add a bit more of an Alpine air to what is supposed to be a layout set in the Austrian mountains! I think the effect is quite good and the amount of trees does add a bit of depth to the layout.

A few more photos

A few more photos showing scenery progress. Could be some new stock coming soon...

Nice little loco

We haven't had a HOe video for awhile, this is one of the Minitrains industrial locomotives. Looks rather nice...