Enfield Town Model Railway Club

Retired or Dismantled Layouts Section

The Rhaetian Railways (RhB) are a metre gauge main line network serving the Canton of Graubunden in the south east of Switzerland, including the famous ski resorts of Klosters and St. Moritz.

The model is a fictitious location, but represents a typical small station on the Albula main line - the station building is an accurate model of the one at Surava, and is made of wood like the prototype. The period of the layout is 1985-1995, and the time of year is September.

The rock faces are made of coloured plaster, and on them are nearly 100 fir trees, made from string and garden wire. Also look out for the cows with typical Swiss bells round their necks, the well-fed tourists waiting for their train, the English railway enthusiast taking photos at the end of the platform, the Post Buses connecting with the trains and the working level crossing lights.

The track gauge is 12 mm and the scale of the models is 1:87 (H0m). Most of the track, locos and rolling stock are by Bemo. Some Peco track has been used in the hidden sidings. The layout features a selection of typical train formations, ranging from a local goods train, which also carries a few passengers, to the famous Glacier Express. More information on the Prototype RhB can be found (in English!) on their website.

ZORTEN'S LAST APPEARANCE

The exhibition at St John's Church, Loughton on 21st October 2000 was the last public appearance of Roger Elkin's Swiss metre gauge H0 scale layout, "Zorten". The layout was originally built in 1985, following holidays the previous couple of years to Switzerland, and in particular, Chur in the south-east corner, the HQ of the RhB. Since then, the layout has been used regularly at home, and has also appeared at exhibitions in Enfield (both Holtwhites Pavilion and St. Paul's Centre), Royston, Hoddesdon, Waltham Abbey, Northolt, Bressingham, Tolworth, Beckenham, Carlshalton, Letchworth, Southend, and at the Swiss Railways Society AGM at Stevenage. Time has taken its toll, and the overhead wires (which did actually work!) and track had become rather too fragile to withstand the rigours of exhibition life any longer, so it was decided to dismantle the layout. Parts of it will be incorporated into a new layout, which will include Swiss standard gauge as well as the existing metre gauge, and the scenic features will include a working funicular railway. The layout will be permanently located in the front bedroom, and will require two operators for normal use. It will also be able to accommodate up to 10 visitors watching the trains go by - and so provide a welcome alternative to the garden railway on a cold, wet night!

Text and photos © R. Elkin
revised 5th Feb 03

Roger is a member of the "Swiss Railways Society". The new Swiss layout mentioned above is called "Roggwil" and Roger's garden railway is "The Backford and Stanton Light Railway". Ed.

revised 15th Dec 05

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