Friday 23 September 2022

Modelling and InnoTrans

The railway exhibition InnoTrans in Berlin attracts more than 100.000 visitors every two years. Every concievable product and service related to railways are represented at the exhibition and fills the huge Berlin exhibition area completely. On the exhibition ground's own tracks new rolling stock, locomotives and permanent way equipment stand buffer to buffer. Last exibition was 2018 as 2020 was cancelled due to covid. Nystrup Gravel wasn't present but as my job in a railway contracting company is PR and sales I participated in the design of the company's stand and marketing focus as well as being a part of the team manning the stand. As always my professional life seeks to dimish progress on my small model railway.

As far as the relief building got before I went to InnoTrans 2022. Windows are only loosely fitted in the openings and the roof still needs some work.

The large red relief building has its exterior walls completely clad with boards made from coffee stirrers. Three windows are being prepared for the top floor openings and interior light is in planning. It will be a very simple installation. Work on windows and light as well as roof had to be put on hold due to the four days in Berlin and InnoTrans 2022. The exibition is not without modelling interest as several rolling stock and loco manufacturers use models to illustrate their products. Unfortunately the lighting in the exhibition halls aren't the best for model photography.

A Multi Tasker rail crane from Techne Rail & Mill GmbH. The model is close to 1 m in length. It has probably been professionally built with a mix of 3D-printed and machined parts.

On the outdoor area large machinery and rolling stock was being exhibited. Here a Caterpillar M323F road/rail excavator. It's a type I know well from my own company.

A Windhoff RL60 AEM shunting locomotive was among the more conventional shunting equipment exhibited. A large number of more or less exotic looking road/rail shunting equipment was shown at InnoTrans.
InnoTrans is an important part of many students' way into the field of transport and railways. Here a group of Finnish engineering students wearing their characteristic 'teekkarilakki' caps pose in front of a hydrogen powered locomotive.


The marble table at my fancy hotel room in the embassy district in Berlin. With a free supply of magazines at the exhibition there will be no long winter evenings that I can't chase away with reading. These three were followed by many more.

Besides the magazines what am I taking with me that can be used in my modelling from an exhibition like InnoTrans? Not much but the fact that despite all the technology available for showing off your newest product on screens and with Virtual Reality, models are still used in surprisingly large numbers. The models represent physical presence, a chance to imagine the product in real size and an easy way to quickly view the object from all angles. It may be that old fashioned modelling is giving way to 3D-printing, but models are still sought after in a professional context. 

With that said I better get on with mounting windows in my building! Strictly amateurish and just for fun.

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