The model railroad layout, called “Écluse 11”, was inspired by the locks in “La Vallée des Éclusiers” in the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France. In the mid-19th century, there was a need for a transport connection between the river Marne and the river Rhine. Therefore, the Marne-Rhine Canal (“Canal de la Marne au Rhin” was built. It is a hilly area so that a 45-meter difference in altitude had to be overcome. For this purpose, 17 locks were built over a length of almost four kilometers. These locks were in use until the late 1960s. At that time, ships on the canal were used to transport goods. Today,goods are transported by rail and the canal is mainly used for recreational traffic.
On the model railroad layout built in HO scale, one of these locks has been modelled in detail, namely “Écluse 11” (“Lock No. 11”). As a fully working lock where boats are shuttled, as it was done in reality. Vessels and boats are driven by a magnetic system. The lock functions as the original with movable lock gates and boats navigating in and out. Above the canal, there is a small town with a train station. The whole scenery gives an impression of what it looked like in the 1960s. The small, dreamy village is called “Vieux Jean” and located on a single-track line. Only short local trains and rail buses stop at the little station. Freight and long distance trains pass through.
Furthermore, there is a market square to the right of the train station, along the road near the residential buildings. The market square is called “Place de la République”. An orchestra plays music at the weekly market. There are lots of stalls selling food and drink. The French police (“Gendamerie”) are also present. The road over the unguarded level crossing leads down to the little port on the canal. There is a small boatyard, next to the lock, where repairs are made.
Built by the “Modelspoorteam de Maaslijn” and Jan van Munster, this masterpiece of rail transport modeling in HO scale is 244 cm long and 80 cm deep. On both sides there is a siding 75 cm long. At the back is a marshalling station. For train operation a digital DCC system and the computer program “Koploper” are used. On a base of plywood the landscape is built with Styrofoam. Plaster and latex molds were used for the rocks. The lock is entirely self-built. Water consists of styrene sheet with gloss varnish in different colors and three coats of high-gloss boat varnish. Greenery comes from Woodland Scenics and Heki, among others. The trees are homemade. Station and other buildings are from Artitec, AlsaCast, MKD Dioramaland and self-built. Boats are made by Artitec and motorized with parts of the FallerCar system. As lighting of the whole miniature world 10 LED spotlights are in use.
The model railroad layout, called “Écluse 11”, brings old times back to life and depicts what rail and ship transportation was like in the last century in France. The model railroad is a masterful idea and fantastically designed. This is model railroading at its best!
*Modelspoorteam de Maaslijn*
https://www.demaaslijn.com
*Pilentum Television*
https://www.pilentum.org