When I was a teenager in Stuttgart I enjoyed going to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and watching trains and people. Magazines from the news kiosks helped me learn German. Years later I saw a picture of the Stuttgart station modeled in N Scale (1/160) by Wolfgang Frey. I like passenger trains in N Scale, so this intrigued me.
A train station is a large building, so even at 160th actual size it requires a lot of space. I was surprised to read in the German model railroad press that this incredible model was “in a secret location” and not open for visitors. I’m not one to let “not open for visitors” get in my way, but I never found any way to contract Wolfgang Frey (If I were able to repeat those days I would have gone through the editor of the magazines).
Fast forward to today. Googling last summer while planning a trip to Germany I discovered, sadly, Wolfgang Frey had died, but his work was saved. I learned he not only modeled the train station, but about 500(!) surrounding buildings. No selective compression. Everything. I also learned the model had been relocated from its “secret location” (unused subway space) in Stuttgart to a public location in nearby Herrenberg, just a short walk from the train station. The exhibit is called “Stellwerk S” – control center S.
I was impressed. My usually-doesn’t-care-much-for-train-stuff wife was impressed. My German friend Jürgen was impressed.
I was impressed. My usually-doesn’t-care-much-for-train-stuff wife was impressed. My German friend Jürgen was impressed. The level of detail is incredible. The scale of the area covered is incredible. So many recognizable scenes. Imagining the amount of time put into the project is difficult – “about one building per week.”
The plastic lens mount on my 18-105mm Nikon lens broke. That was the only lens I took on the trip. So, the pictures are limited to iPhone shots. Still, they are worth a look.
Stellwerk S
Stuttgart train station
Stuttgart in N Scale
Front of the station
Stuttgart train station
Stuttgart in N Scale
N Scale passenger trains!
N Scale passenger trains!
N Scale passenger trains!
N Scale passenger trains!
Me 🙂
Stuttgart in N Scale
Stuttgart in N Scale
There really are houses just like this
Old Streetcar
Stuttgart 21 in N SCALE
If you have an interest in Stuttgart, passenger trains, N Scale models, or just operating dioramas, Stellwerk S is well, well worth the visit and the nominal cost of entry. Model railroad club members get a discount!
I VERY MUCH LIKE reading as an indoor pastime, enjoying both fiction and non-fiction. It’s good to have a mix of the two. My reading interests overlapped my dad’s in many ways, so we would often exchange books. I inherited several hundred of his books. Some, Civil War history for example, were donated so others could enjoy them. A few went to my kids. The others I’ve been reading myself, then donating. (Museum links go to the respective museum; book links go to Amazon.)
Recently Melissa and I visited the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Savannah. At the entrance I saw a poster for Journalist/Historian Andrew Nagorski’s new book 1941, The Year Germany lost the War. Actually, the poster was about his upcoming visit to discuss the book in a few weeks. We bought three books between us.
When we went to Savannah I was reading David McCullough’s book John Adams. This was from my dad’s collection. It was a fascinating book to read. I learned a lot about the era and the people that combined to form the United States. I’ve read several of McCullough’s books, and this one is as good as the rest. I’ve read maybe three or four books about this era in the last few years, and really enjoyed them. Politics was, perhaps, just as contentious then as now, though without social media!
In addition to Andrew Nagorski’s book above, I bought Double Cross: the True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben MacIntyre. I have been reading books about the World War II era since reading William Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich as a 12-year old and Albert Speer’s Inside the Third Reich a couple years later. What I’ve noticed in the past 15-20 years is that I really enjoy reading the exploits of the actual people involved rather than looking at maps showing grand strategy – maybe grand strategy got boring after 20 years.
The British captured every German spy who landed there. Many of them were willing to serve the British government as double agents. Others in various countries volunteered to spy on the Germans on behalf of the British. Double Cross describes the background and motivation of many of several of these men and women, as well as their wartime exploits, and what they did postwar if they survived. The elaborate XX (“Double Cross”) system very effectively mislead the German intelligence community, preventing them from understanding the true nature of the Normandy Invasion until it was too late to stop it.
Nagorski’s 1941 was a great read. He weaves a story from the historical timelines of the various belligerent nations, then inserts anecdotes and details about decision makers and experts large and small. I really enjoyed the insight into the thought processes of those involved. For example, German generals and industrialists told Hitler “we need time to get ready.” Instead of waiting, Hitler responds “then I’ll attack before the enemy has time to get ready.” Great reading if you have an interest in this time period or how it impacted the next 50 years.
1941 had only just been out a couple weeks when I bought it. Hence the scheduled presentation I mentioned above. I decided, on rather short notice, to take the day off and attend the book discussion. Very glad I did! Now I have an autographed copy of the book.
Autographed copy of Andrew Nagorski’s book – this won’t be donated.
Brief insightful segue… I enjoy reading. A lot. But, I had become rather overwhelmed with quantities of books and nowhere to hold them. Other than expensive railroad reference books, I realized one day that most books I had would never be read again. “Read and store” is too expensive to sustain. What to do? I’ve since given hundreds, perhaps several hundred, books to the local libraries and Goodwill. “Read and donate” isn’t much cheaper than “read and store” if I’m honest. For authors who have been publishing for a while, but I’ve just discovered, I now buy many books used from Amazon – often from Goodwill! For new books from authors I like, I simply pre-order them from Amazon and read them when they arrive. In both cases the books are donated for others to enjoy.
In both cases the books are donated for others to enjoy.
Now, back to talking about what I’ve been reading. I was recently at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, TN. A book I saw there was John Bruning’s “Indestructible: One Man’s Rescue Mission That Changed the Course of WWII.” It turned out to be a bio about Paul “Pappy” Gunn’s life during World War II and the parallel story of his wife and four kids in a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines. I knew Gunn was the inventor of the B-25 gunship, but didn’t know anything else. This book reads like a suspense novel. It’s a great story of ingenuity, commitment to service, and a man’s love for his family. The book is really well written and avoids arcane technical jargon that would make it difficult for non-pilots/non-historians to enjoy.
Transitioning from non-fiction to fiction and skipping two books that will get their own page, I read Daniel Silva’s newest Gabriel Allon story The New Girl: A Novel in one full day. Great story will all Silva’s usual twists and turns, starting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabian turning to Israeli intelligence for help. I’ve ready all the Allon books in order since the first one. This is a series I enjoyed sharing with my dad – suspend reality for a little bit and just enjoy a good spy novel!
