TT gauge layout built by Mike Hillman:
The current layout came about because I went to Moscow in the early 1980s on
business, where I was given a daily allowance in Roubles. At the end of my stay
I had a significant value left, which had to stay in Russia, so I went to the
main toy shop in Moscow and used them up on Berliner Bahnen TT trains (all
steam). After some thought I decided to model modern image in the TT scale based
around my Moscow purchases. So I found the UK dealer and purchased more stock
(the black BR56, 2 DB 6 wheel coaches and some trucks are from Moscow).
Everything on the layout is as purchased and all buildings, etc. are plastic
kits from the DDR. Track and pointwork is steel.
The time is the early 1980s, when Eastern Europe was still part of the Soviet
empire and East Germany a separate state (the DDR). The layout is of a
fictitious location, south of Brno, in the Czech Republic, near to the Austrian
border. It is a junction on a single track electrified main line.
The main traffic on the line is a mix of passenger and freight between Znojmo
and Breclav. It also provides a useful route, avoiding Brno, for through trains
from East Germany to the Dalmatian Coast. Steam is still used in East Germany
and therefore it is still possible to see steam hauled traffic. As border
restrictions are being relaxed, there are also trains from West Germany using
the route.
A branch serving the town, Pamnice, on the other side of the range of wooded
hills, has not been electrified and trains are steam or diesel hauled. Most
traffic on the branch is through traffic from Znojmo; however there is one train
that terminates here. This does not warrant the provision of stabling facilities
for locomotives.
The layout appeared at the DHMRS Welwyn Garden City Exhibition in 2006 and
2008.