Wolfen-Waldau

Now you can visit a new part of the city of Wolfen: Wolfen-Waldau. The only problem is that only very small people can enter. They must be as small as 10 centimeters, if you are bigger you can't pass the doors.

Like in real life, at first there is a plan. Unfortunately, it isn't in scale, but the major idees are to see. And if you are disappointed about the poor quality (GIF-files), please look at my self-made page to download the drawings.

The photos have been taken from the year 1995 till now (2002). Our Internet-provider spent more space for homepages that's why you can find besides some pictures already known new ones showing the extension of 1998. All photos are available in a better quality now. I hope the download won't last very long (file size per picture ca. 22 - 30 kB - please be patient during loading). On my videopage you can find some videoclips about the layout.

For this year, the planning of an extension of the existing layout to the "locomotive roundhause" is under way. The changes are already approved by the home government.

And, so the story goes on...

You can see all the plans as drawings on my layout page.

On another page I present photos and drawings (as far as possible) of self-made cars or wagons and the possibility to download the plans as *.zip-files, respectively. To open these files you need WinZip and the planification software WinRail V. 4.0 (full version!). If you don't have the right version you are not able to open these files!
Some is already finished, the coreesponding photos you find on that page. In the future, it will show the progress on the extension of the existing layout and other projects. An occasional visit will be worthwhile for you!

Perhaps a few words about the television show "Crazy about Railways - Model Builders in Their Kingdom" (Verrückt nach Eisenbahnen - Modellbauer in ihrem Königreich). At the end of June 1998, a camera crew was here and filmed on the layout, which was then shown on October 18, 1998, June 6, 1999 and March 23, 2000 on N3, on January 29, 1999 on B1, on April 4, 1999 and December 31, 2000 on SWR3, on May 15, 1999 on WDR3, on August 19, 1999 by ORB, on November 30, 1999 on 3sat, on August 28, 2000 and January 29, 2001 on MDR and on December 13, 2000 and July 4, 2001 on HR3 in the program of the TV stations. The MDR also dedicated an entire program to model railways (on February 4th and February 17th, 2001), where my layout also was shown.

The response was overwhelming; I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who visited my site or sent me an email. Even the counter at Webtraxx.de stopped working for a moment, so I had to reinstall it at freeware.de. After the broadcasts on N3 and SWR3, my site received almost 1,000 hits within a few days (normally, it's around 50-100). The craziest situation arose in 2002 during the live steam meeting in Sinsheim, where I was filming again. While it was still relatively quiet on Saturday, I was suddenly "fashionable" on Sunday, without knowing why. NDR had broadcast the long night of railways on N3, including "Crazy about Railways..."
As a result, one can say that the reaction cut across all areas; the youngest was 5 (I'm sure his dad helped with that), the oldest 67. The emails came from all parts of Germany, from Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, and central Sweden (!). Austria in particular seems to be able to receive N3 well; after the N3 broadcast on June 6, 1999, there were again a lot of emails from the Alpine republic. However, this time for the first time there was also an email from my hometown of Wolfen (after the 5th repetition!). Apparently, I am better known in Austria, for example, than in my own hometown (-; .

Not only active railway enthusiasts responded, but also many who remember the hobby from their childhood and no longer have time for it, but would like to see something like this again. There were also responses saying, "Next year we'll build something like this too..." Many thanks again for the invitations extended; we will get back to you in due course. A lively exchange of ideas has developed. In the meantime, we've even had visitors stop by (including from Sweden and the USA) who wanted to see the layout in person.

Judging by the emails received after January 29, 1999 (broadcast on B1) and April 4, 1999 (broadcast on SWR3), one concludes that Sunday afternoon is clearly the best time for this report. While only 8 emails were received after the broadcast on B1 and only 3 on MDR (B1 aired it Friday evening at 8:45 p.m. and on MDR Monday evening at 10:45 p.m.), the email inboxes were once again inundated with emails after the broadcast on SWR3 and the second broadcast on N3. However, on February 4, 2001, MDR had shown model railroaders in a long program at 8:15 p.m. (repeated on February 17, 2001 at 11:15 a.m.), which also included material from the previously announced program. The result ? 32 emails! The peak, however, was the long night of the railways on N3 on January 12, 2002. I returned from Sinsheim unsuspectingly and opened the mailbox: 45 emails.... I had actually assumed, after the 17th broadcast, that the situation would calm down by now ? far from it. The text file now has a size of (Starwriter) - 950 kB -> 400 (!) A4 pages. If anyone else is taking a long time to reply to an email, here's the explanation. Some people didn't find my website right away )-: , I hope this has been possible by now. Most simply entered "Bahnrolli" as a search term into a common search engine and landed here without any problems. Many wanted information about the weather resistance of the railway (which has now survived its fifth winter without any problems, apart from a jammed switching relay, a few broken light bulbs, and small parts torn off by the blackbirds, such as gutters and the ridges of the buildings ? we've already put up a sign saying that the blackbird "thugs" are banned from the layout, but they just don't follow it). One even replicated his mother's "special tool" for cleaning the tracks, but many just wanted to have a little chat. Thanks again to everyone (including the parents!), who were very pleased with this response. Since this program is obviously "traveling" through the three-channel network of ARD, it will surely appear again on other regional channels (BR3 is the only station that hasn't broadcast it yet ? well, in Bavaria, things just run a little differently (-; ). N3 even broadcast it a fifth time. Should this happen (and I find out in time), there will be a notice on the home page again.

Addendum from January 9, 2005: Things have quieted down a bit since then; at least there haven't been any repeats of the show in a long time. Incidentally, as far as I know, the show hasn't been on the "official" schedule in Bavaria to date. Strange, isn't it? (-;
Others have obviously also discovered this wonderful hobby ? which makes us happy here (and I explicitly include the parents ? and at this point, a heartfelt thank you for the many greetings). Not only do we enjoy a wonderful hobby together, but more than that, we meet regularly at meetings or exhibitions. Over the last three years, something of a scene has developed ? when I started this hobby here in 1995, these people could be counted on the fingers of one hand. While the economic conditions for pursuing such a hobby may not have developed particularly favorably recently, or even the railway may just be "mothballed" at the moment, spring will bring the time again when everything in Waldau, Wolfen's garden railway station, will be operational, and the railway will roll through the garden (-:

With that in mind ? have fun with your shared hobby!