Altburg-Blausee 3.0 - part 1

After a construction period of approximately 10 years and two major reconstructions over the last 10 years, a large H0 layout was created where a large border station forms the center. The total length of the track is almost 250 meters. From the (German) border station Altburg on one side a double main line track goes further into Switzerland (left traffic) and on the other side a double main line track goes to Germany (right traffic). On the German side of the station of Altburg, a single-track secondary line goes to the village of Erzberg to a large iron ore mine. From Altburg, the Swiss route goes up into the mountains to the village of Blausee where the line returns in a large (half-concealed) loop. From Blausee, a narrow-gauge line leaves the station square even further into the mountains. From Altburg, the German route goes down and via a long route to a large rail spiral which is located under the layout. This spiral is constructed in such a way that the trains run downwards in the inner spiral, almost to the ground. After this, the tracks swing to the outside of the spiral and rise again. This entire spiral has a diameter of 180 cm, is almost 9 revolutions high and is subdivided into 16 electrical blocks. An automatic block system ensures the safety of the traffic. The total row length of the spiral is almost 90 meters. The entire spiral has the function of a large staging with the result that a train which disappears in this spiral does not return very quickly. The German part of the track is provided with an automatic block system, the Swiss part is operated manually. Like the border station of Altburg, the Swiss part of the layout is operated by means of cab-control system, which makes it possible to control each train individually. This is therefore still an analog system. The entire layout is operated from three control units, whereby the presence of trains on invisible sections indicated on the control units. It is perhaps strange that this layout has more invisible sections than visible sections. The philosophy behind this is the following: one must imagine the visible part as a stage; the invisible part is the backstage area and the trains are the actors. A train appears from backstage, is performing the show (traction-change or shunting) and eventually disappears again to the backstage area.