OLD MEETS NEW
By Gerry Lipkin, TCA# 75-7696 Summer e*Train 2023
When the pandemic set in, back in early 2020, I was forced to remain locked up. I decided to keep myself occupied by running my trains. Since most of my collection is comprised of European one-gauge pre-WWI trains or mint or near mint pre and post war units, I had to come up with something different. I chose what I considered a somewhat unique solution.
I had noted that several European manufactures were building fantastic, multi-function, extremely detailed all metal gauge 1 engines and cars. I decided to use these as my running stock and use my century old stations to dress up the layout.
Fortunately, my train room is large enough to support 90-foot loops of track and large enough to accommodate the turning radius of these new scale 1-gauge trains that I was acquiring. At first, I built two loops of track and shortly thereafter I added two more loops with switches to move the trains from one track to another.
Those collectors who have been fortunate enough to travel through Europe in recent years can attest to the fact that towns where the train stations were fortunate enough to have survived the bombings of WWII and still accommodate new modern trains running through the older stations. As a result, I have been able to recreate a very realistic appearance. My layout is still in its early stages of development and this project should take me several more years to complete.
I strongly recommend to our readers that if they have not yet seen how these amazingly realistic trains operate to check them out on You tube. The most prolific manufacturers of these gauge 1 scale model trains are Marklin and KM1. Both companies are in Germany and their products can be found on their web sites or on eBay.
