06-25-2014, 03:53 AM
Matt!
This will be a very complex and extensive task to explain why German miniature railroads are so backwards orientated.
First:
"Der größte Feind des Deutschen Modellbahners sind Gleise. Das Geld was er für den Kauf neuer Gleise ausgeben muß, steht dann nicht mehr für Schnäppchenkäufe beim Rollmaterial zur Verfügung."
I will try to translate it:
"The biggest enemy of the German Modellbahner are tracks. The money he has to spent for buying new tracks is no more available for buying rolling stock at bargain prices."
For this reason the most layouts here consist of old, older and still older tracks. Collected over decades since early 1950's or still earlier, used and weared out, hand downed and reused again without becoming better.
Second:
What also never changed with this old track is the geometrical concept. Created in the middle of the 1930's as toy train track there was:
- an radius of 360mm (i call it H0-36)
- a switch angle on 30° (depending on the 30° curved track sections, of which 12 of them made a full circle)
But in the 1930's a Class 01 4-6-2 Pacific was reduced to an mere 0-4-0 and D-Zugwagen (the equivalents of heavyweights) were reduced to a length of only 14cm (if exact in 1:87 they have an lenght of 28cm)
No matter these toy trains moved satisfying on their tracks.
Third:
Meanwhile over the decades rolling stock became more and more accurate. Going the natural development in direction of being a real 1:87 model of a prototype.
Yes there are fine examples of real models of German prototype. Steamers with an incredible numbers of extra mounted plumbing detail on theier boilers, passenger car with full modeled 1:87 length.
But the big big bugbear is, there was no real development of tracks and track systems. Geometry is still 1930's standards and the standard of the most part of the German Modellbahner.
For this reason the running gear of every new constructed piece of rolling stock has to fullfill the 1930's standard's to negotiate the H0-36 corners.
If a manufacturer wish to sell his products on the German market, he has to meet the 1930's practice.
And often there are made some ridiculous compromises, especially with steam loco "models". So you can find even on the finest models so curiosities like:
- about 3mm too high mounted pilot decks
- about 5mm too wide mounted cylinder blocks
- "Off Road" look of the running gear
- much too high passenger cars riding on their trucks (These are the better ones, many are shorties)
and so on
In short terms i call these camouflaged toy trains.
Fourth:
The historic development after the WW2 in Germany according miniature trains.
There were 3 big manufacturers here:
- Märklin
- Fleischmann
- Trix
Three manufacturers with this in common:
- "H0"
- gauge 16,5mm
That was all they have had in common. The rest was complete fully intentional different and incompatible to each other.
Even the scale was different( that was the reason because i have set H0 in " "):
- Märklin 1:87
- Fleischmann: 1:82
- Trix: 1:90
Trix was meanwhile absorbed by Märklin and the Trix-Express system with it's really overdimensioned flanges disappeared. In the course of the decades meanwhile thes all made the models in an scale of 1:87. And DCC became a common standard.
Today only Märklin and it's 3-Rail systen differ from the 2-Rail standards. And because Märklin is the leader on the H0 market here it seemed the biggest brake shoe for developments in direction of finer wheel and rail standards. But it only seems so; the really brakemen for progress are the traditionalists with their old an older trackwork.
Fifth:
These facts listed above are still strongly anchored in the brains of the most part of the German Modellbahner. And for the hardcore ones, like some traditional Märklinists, but also some 2-Railers, it seemed to be a fanatic confession instead a hobby for enjoying.
I am not a psychologist and will not write further here. This will be the task of an real psychologist with an degree or diploma to discover why.
And this is only the uppermost peak of the whole icemountain. Things are far most complex.
Lutz
This will be a very complex and extensive task to explain why German miniature railroads are so backwards orientated.
First:
"Der größte Feind des Deutschen Modellbahners sind Gleise. Das Geld was er für den Kauf neuer Gleise ausgeben muß, steht dann nicht mehr für Schnäppchenkäufe beim Rollmaterial zur Verfügung."
I will try to translate it:
"The biggest enemy of the German Modellbahner are tracks. The money he has to spent for buying new tracks is no more available for buying rolling stock at bargain prices."
For this reason the most layouts here consist of old, older and still older tracks. Collected over decades since early 1950's or still earlier, used and weared out, hand downed and reused again without becoming better.
Second:
What also never changed with this old track is the geometrical concept. Created in the middle of the 1930's as toy train track there was:
- an radius of 360mm (i call it H0-36)
- a switch angle on 30° (depending on the 30° curved track sections, of which 12 of them made a full circle)
But in the 1930's a Class 01 4-6-2 Pacific was reduced to an mere 0-4-0 and D-Zugwagen (the equivalents of heavyweights) were reduced to a length of only 14cm (if exact in 1:87 they have an lenght of 28cm)
No matter these toy trains moved satisfying on their tracks.
Third:
Meanwhile over the decades rolling stock became more and more accurate. Going the natural development in direction of being a real 1:87 model of a prototype.
Yes there are fine examples of real models of German prototype. Steamers with an incredible numbers of extra mounted plumbing detail on theier boilers, passenger car with full modeled 1:87 length.
But the big big bugbear is, there was no real development of tracks and track systems. Geometry is still 1930's standards and the standard of the most part of the German Modellbahner.
For this reason the running gear of every new constructed piece of rolling stock has to fullfill the 1930's standard's to negotiate the H0-36 corners.
If a manufacturer wish to sell his products on the German market, he has to meet the 1930's practice.
And often there are made some ridiculous compromises, especially with steam loco "models". So you can find even on the finest models so curiosities like:
- about 3mm too high mounted pilot decks
- about 5mm too wide mounted cylinder blocks
- "Off Road" look of the running gear
- much too high passenger cars riding on their trucks (These are the better ones, many are shorties)
and so on
In short terms i call these camouflaged toy trains.
Fourth:
The historic development after the WW2 in Germany according miniature trains.
There were 3 big manufacturers here:
- Märklin
- Fleischmann
- Trix
Three manufacturers with this in common:
- "H0"
- gauge 16,5mm
That was all they have had in common. The rest was complete fully intentional different and incompatible to each other.
Even the scale was different( that was the reason because i have set H0 in " "):
- Märklin 1:87
- Fleischmann: 1:82
- Trix: 1:90
Trix was meanwhile absorbed by Märklin and the Trix-Express system with it's really overdimensioned flanges disappeared. In the course of the decades meanwhile thes all made the models in an scale of 1:87. And DCC became a common standard.
Today only Märklin and it's 3-Rail systen differ from the 2-Rail standards. And because Märklin is the leader on the H0 market here it seemed the biggest brake shoe for developments in direction of finer wheel and rail standards. But it only seems so; the really brakemen for progress are the traditionalists with their old an older trackwork.
Fifth:
These facts listed above are still strongly anchored in the brains of the most part of the German Modellbahner. And for the hardcore ones, like some traditional Märklinists, but also some 2-Railers, it seemed to be a fanatic confession instead a hobby for enjoying.
I am not a psychologist and will not write further here. This will be the task of an real psychologist with an degree or diploma to discover why.
And this is only the uppermost peak of the whole icemountain. Things are far most complex.
Lutz