Branch line · Oostwetering — GrienddijkAmsterdam, Noord-HollandHO 1:87 · working since 2019
Canalside Model RailAn HO polder branch line under a west Amsterdam roof

Working timetable · complete

Layout notes

Every note kept for the layout, latest first. The first one written up properly dates from 18 April 2024; everything before that survives as pencil on the back of a cutting list and is not worth typing out.

Layout notes, in reverse order of the evening the work happened
No.At the benchNoteSectionMin.
05Writing a timetable that four people can run without arguing

How a numbered sequence of fourteen moves replaced a failed clock timetable and gave everyone in a small attic something to do all evening.

Typed up 25 Aug 2026 · 4 parts

Operating9
04Weathering a polder line: mud, lime and a damp attic winter

Painting forty years of very little maintenance: the two dirt colours of the polder, mixing washes in a cold room, and learning when to stop.

Typed up 16 Feb 2026 · 4 parts

Weathering7
03Why our shunters stalled at walking pace, and what fixed it

Two winters of stalling traced to damp rail joints, dead frogs and lazy cleaning, and the fortnight of unglamorous wiring that cured all three.

Typed up 14 Jun 2025 · 4 parts

Wiring and running8
02A lift bridge over the canal that has to work twice an evening

Replacing a fixed girder with a lift bridge that actually rises: drawing it from the towpath, soldering it in brass, and making it survive handling.

Typed up 19 Jan 2025 · 4 parts

Scratch-building8
01Ballasting the polder branch, and the two attempts that lifted

Three goes at ballasting a quiet Dutch branch: choosing a colour under attic light, laying it dry, and the glue mixture that finally held.

Typed up 9 Jun 2024 · 4 parts

Track and ballast7

Nothing is quietly rewritten after the fact. Where a later note contradicts an earlier one, both stay up and the later one says which evening it replaces — the reasoning is in the notes on how the notes work.