Welcome to the forum   
Welcome Guest! To enable all features please Login or Register.

Notification

Icon
Error

Share
Options
View
Go to last post in this topic Go to first unread post in this topic
Offline mike c  
#1 Posted : 13 October 2014 20:13:40(UTC)
mike c

Canada   
Joined: 28/11/2007(UTC)
Posts: 7,880
Location: Montreal, QC
There were a few posts in topics like "What new models would you like to see…" where people asked for more freight cars to go with Swiss locomotives for all eras. The nice thing about modelling Switzerland is that because the country is in the middle of the continent, it has always been possible to see freight cars from all over the continent travelling on Swiss rails. This traffic could consist of trains travelling through Switzerland from one country to another, whether it be Germany to Italy, France to Austria or any other traffic from north to south or vice-versa. It can also consist of trains (or freight cars) travelling from one country to a point within Switzerland.
Normally, freight arriving in Switzerland would be sorted at marshalling yards located near the major points of entry. Freight entering Switzerland at Basel was typically sorted at Muttenz and would then be transported to it's next destination, which, in the case of traffic to Italy, would be either the yards at Chiasso (Gotthard) or Domodossola (Simplon). The same would occur at Schaffhausen, at Vallorbe or any other point of entry.
Freight destined for points in Switzerland would be detached from international trains a those yards and would be attached to Swiss trains that were heading for that destination or the closest major centre, where the cars would be marshalled anew and attached to local trains for the final delivery.
So, if you have one of the Sets with the famous Crocodile, and you are looking for a typical consist, you can choose pretty much any suitable freight car from the era you wish to model. A very typical sight in would be the slanted roof FS boxcars, mixed with German (DB/DR) cars and even with some Belgian, Dutch or other cars too.
Just pay attention to the era. 1950s/1960s cars would most likely have the RIV Europ labels on the car sides. 1970s and more recent cars would have the RIC numbers on the cars, which indicate whether those cars are national or for international traffic and often show which countries the cars are authorized to operate in.

A very nice, and typical consist for the Crocodile would be a unit train of gravel cars, such as the 46331. A typical train would have multiple cars, so you would need 3-4 sets of 3. Maerklin made this set with each car having a number, which is a little more evident. For sticklers, those numbers on the sides of the hoppers can easily be modified or removed.

My Crocodile comes from the 26730 Set (Era III) and I have added a few of the slanted roof Italian box cars and a few other DB and FS cars. I think that this makes for a very typical train from around 1963-1968.
For my more modern freight trains, I have assorted Ae 6/6, Re 4/4II, Re 460, Re 474, Re 482, Re 484 and other locos with an assortment of cars, some made up of a mix of cars and others consisting of a unit train of tank cars (Wascosa), containers (Hupac or AAE), Rola (Hupac (SBB) or RAlpin (BLS)). The mixed train is still my favourite, because of all the colours of the various private cars that make up such trains.

A lot of inspiration for my consists comes from childhood memories from the year I spent in Switzerland, but even more of it comes from the photos in the assorted books in my collection, notably the ones by Marti and Trueb (Die Gotthardbahn, Loetschberg und Simplon, Bahnen der Voralpen) which have a wealth of information. For those who do not have these books, I can recommend the website http://www.polier.ch/page/archiv/Fotoarchiv.htm under the P Sutter section, which includes many photos of SBB and BLS trains (and others) from Era III through to Era V.

I hope that this info is of use and helps you build more interesting and prototypical consists for your Swiss freight trains.

Regards

Mike C
thanks 4 users liked this useful post by mike c
Offline Oliver SBB-CFF-FFS  
#2 Posted : 13 October 2014 23:29:43(UTC)
Oliver SBB-CFF-FFS

Sweden   
Joined: 22/06/2011(UTC)
Posts: 544
Thank you for the inspiring read Mike.
You don't happen to have any pictures of trains from your childhood days to share?

Edited by user 14 October 2014 21:32:17(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

SBB Era IV - VI
Users browsing this topic
Forum Jump  
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.

| Powered by YAF.NET | YAF.NET © 2003-2024, Yet Another Forum.NET
This page was generated in 0.236 seconds.