Roco/Fleischmann smartRail - THE executive desk accessory!!

With the end of our annual pre-order discount program for Roco and Fleischmann new items ending this weekend, March 17th, we wanted to feature one of the most exciting releases from these firms at the Toy Fair - the smartRail rolling track stand.  Many of you may be familiar with existing locomotive roller test stands - where you set you locomotive wheels on a stand with small rollers to support each wheel or axle. These are mainly used for testing locomotives and in most cases only the powered wheels of the locomotive are in motion - for tender driven steam locomotives this means roller stands never show the amazing action of the running gear and large driver wheels!

The smartRail system is a completely new experience in that the rollers have been replaced by a continuous steel band for each rail, allowing the locomotive to run exactly as it would on your layout. The smartRail features a complete Roco Z21 digital system with WiFi built in to control the locomotive via touch controls on the stand or via you smartphone or tablet with the Z21s wireless features.  All of these features and more add up to make the smartRail the best locomotive stand we have come across.  We have one in our store and simply cannot stop playing with it. 

Order your smartRail package before March 17th and save $$$ with out pre-order discount program for 2013! Click here for our full list of Roco/Fleischmann smartRail packages.

More details and video from Roco Fleischmann below!

Off to Nuremberg and the Toy Fair

We haven't been able to be much posted here this month as the store has been so busy and are short staffed with some staff off to the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany.  Once the Toy Fair is over and we finish posting the hundreds of new product announcements we will get back to a more regular posting schedule. 

In the meantime we wanted to share this quick overview of the Toy Fair to show you that it is not just model trains in Nuremberg - it is one of the largest toy and hobby trade fairs in the world! And stay tuned, we have lots of exciting plans for the year ahead!

Piko 2013 New Items Preview

This year's Nuremberg Toy Fair (or 'Spielwarenmesse') runs from January 30th to February 4th but many of the new items announcements are made public during the month leading up to the Toy Fair. The first of the major manufacturer announcements this year comes from Piko. With new product announcements in rolling stock and structure kits for G-scale, HO scale (DC and Marklin AC), as well as N scale, Piko's new item announcements have something for just about everyone.  Click here for the 2013 Piko New Items on the Piko.de website.

We will be adding all the Piko New Items to our store website once we have more details and pricing information from Piko.

New Photos of Al Fisher's Amazing Marklin HO Layout!

Our long-time customer Al Fisher just sent us some amazing new photos of his large Marklin C-track layout and they are stunning.  For earlier views of the layout and Al's layout track plansee his other galleries on our main photo gallery page. With the photos Al reminded us "pretty cool...remembering that all this merchandise came from Euro Rail Hobbies!!!".  What we think is even cooler is that Al had never built a model railroad before he started on this layout. It is a great demonstration of how the products we sell can allow any level of experience to create a photo-worthy layout.

For a larger view of each image you can click the 'full-screen' icon in the bottom right of the gallery.

2013 Marklin HO Museum Wagon Pictures

The first preview of the 2013 Marklin HO Museum Wagon has surfaced.  The set 'appears' to be based on the Albrecht Braun Stone/Concrete company from Lonsee. Founded in 1875 the company was honoured by the Wurttemberg crown, hence the crest on the wagon. It includes a lidded wagon and a truck with what looks to be a concrete block or stone load.  Once we have the final details from Marklin we will update this post.  Usually the Marklin Museum Wagons are only available to visitors to the Marklin Museum/World of Experience but we are generally able to bring in limited quantities into our store.  Stay tuned for availability and pricing as details emerge.

Building an N-Scale Layout - Risers and Sub-Roadbed

Risers and roadbed over the staging area

With the helix complete on my N-scale layout it was time to start putting in the risers and sub-roadbed for the main line up to the Hauptbahnhof level.  For the most part the risers supporting the sub-roadbed will be the same lightweight SPF 1x4 wood that the layout frame is made of. For stability they are all screwed into the main layout frame where possible.  Over the lower staging yard, I used risers at the front and back of the layout and then added 'bridge' pieces over the yard to provide the best access to the trains in staging.  Along the back of the layout I used tall support rises that would be approximately the final height of the branch line track.  Some may have to be carefully trimmed later on but it is easier to cut off than graft additional height on.

Watch the Real DB work on the Bahnhof Plattling Webcam

The holiday season has kept us busy so we have not had a lot of time for posting here lately but we did want to take a break to share one of our favorite websites. Years ago we posted on our Latest News page about the MySwitzerland.com web cam which was located in the cab of an SBB Re460 electric locomotive in MySwitzerland.com tourism advertising.  That cam seems to still be active but the site has fallen into a bit of disrepair.

This year we have been following the webcam at Plattling Bahnhof on webcam.deg.net which overlooks Bahnhof Plattling in Lower Bavaria.  First opened in 1860, Bahnhof Plattling is the hub for a number of lines and sees a wide mix of passenger and freight traffic.  Perched high above the main station area and updating every few seconds, the webcam allows you to watch the shunting moves and passing trains at all hours of the day.  The time difference and short daylight hours this time of year can make viewing daylight images a rare sight (and snow occasionally blocks the lens) but the camera works surprisingly well at night and you can always browse the archive gallery.

And if you enjoy the cam please consider sending a small donation to the firm who hosts and maintains the camera so it can continue to operate.