Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

Post by jacquesm » Thu, May 17, 2018, 9:47 PM UTC

Someone wrote: post #27

parliament32 wrote: post #15

Private train cars are the most interesting part. I wonder how signaling works? Does each house/"station" have its own fork in the tracks for getting their private train car home?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lüttmoorsiel-Nordstrandischm... has a schematic of the track. Looking at the map, it seems there are only two endpoints to the line on the island. On the other hand, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordstrandischmoor claims there are only 4 households on the island, so even assuming each has its separate fork, “each house” isn’t that much. I wonder what system they have to prevent the…

Post by theoh » Thu, May 17, 2018, 10:03 PM UTC

flyinghamster wrote: post #12

theoh wrote: post #4

There are a couple of significant and actually, physically, miniature 15" gauge steam railways in the UK. I say a couple because the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway (Cumbria) and the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (Kent) are the preeminent ones. They both served as genuine forms of transport at various points in their histories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romney,_Hythe_and_Dymchurch_Ra...

North Wales has several ~2 foot gauge steam railways as well, though they're not exactly "miniature." Ffestiniog Railway from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog, and Welsh Highland Railway from Porthmadog to Caernarfon: http://www.festrail.co.uk/ Talyllyn Railway from Tywyn Wharf to Nant Gwernol: https://www.talyllyn.co.uk/

Post by Erwin » Thu, May 17, 2018, 10:27 PM UTC

Post by azernik » Thu, May 17, 2018, 10:51 PM UTC

TipVFL wrote: post #50

The neatest part of this article was the fact that these trains used to operate by sail. It's a strange image to imagine but it makes a lot of sense for an incredibly windy area with rails. My uncle is actually a tiny train enthusiast. He bought really old schematics for a full-size steam powered locomotive and scaled them down, machining every little piece from blocks of metal. He has been working on it for 20+ year…

Post by gowld » Thu, May 17, 2018, 10:57 PM UTC

TipVFL wrote: post #50

The neatest part of this article was the fact that these trains used to operate by sail. It's a strange image to imagine but it makes a lot of sense for an incredibly windy area with rails. My uncle is actually a tiny train enthusiast. He bought really old schematics for a full-size steam powered locomotive and scaled them down, machining every little piece from blocks of metal. He has been working on it for 20+ year…