N scale modelling inspiration and resources
Pinterest?
Yes Pinterest.
Not the kind of site I usually feature on this blog but I’ve got to be honest, despite being dubious at first, I’m well and truly hooked now. I’m finding it’s actually a bit of a treasure trove of inspirational modelling and interesting prototype pictures.
If you want to take a look you can find my Pinterest profile here:
Continue reading “Useful Website: Pinterest”It’s been a while since I wrote a post about a modelable European intermodal yard so today I thought we could take a look at the Terminal Combiné Chavornay SA (TERCO) intermodal yard in Chavornay, Switzerland.
In lieu of any photos of the complex, here’s a satellite image of the yard and its immediate surroundings:
So far so ordinary perhaps, but this yard caught my eye because it’s indirectly connected to the Swiss national railway system by an intriguing little Swiss short-line called the Orbe-Chavornay railway.
Read on to find out more…
Continue reading “Terminal Combiné Chavornay SA, Switzerland”I first spotted this interesting bridge a few years back when Google Map exploring the railroads and industrial spurs around Savannah, Georgia.
Something about the control tower and massive counter-weight structure appealed to me and I have always thought it would make an excellent North American river crossing module and scratchbuilding project.
I’ve also wanted to do a post about it for ages…
Continue reading “Bridge Over The Savannah River (Savannah, Georgia)”The town of Mount Joy in Pennsylvania, USA has been on my must research list ever since I found this photograph of the Wenger Feed Mill:
Wenger Feed Mill by Jim Epler – Own work, CC BY 2.0, View Image
You might think that’s strange because a closer look at the picture reveals there isn’t actually any track in the picture. While that observation is true, it’s still a very interesting and attractive jumble of buildings which would make a very nice scratch-building or kit-bashing project.
I don’t have a photo to show it but the facility is still rail served, it’s just that railcars are currently loaded/unloaded on the other (north) side of the facility. However there’s no reason why we couldn’t apply a little modellers license, add some track and create the option to model tracks on both sides of the facility.
There’s also something else not visible in the photo above that makes this location somewhat rare and interesting, at least in terms of US operations…
Continue reading “Grain Silos & Feed Mills In Mount Joy, Pennsylvania”In my last couple of posts I’ve been talking a lot about modules that use the ‘half-station’ approach to model a big station in a small space.
So far I’ve only looked at examples in Europe so here’s a picture of a Chinese station scene that caught my eye:
High-Speed Trains At The Gate by Scott Meltzer – Own Work, CC0 1.0, View Image
I love this line-up of Chinese high-speed trains. I don’t know a lot about Chinese rolling stock but many of the units in that picture look distinctly Japanese in origin/design.
Read on for more pictures…
Read morEFollowing on from my recent post about Wolfsburg Hauptbanhof and the idea of using the ‘half-station’ approach to model a large station in a small space I thought I’d take a look at Erfurt Hauptbahnhof.
Erfurt Hauptbahnhof by Ingolf – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0, View Image
Erfurt Hauptbahnhof is an interesting mix of old and new architecture much of which could easily be modelled in a small space but what really caught my eye is an interesting tram/bus-only underpass that really lends itself to modular modelling.
Read on to find out more…
Continue reading “Interesting Idea For A Module #11 (Erfurt Hbf)”I’ve always thought that scenes involving trams are particularly well suited to T-Trak modules; trams run in shorter formations than regular trains, tram track formations tend to be quite compact and by their nature, trams are usually found in more densely populated areas with (hopefully) lots of interesting architecture to model.
By Tram Into The Newly Built Area Of Freiburg by Matthias Frey – Own work,
Used With Permission, View Image
Plus if you don’t want to model a purely urban scene, as the photograph above shows, tram lines can offer interesting opportunities to mix more natural elements with busy city scenes.
Continue reading “Interesting Idea For A Module #9 (Freiburg Trams)”Continuing with the theme of modules with slightly unusual scenes and viewpoints I thought I’d discuss this photograph of the northern entrance of Wolfsburg Hauptbanhof in Germany.
North Entrance of Wolfsburg Main Station & ICE Power Car by Matthias Frey – Own work,
Used With Permission, View Image
It’s a brilliant photograph with excellent composition; in fact it’s the kind of image you don’t often see in railway photography where of course the focus is the trains. However the unusual perspective sparked some ideas for modules and module design in general that I’ll be discussing in this post…
Continue reading “Interesting Idea For A Module #10 (Wolfsburg Hbf)”In this post I’ll be taking a look at the Rhine intermodal port facilities of Swiss logistics company Ultra-Brag.
Destiny by Andreina Schoeberlein – Own work, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, View Image
Ultra-Brag have three tri-modal (road/river/rail) facilities in the Swiss city of Basel. These are located in:
The relatively compact nature of these sites means they could be built as modules/cameos, as shelf-layouts or even included as part of a larger static layout. Read on to find out more…
Continue reading “Modelable Intermodal Facilities #4 (Ultra-Brag)”I’m always on the lookout for prototype photographs that capture railway activity from a slightly different perspective, particularly if it might work well as a viewpoint in a slightly unconventional module or cameo.
While browsing the https://www.bahnbilder.de/ website I came across the photographs of Gisela, Matthias and Jonas Frey.
View From The Courtyard Of The Basel Art Museum by Matthias Frey – Own work,
Used With Permission, View Image
They have an interest in both architecture and railways and as a result they have taken some really interesting and inspirational photographs…
Continue reading “Interesting Idea For A Module #8 (Basel Trams)”