Category: Introduction

Introduction, Rail-Life Operations1 Comment

Effem in Verden: How a Pet-Food Factory Shaped the VWE (Part 2)

traiNmaster

Deutsche Version weiter unten, hier klicken. In Part 1, I looked at the business behind Effem: why people buy particular foods for their animals, how manufacturers build brands, and why production and distribution have to keep changing with the market. Returning to Verden with that background, I began to see the factory differently. The loading ramps and sidings were the visible end of decisions about products, investment, customers and transport. To understand why Effem became so important to the Verden-Walsroder Eisenbahn, I needed to follow those decisions through the life of the works. There is a striking contrast at the centre … Continue reading Effem in Verden: How a Pet-Food Factory Shaped the VWE (Part 2)

Introduction, Rail-Life Operations2 Comments

Mars and the Pet-Food Business: How It Works and What Makes It Difficult (Part 1)

traiNmaster

Deutsche Version weiter unten, hier klicken. When I started researching Effem, I followed the railway wagons. But the more I learnt about the company, the more I realised that I needed to understand what stood behind those loads: the products, the people buying them and the business supplying them. Why did one manufacturer need so many brands? How did owners’ expectations and shopping habits change what it sold? Why produce different foods in different factories? And how could a growing pet-food business eventually generate less railway traffic? Those questions lead from the factory gate to supermarket shelves, household budgets and a … Continue reading Mars and the Pet-Food Business: How It Works and What Makes It Difficult (Part 1)

Introduction2 Comments

Internationaler Tag der Modelleisenbahn 2. Dezember | 2nd December International Model Railway Day

traiNmaster

It is great to be part of the world’s greatest hobby, as our fellow model railroad friends from the other side of the Atlantic call it. Here in Europe and especially in Germany, we celebrate 2nd December as the International Model Railway Day (dt. der internationale Tag der Modelleisenbahn). It was an initiative of the well-known SWR Eisenbahn-Romantik series host Hagen von Ortloff, whom I had a chance to meet at the International Modellbahn Ausstellung 2021 (en. international model rail exhibition) in Cologne. As part of this multi-facet and exciting hobby, I would like to share and spread the interest … Continue reading Internationaler Tag der Modelleisenbahn 2. Dezember | 2nd December International Model Railway Day

Introduction, Layout PlanningLeave a comment

All Aboard!

traiNmaster

Finally, I got the green signal to proceed, just like the engineer on this Deltic diesel loco. Well, I won’t be charging ahead at full throttle but at least I could pick up some speed – something to do over the autumn and winter seasons and to get my mind off work during the weekends. The drawings for my tilt-table layout, which has been gathering dust for the last few months, are now out of my file and are being fine-tuned. Oliver Bachmeier’s Neustadt layout – at least with some modifications – will come alive in N-scale on a 2.5m x 1.2m 2-level layout. I have a couple … Continue reading All Aboard!

IntroductionLeave a comment

Welcome to germaN160 by Trai-N-master

traiNmaster

Welcome to germaN160 by Trai-N-master. This blog documents my first layout progress and discusses the processes, techniques and lessons learned from my first modular N-scale layout here in Germany. I called this blog germaN160, both to signify my host country and the railway I am modelling as well as my choice scale. Apparently, “germ” also means “a cell that has all the information to grow into a complete adult organism (“germ cell”). I hope that my layout will have a chance to grow into a complete layout as a life-long project. I am still learning about model railway especially in … Continue reading Welcome to germaN160 by Trai-N-master