(moved here from BW-Z Saga page 4 on 18 Dec 01)
Actually, you can't thin an 8718 body; all you do is remove the clear window castings and trim out the nibs which hold them and the little roof gussets. Eventually, I'll cut out the rear windows individually, sand away their inner halves, polish the inner surfaces a bit (don't really want the motor showing), and glue them back in their openings (VERRRRY carefully!).
I had to keep the front truck and forward chassis because that's where the reversing lighting and circuitry is.
Innards of the (now) self-propelled 8718 Cab Car showing standard commuter truck at front (right) and 8874 chassis with only rear truck (left) cut into rear of car. Note Märklin connector to allow the current pickup to pass between the car front chassis and diesel rear chassis:
That single wire and connector shown don't allow for reversing; I will substitute two wires and the mini-connector shown in front to allow reversing the head/tail lights:
By the way, the diesel chassis has dropped down at the chassis front/car center in the lower photo; it stays in place when clicked into the body (how fortuitous!) BUT, if your track undulates in the slightest, the fuel tank can graze the railhead and short because of the extra-long car wheel base. The proper solution is to have level track; otherwise you may have to grind away a bit of the tank bottom.
This rig pulls two 8716/17 cars and a regular (unpowered) 8718 Cab Car but occasionally gets a wee bit unhappy on tight curves with only one driving truck and a third 8716/17 in the consist.
When I stopped on the previous page, I had written, "Now, all I have to do is lug the digital camera, tripod, AC adaptor, lights, etc., down to the cellar and document the framing and the bare layout before putting all that garbage (I mean all those buildings) back on the Homasote!"
Well, no sooner said than done! Here it is; this is the underside of the layout with the extension support system in place:
[Please pardon the wires hanging all over the place; there's a lot of rewiring to be done, yet!]
and here are details of the support system; if it seems overdone, there was no way to extend the original framework without completely rebuilding the whole layout:
and here is the whole thing, stripped down to only track, with the extension in place; the yard tracks are not yet fastened down:
You can readily see the raw cut where the "Justice Arthur E. Mayer Flood Control Project" allows a track to run through the "levée" to the new yard. Flood control gates will follow, as will cuts for Loansum Road and Py Road.
The yard track is not quite down permanently yet (02 Mar 99), but all those existiing buildings are back in place and all the many (even more, now) vehicles and rolling stock go on and the wiring gets cleaned up next and VOLARE!
Of course, then I'll have to louse up everything by scrapping all the Märklin 7000-series controller boxes and building a reasonably proper control panel with toggles for the track and push buttons for the turnouts!
What happened next is that I had to move (several times) and am (as of April 1999) back in my orignal house with the giant HO Berlinerwerke and the Z Berlinerwerke is still stripped down and not yet reassembled!
I had written here of my discovery that some old 8505 220mm (813/16") track sections have the rails offset; it doesn't belong here and has been moved to Strange 8505 220mm Track Sections on Z-Scale Page 3.
I got (11 Mar 99, via Walthers) my P&M Bridges & Bents (of Akron, Ohio - formerly Rain Tree) 1050 , 1060, and 1070 N-scale wooden bents (20', 40', and 60'), which scale out to 27½', 55', and 82½' in Z. These will just barely fit in the Mercerized Bents Fit-Up Yard around the cranes. Now, does anyone make truly microscopic NBW castings? I think I'll use shortened Märklin #8999 track nails to fake them (who'll even notice?).
If you look at the photos of the Berliner Bessere Ballast Belastungen und Sams Schöner Schotter und Schlake Zech (the Ballast and Gravel Tipple), you may note that the front bumper of the dump truck with its body upended at the tipple lower dump house is almost at the outer track. Well, I happened to pick up a copy of the August 1998 "Railway Age" and, on page 91, there's an ad for rental of R. W. Reese, Inc. Hi-Rail Rotary Dump Trucks; the dump body turns 90º and then tilts. A perfect solution and instantly accomplished; as soon as the digital camera is back on line, I'll show you.
Speaking of the tipple and pictures thereof, I just realized that I have never put up the detailed photos of the Berlinerwerke-Z and their captions; these were made up in an album taken to the first of several Z-scale get-togethers on 28 Jun 97 and various subsequent model railroad meetings and conventions but no one else has seen them. Sorry 'bout that! It has been rectified on Continuation Page 6 (07 Aug 03).
I got a call from a hobby shop on 02 Jul 00 that my Märklin #2637 had come in. I didn't recognize the number and had no idea what it was or when I might have ordered it (certainly, not recently). It turns out to be in the U.S.-made Classic American Series of cast resin buildings, the Country Church. Don't even ask how long ago I ordered it; it will be a chapel on the BW at the "northeast" corner of the Backhoe Road and Railroad Avenue. I don't like the proportions of the steeple; I first thought to cut off the steeple and belfry, remove the belfry, and replace the steeple directly in place of the belfry. Another possibility would be to leave the belfry and put crenelations on it (without a steeple); here are the original and both options; I think I'll go for the first:
(08 Jul 00 photo and two "doctored" variations by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III.)
The first option has the distinct advantage, that if I have no belfry, I can't be accused of having bats in it!
15 Sep 00 - Here is a weird one [see the following page (full) for
it's place in the BW-Z tour sequence]; a homeowner on Long Island, near me, on the
south side of Route 25A ("Northern Boulevard"), at 6812 North Hempstead Turnpike in
Oyster Bay Cove, just east of East Norwich, has drastically expanded his/her home
(actually joined two separate stuctures) across a driveway such that it greatly
resembled the Neustadt/Weinstrasse signal tower (or one very similar to it - I found
the model I'm looking for, with a large observation bay window in the center of the
bridge), but here are the modified Kibri #6730 Z tower, the Faller #124 HO version,
and the house (please pardon the roll-off trash container):
(Jun 97 photos by and © 1997, 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved.)
(14 Sep 00 right-hand photo by and © 2000 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved.)
22 Sep 00 - That more appropriate model is Vollmer's HO #5735 "Stuttgart" Signalbox, as shown on the front cover and on page 26 of their 1998/99 catalog:
As the house grew, the resemblance became even more startling/uncanny, but as of 18 Nov 00 it became less so because they were finishing the exterior and the central "playhouse" (or whatever) were walled but the walkways on either side were not. I wondered if the owner is a model railroader and would put on a Stuttgart-style balcony? What goes on underneath, on and on either side of the driveway (light or STOL plane runway)? Is it so high to withstand the 1,000-year flood (it's about 150' above MSL and about 2½ miles from Long Island Sound)? Mind you, all this is only about 100 yards from the highway and in plain view. Maybe it's not a residence after all but a fancy traffic counting station? Oh, yeah! Actually, it is an ideal mother/daughter house or one for a divorced couple with children to share or for two couples who have swapped mates and have children in common (I kid you not - this last arrangement actually pertained in this area once, about 30 years ago - but it didn't last, not surprisingly).
Update - 07 Jun 01 - the walkways have wooden railings, the intermediate supports are gone, and there is a small island under the central pavilion, supporting it on four huge lally columns, and the landscaping is almost done; here's a ca. 01 Jun 01 photo (the columns are barely visible against the white van):
(ca. 01 Jun 01 photo by and © 2001 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved.)
Oh, I know what it's for; it's a grandstand for go-cart racing!
Here it is ca. 13 Sep 01, fully completed and landscaped, flying flags because of the 11 Sep terrorist attack (thanks), with inexplicably-dark green paint obscuring some details and the steel lally posts enclosed in wood columns:
(ca. 13 Sep 2001 photo by and © 2001 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved.)
October 2006 - Yikes! It's all gone! The whole complex is gone and in its
place arose a perfectly ordinary (if rather elaborate) home:
(ca. 15 Oct 2006 photo by and © 2006 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved.)
Click here to return to BW-Z Tour sequence.
03 Mar 01 Update - Well, I unpacked the BW-Z at long last; it's been up on its end behind a dresser since Apr 99! Having gotten the LIRR #401 chassis and then having picked up my #88065 V 32 001 Diesel-Pneumatic (compressed air) loco (at "Even More Z" and "V 32 001"), I summoned the energy to drag out the layout, dust it (I never covered it because I was going to set it right up - oh, yeaaaah!), reattach the extension and legs*, upright the whole thing, plug it in, and try it. Nuthin', nada, nichts, rien, semmi, nani no mai koto, zip, zilch. I completely forgot I was in the middle of rewiring when I moved. No problem; rig jumpers and try again. Same result. Uh, oh! Back to the drawing board! Also, I'm allergic to dust and - - - oh, my!
* - There are two things I did right that may be of some interest. When I knocked the layout down and took the then-new extension off, I used an 8½" x 11" track plan to keep track (pun) of the screws by simply threading them into the plan exactly where they fit on the layout. Admittedly, I had a deuce of a time remembering where I'd stashed the plan, but it turned up quickly enough after some false starts and, with several different types and sizes of screws (24 in all), it sure made reassembly a snap. The other thing I'd done while the layout was on its end was to cut the legs shorter; it had been up at the 46½" level (as I recall) and I dropped it down to 43½" (less likely to catch things with my cuffs that way - I stand at the layout (or lean against a high stool) when I run it or work on it and like the action up close, "in my face" - I'm almost 6' tall).
If you look at the photos of the Berliner Bessere Ballast Belastungen und Sams Schöner Schotter und Schlake Zech (the Ballast and Gravel Tipple), you may note that the front bumper of the dump truck with its body upended at the tipple lower dump house is almost at the outer track. Well, I happened to pick up a copy of the August 1998 "Railway Age and, on page 91, there's an ad for rental of R. W. Reese, Inc. Hi-Rail Rotary Dump Trucks; the dump body turns 90º and then tilts. A perfect solution and instantly accomplished; here's a grab shot to show you:
(08 Aug 03)
(08 Aug 03 photo by and © 2003 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved.)
(The body pin and chassis socket really should be whittled a bit to get the body to
raise and tilt properly.)
Speaking of the tipple and pictures thereof, I realized that I had never put up the detailed photos of the Berlinerwerke-Z and their captions; these were made up in an album taken to the first of several Z-scale get-togethers on 28 Jun 97 and various subsequent model railroad meetings and conventions but no one else has seen them. Sorry 'bout that! It has been rectified; see the succeeding page.
Continued from:
Berlinerwerke-Z Saga,
Berlinerwerke-Z Saga Continuation Page 2,
Berlinerwerke-Z Saga Continuation Page 3, and
Berlinerwerke-Z Saga Continuation Page 4, and
continued on:
Berlinerwerke-Z Saga Continuation Page 6,
including a Tour of the Berlinerwerke-Z.
For tall tales of the BW and its equipment and such, visit the Berlinerwerke Apocrypha page.
For more and better illustrations of the tall tales and such, keep in touch; as you see, I have my digital camera (11 Jan 99 - a belated Xmas present - an SLR, no less) and I'm learning fast!
If you like this sort of nonsense, take a gander at Jim Wells' incredible 
and at the AW NUTS Magazine site, "A Publication of the A.W. N.U.T.S. Garden Railway Society".
Customers of the Berlinerwerke who fly (instead of using rail passenger service - horrors!) are invited to travel on Lion Air;
I'd be Lion if I didn't warn you to keep your tongue in your cheek on this one!
THUMBS UP!
THUMBS UP! - Support your local police, fire, and emergency personnel!
S. Berliner, III
To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.
of this series of Berlinerwerke-Z Saga pages.
To tour the Z-scale pages in sequence, the arrows take you from the Z-scale index page
to the first page, Z-Scale, then to continuation pages 2, 3 and 4, the Z articles page, the 6 BW-Z saga
pages, and, and finally to the current Ztrack page.
© Copyright S. Berliner, III - 1999, 2001,
2006
- All rights reserved.
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