Bonn, Germany in HO
Here is a view of my main station, modelled after Bonn, Germany. The picture also shows the Plexiglas control panel with track diagram. The pushbuttons on the control panel control the switches, signals, and uncoupling tracks.
A quiet day at the freight yard
It must be a Sunday morning, otherwise the area in front of the freight yard would be crowded with trucks. Even the fueling station for the diesel engines appears deserted...
Another view of the freight yard
This picture, compared with the previous one, shows what a difference a good background makes. both pictures show roughly the same part of the layout, but notice how the depth of the layout is increased with the backdrop. This is not just in photos, either. It makes a world of difference when you see it in real life!
Along the Rhine
A heavy freight passes along the high wall of the Rhine valley. Below lies the warehouse to the port of Bonn...
Bonn Hbf north view
This view shows the end of Bonn Hauptbahnhof in the direction of Cologne and points north. A class 212 is pulling a string of "Donnerbuechsen"(thunderboxes) towards Kottenforst on the line to Euskirchen while the TEE is getting ready to pull out towards Frankfurt.
Bonn Hbf south view
The TEE waits as a local behind a class 110 pulls out headed towards Bad Godesberg. Looks like the D-Zug (Express train) from Mainz behind a class V200 diesel is a little late today...
Another act of shameless destruction...
I hope they catch the guys who sprayed the grafitti on the wall. It looks like the police are going to use a German Shepherd to track the hooligans. Unfortunately, the poor painter will be at it awhile painting over the wall...
Saturday at the playground
It looks like little Klaus has fallen off the balance beam again, but the couple smootching on the bench don't seem to notice...
Along the Rhine (the other way)
A local passenger train plods slowly along the rocky cliffs next to the Rhine behind a class 78 steam engine. The track leads through the tunnel into an adjacent room in the basement where the staging yard is located. It will be several minutes before the train reappears through the same tunnel.
Some features of the layout include:
Other future developments include:
Many people have asked about the audio I am using for the station announcements. No trickery here! I used a regular microphone to record the announcements in my own voice. Then I downloaded GoldWave from the internet and simply manipulated the echo features to recreate your typical train station. Here are a few examples (the first and third are both pretty big, so be warned):
Announcement #1: A train arrives on track one. There is a connecting train available to Kottenforst.
Announcement #3: A local pulls in to track four. There are connections to Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
MORE PICTURES OF MY LAYOUT HERE!
EVEN MORE PICTURES OF MY LAYOUT HERE!
YET EVEN MORE PICTURES OF MY LAYOUT HERE!
