Narrow gauge field railways, in Germany called “Feldbahnen”, held an important role in the processing industry. They were often used for the transportation of agricultural, forestry and industrial raw materials such as wood, peat, stone, earth and sand. Due to their long tradition, narrow gauge field railways and industrial railways are a very popular subject for railway modelling or model railroading.
Dr. Michael Giersberg is one of those railway modellers or model railroaders who specialized in the reproduction of narrow gauge field railways in East Germany. His model train diorama constructed in H0e scale (Europe) or in HOn30 scale (USA) depicts a small village with a quarry in the 1960s. Boulders are transported to a crusher (crushing plant) via narrow gauge field railways. Furthermore, short steam trains arrive and depart at the railway station of the small village.
The model railway layout is designed as a shelf layout for exhibitions: The length is 94 cm, the depth 60 cm and the height 60 cm. “PECO” tracks in 1/87 scale were used for the construction of the micro model railway layout. There are seven railroad switches, turnouts or points on the model railway layout, so that model trains can be integrated into extensive railroad operations - on an area of just half a square meter.
The buildings in the small village are from manufacturer “Auhagen”. They have been slightly altered and colour-matched. The crusher (crushing plant) was built by Dr. Michael Giersberg. Because a model railroad layout grows into a real model through the design of the landscape, he used a wide variety of materials: The grass mats are made by “NOCH”, the conifers by “ModelScene” and small flowers by “POLAK” and “MiniNatur”. Finally, modelling clay and surface textures made by “KIBRI” were used for the streets and roads.
The rolling stock comes from the manufacturers “Roco”, “Egger”, “Jouef” and “MiniTrains”. The tipper wagons have been loaded because the additional weight ensures good running on the rails. The entire model train layout is operated with analogue speed controllers. Between the stone quarry and the crusher (crushing plant) an automatic shuttle control system made by “Viessmann” was installed. The shuttle control provides model railways with an automatic control to run a train backwards and forwards along a line. There is also an adjustable delay before the model train on the narrow gauge line returns.
*Dr. Michael Giersberg*
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*Pilentum Television*
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