The Broc Branch in Om scale - an ambitious project that stalled for a decade but is now reawakening

[40 058]

Those trucks were a good find! Nice to have them just sat around ready to use.

 

Volvo milk tanker - possibly worthy of a repaint into another livery more suited to the area your modelling? Failing that, due to its age maybe it could become an older truck sold off from its first operator and in use with some other company? Loads of ‘used’ trucks had that treatment in their later life. Maybe not even as a milk tanker, and instead used to carry fuel/oil/chemicals or even give it the weathering treatment to have it in use with one of the local farms for carrying water or something? 
You could even remove the tanker body (usually just screwed on underneath) and re body the back. Flatbed or drop side maybe.

 

Saurer refrigerator truck - sounds perfect for the factory area to be honest! Maybe just repaint it into suitable livery.

 

Renault flatbed - definitely a good call for weathering as an old farm truck. Not so sure about the hay though given your time period. Can the load be removed from the bed? If so that then gives you a good flatbed you could either load with something else or just leave empty. Farms often do keep the odd old truck around just for shifting things as needed or helping with harvest at that time.

 

Im pretty sure somewhere I’ve got a few spare truck bodies if you fancy converting one of those you have? 
There’s definitely a wood bodied drop side body with a removable canvas canopy here somewhere that should fit. I’ve got a few cabs spare too if you fancy them!? Ones a Berliet (French) and there’s a Pegaso (Spanish) I think too. I’d need to have a look in my shed.

The drop side with canvas canopy could make a truck very similar to the one with the trailer in the bottom photo of the cement depot!

 

Volvo F88’s and 89’s are available in 1:43. Usually quite easily available too. That Jumajo seller on eBay stocks a rigid body F89 for a reasonable price which could be converted to something better for your layout.

 

Painting them is easy! They just screw together for the most part, so you can separate the chassis, cab and body. Cabs are diecast so they can be stripped and treated exactly the same as the cars (the separate parts are all attached exactly the same way) the plastic body you can just give a rub down with fine sand paper or a fibreglass pencil then prime and paint it. 
While the rear bodies are not often directly interchangeable between different makes of truck they can often be made to fit with a little bit of work. Even scratch building a new body isn’t difficult. Something like a flat bed with a head board behind the cab is dead easy.

Heres a Thames I converted from a Coke bottle truck into a generic flatbed. Not finished yet but gives an idea. Very simple!

 

 

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

That's brillant, lots of ideas and many thanks for the inspiration. I'll have a think and maybe we can do some swaps of bits and pieces once I've worked out a plan.

I think the hay load can be removed from the Renault with a bit of persuasion - no idea whether there is any detailing on the deck underneath but there's only one way to find out.

The drop side with canvas canopy seems to have been very popular in this part of Switzerland, usually (but not always) with a distinctive peak along the middle of the canopy, like this old one I linked earlier, but the style continued in use into the 1990s at least. Also, the use of rigid trucks with 4-wheel trailers seems to have been more common than artics in this area.

On the topic of trailers, this earlier, 1971 picture nicely shows one of the GFM's cement trucks, with trailer, coming into Bulle goods yard. Do any of the 1/43 truck manufacturers make drawbar trailers?

Meanwhile on the right of the picture railcar 111 is coupled to two flat wagons loaded with cement tanks - these demountable tanks are quite distinctive to the location and period. Whilst cement traffic was important to the GFM I don't think it was that significant on the Broc branch so I'm just going off at a tangent here...

Here's some closer views of some of the wagons:

Anyway, I'm getting distracted...

 

The 1980 aerial photo that I've posted bits of before including the staff car park in the yard, also shows a lot more of the town of Bulle and hundreds of road vehicles. This van hiding on a street has given me the justification I needed for a VW LT or two, though I may not model this exact type as I can't see much of it. I've ordered a pair of LT's, a high-roof van ('Mazda' rally version) which I intend to repaint into a much plainer colour scheme of blue with white roof (to match one that a friend of mine had as a basic camper), and a yellow pickup which may well be weathered and loaded with logs.

[Mol_PMB]

1 hour ago, 40 058 said:

Renault flatbed - definitely a good call for weathering as an old farm truck. Not so sure about the hay though given your time period. Can the load be removed from the bed? If so that then gives you a good flatbed you could either load with something else or just leave empty. Farms often do keep the odd old truck around just for shifting things as needed or helping with harvest at that time.

These photos from Fuego81 on Flickr are perhaps a good inspiration for what the Renault model could look like, though this seems to be a shorter wheelbase version:

Or maybe I should take the weathering a bit further?

 

[40 058]

I’ll dig out those spare bits tomorrow, I know exactly where they are! I’ll put you a few pics up to see if they’re much use.

 

If your Renault hay truck doesn’t have any bed detail under the load just replace it or over-lay it with some embossed plank plastic sheet. That’s all the bed is made from on that Thames I posted.

One other tip… when you start trying to dismantle the trucks, they seem to have a habit of hiding one of the screws that hold it together underneath the spare wheel under the chassis if it has one!

 

That old green Renault flatbed looks absolutely ripe for modelling! Faded oxidised paint and falling apart bed! Something like that would look perfect as a farmers truck. Maybe not quite as rough as that but it could certainly be believable as the local farmer taking a few milk churns and crates of eggs into town to sell.

 

Im not sure there’s many truck sized drawbar trailers available, I do know there’s a few but most seem to be car transporter trailers. Mind you, they really wouldn’t take much to make from scratch or from an old truck chassis?

 

VW Lt’s sound great. I don’t have any of those so I’ll be interested to see them when you get hold of them. There is a fairly cheap chassis cab style version available with a gas can load. It’s actually a Pegaso built version of the LT so the grill and lights are slightly different but it shouldn’t take too much to sort.

 

Those bogie flat wagons look great. I assume those cement tanks are demountable? They’d make an interesting model, the wagons probably not too difficult to make but the shape of the tanks looks a bit awkward!

Are those single buffers on the ends? Or just curved plates to stop the wagons hitting each other?

[40 058]

Here’s the parts from my spares pile box!

 

Wood dropside body with canvas tent cover. Looks the right shape too with that triangular top. The cover just clips on so you can use it with or without.

 

 

 

Possibly not much good to you but it’s here anyway. Bottle truck/float body.

 

 

 

Assorted cabs.

Yellow is a Pegaso with interior and chassis.

Beige/yellow is a Berliet, with interior and wings etc etc all in the tray.

Blue is a Deutz with interior.

 

 

 

There’s also this rear body. I haven’t removed it from the chassis yet. Wood bodied high sided farm style truck.

Ill probably be converting the cab & chassis on this one to a tanker.

 

 

Completely up to you if you need or want any of those. They’re all just spares I’ll probably not use…

[Mol_PMB]

24 minutes ago, 40 058 said:

Here’s the parts from my spares pile box!

 

Wood dropside body with canvas tent cover. Looks the right shape too with that triangular top. The cover just clips on so you can use it with or without.

Completely up to you if you need or want any of those. They’re all just spares I’ll probably not use…

 

Many thanks for the kind offer, I'm sure we can sort out a deal. That dropside with the canvas top looks absolutely perfect for a Swiss truck (or indeed drawbar trailer). I still need to plan what I'm doing with the models I've got, and I'm away this weekend so there will be no immediate progress on anything...

 

This is what the postie delivered this morning:

These will become two cars for the GFM staff, and something for the farm (or an alternative load for a bogie flat wagon, instead of logs). 

 

14 hours ago, 40 058 said:

Those bogie flat wagons look great. I assume those cement tanks are demountable? They’d make an interesting model, the wagons probably not too difficult to make but the shape of the tanks looks a bit awkward!

Are those single buffers on the ends? Or just curved plates to stop the wagons hitting each other?

Yes, I've built the one bogie flat pictured above, and have another slightly different one half-built. The log load is removable so I could replace it with a demountable cement tank, or some farm implements, etc. The prototype railway used centre-buffers with screw coupling underneath; I'm using Kadees which aren't too bad in appearance and work well, and are fairly standardised in this scale.

 

As for drawbar trailers, I've found these options so far, though both are expensive and not ideal:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326205826028

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395506753685

You're right that one could probably be fashioned from oddments left over from various truck modification projects.

 

I must not start thinking about how two of these...

...could become one of these:

 

 

 

[40 058]

I’ll keep those parts aside, if you do fancy anything just let me know… 

 

Today’s arrival’s look ideal! Once the band of gun slingers are out of the Taunus and it’s wearing yellow paint it’ll look exactly right as that staff car.

Talbot looks great too. I’ve not had that version of it. Mines a white car with a black top. 
What’s that little tractor type thing!? I’ve never seen those before either.

 

Those drawbar trailers look lovely but my word they’re expensive! I think I’d be looking at scratch building and using up spare truck parts myself. That’s an awful lot of money for a 1:43 truck and trailer.

 

The Bus looks good, I’d be interested to see you do one as a GFM bendy bus! Maybe the surplus parts from the donor bus might help make a drawbar trailer? 
 

Your flat bogie wagon looks brilliant. I could just see that with one of those cement tanks on it. 
The detail looks absolutely superb too, one of the big benefits of the larger scales I suppose.

[Mol_PMB]

14 minutes ago, 40 058 said:

What’s that little tractor type thing!? I’ve never seen those before either.

 

There are a couple of them in this photo (on another one of the ubiquitous bogie flat wagons):

They've been split into two for transport, and I've just found that the model can also be split in the same way using the trusty triangular tool:

 

@chb2488 kindly identified them from the prototype photo as „Einachser“ (German) or "Monoaxe" (French) which enabled me to find a 1:43 model that was close, though not identical.

I think it represents the same type of machine but from a different manufacturer, and the trailer half on the model is more complete than the prototypes which seem to be being delivered as 'chassis-only' for the farmer to add their preferred superstructure. 

 

Here are some real ones:

http://www.einachser.org/holder/Holder/meine einachser.htm

There seem to be lots of ways I could use this model!

 

For today, it's a load on the daily mixed train:

 

 

 

[40 058]

That really does look brilliant! Definitely makes a great load on the flat wagon. Some securing chains and a bit of toning down the radioactive green paint maybe and it’s perfect! It looks good size-wise on the flat wagon too.

It’s basically just a small general purpose tractor type thing then looking at that website. You can get small crawler tractors for similar uses, just this looks a bit smaller and simpler with handlebars.

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

I haven't just been buying road and farm vehicles recently, I bought a batch of old slides of the GFM too. I'm gradually working through scanning them, here's the first dating from July 1973, 51 years ago:

This isn't on the Broc branch, but at Albeuve on the GFM's metre gauge 'main line'.

On my visit to Switzerland last month I stayed in the 'Auberge de l'Ange' seen here on the right, and the trains do still run right in front of the hotel!

The station building on the left, and the siding crossing the road to serve it, have long gone and the road has been widened in that direction so that the railway is no longer in the carriageway.

 

The train comprises a 1940s GFM railcar set fomed BE4/4 132 + ADZt 272 + Bt 261 all in original 2-tone green livery, hauling coach AB 302 from the neighbouring MOB.

Sister railcar 131 survives, restored to this livery, and I travelled on it along this bit of line on my recent visit. We also had an MOB coach and a GFM postal van in the train, but of older types than seen here.

 

A model of one of these railcars is an absolute must for the Broc branch, and I might even do two, one in each livery. But that's a long way in the future!

[Mol_PMB]

This one is more appropriate for the layout in both time and place:

A passenger train for Broc-Fabrique stands at the former Bulle station on 10th September 1981.
The train comprises GFM railcar BDe4/4 142 of 1972, originally delivered as a freight railcar painted dark green. It was converted to passenger use in 1980 and painted in the then-new orange and silver livery.
142 is hauling B 246, one of the 8 bogie coaches bought second-hand from the SBB Brunig line in the late 1960s.
 

141 and 142 were very poweful railcars as they were originally built for freight traffic. They were common on the Broc branch in the 1981-1992 period, especially on the heavier mixed trains or peak-hour passenger services.

One day I'll need a model of one of this pair in the early version of the orange/silver livery as seen here.

 

Here's 142 again, my photo from 2013, with a mixed train climbing out of Broc-Fabrique:

 

This scene has changed considerably with the standard gauge line completely realigned to ease the gradients and curves:

 

[Mol_PMB]

A couple more nice old photos from my recent batch of negatives purchased on ebay. These are Montbovon, junction between the GFM and MOB:

Be4/4 133 was the last of the class to keep its original livery (until 1980) though this photo dates from 20th June 1977:

 

Sister 132 was the first to be painted orange and silver, seen here in the street on 27th April 1979 not long out of the paint shop:

 

The first of the trio, 131, was the last to remain in service and has been preserved by GFM Historique. Seen here, also at Montbovon, last month:

 

[PaulRhB]

I have to say the older livery looks so classy even today, reminds me of the MOB and RhB-ACPE but I also like 142 in the red and white. Never been a huge fan of the orange and silver period 😎

[Mol_PMB]

37 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

I have to say the older livery looks so classy even today, reminds me of the MOB and RhB-ACPE but I also like 142 in the red and white. Never been a huge fan of the orange and silver period 😎

I tend to agree that the two-tone green is the smartest, though the orange and silver is what I remember from my early visits so I do like that too.

By having a slightly flexible modelling period of 1979-1985 I can include 133 and perhaps some trailers in two-tone green, as well as some of the more modern stock introduced in the early 1980s in orange and silver. And of course the older stuff in plain dark green.

 

The orange and silver went through several stages, initially with just the old GFM logo on the side (as with 142 a couple of posts up). Soon they reverted to using the 'LA GRUYERE' lettering in the same style as the 2-tone green livery but in silver on the orange, and still with the old GFM logo moved to the ends of the car. That could look reasonably smart, and this photo by Alain Gavillet on Flickr is definitely one of the trains I'd like to represent:

 

The revised GFM logo wasn't too bad, but it started looking tacky when the large lower-case 'La Gruyere' lettering was introduced, and then even worse when tpf logo panels were stuck on in vinyl! Still, the mixed trains were always more interesting on the Broc branch:

 

For a modern livery, the tpf red spot livery looks great on a variety of train types when the whole set is in a consistent livery:

Though most of my memories of the 2000s-2010s period is of a mish-mash of liveries which looked a mess.

 

 

 

The more recent ex-SBB Dominos with a few red spots stuck on the side are also disappointing - they didn't even clean them properly before sticking the spots on and you can see where the old SBB lettering was removed. The black around the windows, and lack of a big red spot on the ends detract from the livery too.

 

So I'm happy with my early 1980s modelling period and a mix of liveries, but I'll avoid the more recent liveries.

[Mol_PMB]

Talking earlier of the 141s in their original freight incarnation, they did occasionally haul passenger trains too.

Here's a great photo by André Knoerr on Flickr showing BDe 4/4 141 + Bt 262 + 261 + 263 + Bi 242 + 247 + 243 + 248 + 241 + 246:

The date is 10th June 1979, so the early end of my modelling period, and the 9-car train includes all three of the 1943 Bt driving trailers and six ex-Brunig coaches. I think it was for a scout camp, or perhaps military manouvres.

That photo isn't on the Broc branch, but this one dated 4 December 1976 is at Broc-Village:

Again Brunig coaches and one of the 1940s Bt trailers.

 

The other photo of a very long train on the Broc Branch that I've found is this one, also in 1976 and it looks like winter but without the blizzard:

This could be the same train formation but topped and tailed by a pair of older railcars - 111 at this end.

[40 058]

5 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Talking earlier of the 141s in their original freight incarnation, they did occasionally haul passenger trains too.

Here's a great photo by André Knoerr on Flickr showing BDe 4/4 141 + Bt 262 + 261 + 263 + Bi 242 + 247 + 243 + 248 + 241 + 246:

The date is 10th June 1979, so the early end of my modelling period, and the 9-car train includes all three of the 1943 Bt driving trailers and six ex-Brunig coaches. I think it was for a scout camp, or perhaps military manouvres.

That photo isn't on the Broc branch, but this one dated 4 December 1976 is at Broc-Village:

Again Brunig coaches and one of the 1940s Bt trailers.

 

The other photo of a very long train on the Broc Branch that I've found is this one, also in 1976 and it looks like winter but without the blizzard:

This could be the same train formation but topped and tailed by a pair of older railcars - 111 at this end.

That’s an impressive rake of stock behind a single railcar! They must have had a fair bit of grunt!

 

It’s a very picturesque place, some of the photos could be postcards or biscuit tins. Beautiful scenery in summer and winter.

[Mol_PMB]

Those railcars 141/142 are about 900hp in old money. Comparable with the RhB Bernina railcars 41-49 which were built around the sane time, also for demanding duties. 
The more recent Vevey and Stadler railcars on the tpf (former GFM) are about the same power, but the RhB Allegras are a lot more powerful. 
The steepest gradients on the GFM are 1:20 on the Broc branch, the ‘main line’ is more gently graded. 
 

And yes, the scenery is lovely. Maybe not as spectacular as the RhB though!

[PaulRhB]

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

And yes, the scenery is lovely. Maybe not as spectacular as the RhB though!

Having ridden a few of the metre gauge lines across the country I haven’t found one that isn’t lovely! Never actually ridden the MOB or GFM but have done the RhB, MGB, Zentralbahn, BOB, WAB and would happily spend more time on every single one. The worrying thing is it’s 41 years since I got hooked on a family holiday! 😆

[MOB 2002]

10 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Having ridden a few of the metre gauge lines across the country I haven’t found one that isn’t lovely! Never actually ridden the MOB or GFM but have done the RhB, MGB, Zentralbahn, BOB, WAB and would happily spend more time on every single one. The worrying thing is it’s 41 years since I got hooked on a family holiday! 😆

Off topic completely - but having also done RhB, MOB, MGB, BOB, Brunig, GFM, etc from 1992 onwards, I think the only one I wouldn’t rush back to would be the Centovalli.

 

Did it earlier this summer and it just didn’t inspire me. Not sure whether it’s the fact that both termini are grim underground jobs, or the fact that the rolling stock is a bit average, but it didn’t leave me wanting to do it again.
 

Every other Swiss narrow gauge line though … it’s only been a few weeks and I already need more!
 

Mark

[Mol_PMB]

I’m going back again in September for a Blonay-Chamby gala and an open weekend at GFM-Historique’s new workshop in Montbovon. Also for a couple more days at the MBC where there’s still freight to be seen. 

There are still plenty of metre-gauge lines in Switzerland I’ve never been to, and I probably ought to try and visit some more of them to complete the picture. Especially if there are others that carry standard-gauge freight. 

[MOB 2002]

It might be quite easy to squeeze the Diablerets line in if you’re doing Blonay Chamby. 
 

 

Only done it the once, but it was well worth an  evening out. Felt much more laid back than the likes of the MOB, in the summer at least. Interesting operation with the reversal at Le Sepey too.

 

Not sure if I fancy the September Blonay-Chamby gala, I’ve done one or two events there in the past. But the viaduct work is pretty impressive. Even more so that they’re still running trains during the work. Took this a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

I was told at one point that the plan was a completely new viaduct with the existing one left effectively as a monument. I’m glad that changed. 
 

Mark

[bantam61668]

On 27/07/2024 at 11:34, Mol_PMB said:

I’m going back again in September for a Blonay-Chamby gala and an open weekend at GFM-Historique’s new workshop in Montbovon. Also for a couple more days at the MBC where there’s still freight to be seen. 

There are still plenty of metre-gauge lines in Switzerland I’ve never been to, and I probably ought to try and visit some more of them to complete the picture. Especially if there are others that carry standard-gauge freight. 

I'm lucky enough to have lived in Bern for a few years in the past and have traveled over all Swiss railways lines (except Capolago Lago to Capolago the 1 train a day is always too early to justify the long journey) and love almost all the metre gauge lines, they are all unique and so different to anything else in Europe. I'm going back on Thursday for 10 days, flying to Geneva then plan to travel via Palézieux-Bulle-Spiez, boat to Thun then up to Bern. A few days visiting the in-laws/family then down to Graubünden for 5 days staying in Pontresina so plenty of chances to get some inspiration for the RhB model I am currently working on.

[Mol_PMB]

35 minutes ago, bantam61668 said:

I'm lucky enough to have lived in Bern for a few years in the past and have traveled over all Swiss railways lines (except Capolago Lago to Capolago the 1 train a day is always too early to justify the long journey) and love almost all the metre gauge lines, they are all unique and so different to anything else in Europe. I'm going back on Thursday for 10 days, flying to Geneva then plan to travel via Palézieux-Bulle-Spiez, boat to Thun then up to Bern. A few days visiting the in-laws/family then down to Graubünden for 5 days staying in Pontresina so plenty of chances to get some inspiration for the RhB model I am currently working on.

Very nice! In my dreams I'd like to tick off all the narrow-gauge lines. I haven't even completed all the RhB (though some bits I've done many times).

Did you get to Rueras on the MGB?

 

 

On 27/07/2024 at 12:04, MOB 2002 said:

It might be quite easy to squeeze the Diablerets line in if you’re doing Blonay Chamby. 
 

Only done it the once, but it was well worth an  evening out. Felt much more laid back than the likes of the MOB, in the summer at least. Interesting operation with the reversal at Le Sepey too.

 

Not sure if I fancy the September Blonay-Chamby gala, I’ve done one or two events there in the past. But the viaduct work is pretty impressive. Even more so that they’re still running trains during the work. Took this a couple of weeks ago.

 

Mark

 

Thanks for the ideas! I also went over the half-reconstructed viaduct a few weeks ago on the grand vintage tour of the CEV / BC / MOB / TPF network I went on.

I've been to a few other BC galas in the past and I find them rather enjoyable. The highlight was a trip in the postal compartment of MOB 2002, and it was nice to see it with the matching Pullmans!

 

I think I've done the AOMC from Aigle, but not the AL or the ASD, so those are good options for a spare day. I've also done the nearby BVB.

On the MBC I still need to visit the L'Isle branch.

[Mol_PMB]

I've made a start on some road vehicles for the Broc branch. The line runs beside a road for much of its length, and it's appropriate to have various vehicles at the stations, sidings, industries and farms on the line.

Additionally, my model of Bulle will eventually include part of the GFM staff car park and I thought it would be nice to represent some of the specific cars owned by the GFM staff during my modelling period. This is the best shot of the staff cars, but many of these vehicles also appear in the background of other photos at Bulle:

 

Encouraged by @40 058 who has been modifying and repainting a nice selection of O scale road vehicles, I've bought a few myself. The first three models victims have been duly selected, and are seen here prior to their treatment:

Very often, the model cars in themed liveries are much cheaper than the plain vanilla models. So here are a circus Range Rover, a Police Talbot Horizon, and a James Bond Ford Taunus (Cortina in the UK).

Referring to the car park photo above, the Taunus needs to be yellow with a black roof, the Rover needs to be mustard, and the Talbot will be silver to represent the vehicle just to the right of the Rover (not sure this is a perfect match but it's close enough).

 

The first step was to dismantle each vehicle and then strip the paint off the diecast shell. That's how far I've got so far, and they're drying off in the sun:

Looks like I still need to get a bit of old paint out of some crevices but they're fairly clean.

 

These shells will need a few holes filling, then priming and painting, and then I can reassemble the trim onto them.

I may also need to do some painting on the interiors (certainly the Range Rover needs tan-coloured seats) and there are some windows to replace since several of the donor vehicles have missing or painted side windows.

 

 

[40 058]

They look great already!👍

 

That little scene with them sat on the layout looks brilliant even unfinished! I don’t have any O gauge model trains to compare them with, but just in your photo you can really see how big O gauge actually is. Despite the scale between the cars and trains being slightly off you really can’t tell. It looks ‘right’ to me.

That car park area is going to look fantastic when your done.