Modern Narrow Gauge at Railway Exhibition in Berlin

The railway exhibition InnoTrans in Berlin attracts more than 100.000 visitors every two years. I was at the exhibition as part of the team manning the stand through my job in a railway contracting company. 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 railway yard new rolling stock, locomotives and permanent way equipment stand buffer to buffer. Rarely anything narrow gauge make it here. 2026 was different!

Seldom seen in the Berlin exhibition rail yard: a brand new narrow gauge train!

Among lines of standard gauge locos and wagons a light green three car train was placed on transport bogies. It was the world’s first hydrogen-powered train developed specifically for narrow-gauge operations. A total of 21 trains are being built for three Italian regional operators in Sardinia, Calabria and Sicily. Each car is equipped with a powered and an unpowered bogie, while the 'Power Pack Car' rests on two unpowered bogies. A 3-car train has room for 89 seated passengers and a top speed of 100 km/h. You can check out Stadler's press release here.

The three-car train shown in Berlin was loaded on transport bogies in matching colour.

The first completed train, presented at InnoTrans 2026 in Berlin, was built for the narrow gauge network in Sardinia. Ten vehicles will go to the Sardinia network, 2 for the Sicily line near Etna and the remaining 9 for the network in Calabria. 

A Stadler-illustration of the Sicily version of the hydrogen train with Etna in the background.

'Planet' History

No, the Nystrup Gravel blog hasn't changed subject to astronomy, but a few facts about the gravel company's 'Planet' 6 hp self-propelled skip has come up. The vehicle was a unique specimen in the Danish industrial narrow gauge world, and I have been searching the archives for some answers to how the motorised skip came in service of the Nystrup Gravel company.

My 1/19 scale interpretation of the Nystrup Gravel 'Planet' was recently finished. Two employees review the result.

To begin with the 'Planet' 6 hp Motor Driven Truck, as it was called at the time of its development, was a lightweight industrial narrow-gauge self-propelled skip designed in the late 1920's. The typical customer was a small industrial enterprise that needed a cheap and lightweight motive power for a small industrial railway. The original Hibberd-vehicle used a smal skip frame fitted with a 6-horsepower engine. The standard model featured a flat platform, with options for a wooden box or a 1 cubic-yard standard skip available for users having different needs. As F.C. Hibberd & Co.’s factory in West London was bombed during World War 2, and the company's archives, original design blueprints, and historical records were destroyed, not much is known about these charming little motorised skips. 

Archive illustation showing a 'Planet' self-propelled skip almost identical to the one in use at Nystrup Gravel.

Considering the size of Nystrup Gravel's production the average spectator may think that the company had far too many locomotives. But in reality the company rarely had more than 3 servicable locomotives at a time. The years after the German occupation of Denmark were difficult years with much infrastructure and machinery totally worn out and very hard to replace. Consequently some of Nystrup Gravel's acquisitions during those early post-war years were 'buy what is available' and didn't last long - or were used very little. My recent research shows that the 'Planet' was exactly such an investment. Usefull when nothing else was available and falling out of use as soon as it could be replaced by better machinery. 

The only picture known to show the 6 hp 'Planet' at Nystrup Gravel. Photographed in the yard with a view over the meadows north of the gravel works. The number '12' is clearly visible on the cab front.

The United Kingdom was a major Danish trading partner before World War 2 cut off all connections. Due to a large Danish export of agricultural products the currency policies of the times made it profitable to buy British industrial products. This is clearly visible when glancing through the locomotives that Nystrup Gravel had: no less than 3 locos had UK origin. 

From 1944 to Autumn 1946 a Schöma built KML-5 worked on Nystrup Gravel. Supplied by the German authorities to speed up gravel production for military use, Nystrup Gravel held on to the loco as long as possible. When the owner in Germany, contractor Wilhelm Müller, took the case to court the company management finally let the loco go. 

In a very thorough search in the immediate post-war part of the company archives from Nystrup Gravel I found a preserved page from a local paper for Wedensday 14. November 1945. The article was headlined 'Lucky Nystrup Gravel' and is with a very high degree of probability a mention of how the 'Planet' came to Nystrup Gravel. For the community around Nystrup a new machine arriving to a local business was always good news and fortunately Nystrup Gravel director Holm never missed giving a tip to a local journalist. 

November 1945 - Nystrup and Denmark slowly recovering after the German occupation. Nystrup Gravel's little railway trying to cope with a lack of traction power.

In the article Nystrup Gravel Director Holm is quoted: “We received word that Askholm Hovedgaard (a large estate farm) had just decommissioned the track system used to transport manure from the cowsheds. The farm had a motorised skip in use, which we have now taken over. The self-propelled skip will be used by us to transport foundry sand.” Only few Danish farm used narrow gauge railways for internal transports of e.g. manure and the use of a motorised skip is unique for Askholm. The foundry sand product 'Multisand' was a result of the discovery of a small deposit of high quality sand in one of Nystrup's gravel pits. The sand was manually excavated to avoid contamination, refined and dried before it was loaded in 50 kg sacks. The volumes were minimal and usually only a train or two a week took away sand for refining. Consequently a single 'Planet' could keep the foundry sand production running leaving additional trains free for gravel transport. 

The newspaper also mentions that Nystrup Gravel since the liberation in May 1945 "has only had one steam locomotive and two diesel locomotives in service: one Danish and one German. The company’s large British diesel locomotive is not yet ready for service due to a shortage of spare parts". The German locomotive mentioned in the newspaper is most likely the Schöma provided by the German military and the large British diesel is without doubt the Fowler, Nystrup Gravel No. 8.

Another photo of my model of Nystrup Gravel No. 12 here seen passing my version of one of the large wooden buildings at the company's works in Nystrup.

How long the self-propelled skip was in service at Nystrup is not known. When the Fowler got back into service and more locomotives was acquired its mission of keeping the foundry sand business going must have lost importance. Now a train or two a week could provide transport for the sand. As Nystrup Gravel kept much of its worn out equipment long after it fell out of use, it is possible that the 'Planet' stayed with the company well into the 1950's. No evidence of its sale or scrapping has been found so far.

'Planet' Self-Propelled Skip Finished

In the last 'Planet' post I had produced a model that worked and accomplished the first test runs. Construction wise cab and skip body still needed work and no work at all had been done on the driver figure. While some parts of the model had been primed, painting and weathering still needed to be done. Now the Loco Remote self-propelled skip is finished. The driver took more effort than anticipated and will only join the 'Planet' at a later stage.

A self-propelled skip is now in service on my little 1/19 scale Nystrup Gravel indoor layout. Here chief mechanic Petersen is inspecting the new arrival. Always sceptical with green enamel cup in hand.

I finished the final construction work on the skip in the cottage during the last days of my summer vacation. I never bring all my modelling supplies to the cottage and it's always exciting to find out if I miss something to finish a task. Usually I can manage (sometimes I have to resort to primitive work arounds) and this was also the case for the 'Planet'. I testfitted the figure I acquired with the skip in the cab. I decided that some modifications was needed and began building up putty at several locations. Later I found it necessary to change the pose of the left arm. 

The driver made by David Clavey and named 'Ben' is having a series of 'putty transplants'. Trousers are too slim fit for 1950's garments and the groin area much too 'stick two legs on a torso'-like for my taste. All employees at Nystrup Gravel were also required to have broad shoulders and that will be fixed as well. 

I replaced the original 3D printed wooden cab floor with a piece of plastic to represent a steel plate floor. My work with files and sand paper on the skip body is visible.

Having finished the majority of tasks on the frames I began working on the cab and skip body. Cab floor was replaced with a simple steel plate from plastic. The floor was enlarged toward the front to follow the side of the frames. Sanding took care of the worst traces of the printing process on the cab sides. I then added a few etched metal details to engine cover and cab side - representing a cover for oil checking and a manufacturer's plate. Boltheads were fitted on the outside of the cab representing fastenings for the brake and seat brackets. I decided against fitting home made levers between engine cover and seat as they would make placing and removing the driver figure too defficult. The on/off switch will be partly hidden by the figure's foot and masked by weathering. The petrol tank was detailed and fitted with a reworked pipe installation. Brake wheel was installed with only very little modification.

Working on the cab included fitting of a few etched metal items from the spares box. Modelling and sipping gin can be combined without serious side effects! 

The skip body was treated to a generous sanding down. The printing lines were - if not completely removed - then reduced, and the top edges were trimmed a little thinner and rounded a bit more. Strengthening corner edging was fitted from plastic and rivetheads glued on. A repaired damage on one side of the skip was illustrated with a piece of plasticard glued on.

The self-propelled skip is on its first test run on the layout and a railway enthusiast has shown up to photograph the event.

From the side with cab opening showing added etched parts and rebuilt petrol tank.

With the final parts added I continued the priming and painting part of the project. Limited priming with 'Chaos Black'  was begun halfway through assembly as I wanted the underside and lower sides primed before I installed electrical curcuits and electronics. in the end the model was finally primed and painted in 4 separate parts: frame, cab, engine cover and skip body. Frame, cab and engine received a coat of 'Chaos Black' primer and the outsides of the skip body a good layer of rust paint 'Rosteffekt' from the German brand Belton. The paint comes in a standard 400 ml spray can and has a slight texture when dried. The effect help me build up a well weathered, rusty skip body. 

Early Autumn and the grapes are ripe. The skip frame has had its last boltheads fitted (the small white dots) and is ready for final priming. The motor is covered with masking tape.

After priming with 'Chaos Black' and Belton rust I gave skip body and top plating on the frame an air brushed layer of Vallejo 'Chipping Medium'. This 'paint' will allow me to chip away overlaying paint layers with nothing but water, old toothbrush or cocktail stick. I have used the effect on my timber bogies and I wanted to try it on a skip as well. Once the chipping medium had dried I gave the 'Planet' a light cover of Vallejo 71.315 'Tyre Black' with the air brush. The exterior of the 'cab' was painted Vallejo 70.946 'Dark Red' with a brush to create a surface that looked as if the workers at Nystrup Gravel had smeared the paint on in a hurry. The black areas had minor fading added with lightly toned down black through the airbrush.

With the final paint on I began chipping away on the black areas. First applying water and after a few seconds picking the paint with cocktail sticks for very localised paint chips and a stiff brush and toothbrush for larger areas.

Chipping in its early phase. I'm aiming for some large areas without paint on the top plate and some smaller rusty scratches on the frame top in general. Water for wetting areas to be chipped in the picture's top. The model is placed on my IKEA painting turntable.

Test run on the layout. Things are beginning to look quite alright. And the 'Planet' still runs!

With the chipping done I added the number 12 on the front cab end with etched metal stencils. I used a stiff, shorthaired brush wiped almost free from paint to stipple on paint through the stencil. I then airbrushed the model with matt varnish to seal the current paintwork and to prevent the chipping medium to interfere in the last stage of painting/weathering. After varnishing I fitted the front buffer made from a scrap end of timber.

This is the single known photograph of the 'Planet' 6 hp self-propelled skip from the Nystrup Gravel company archives. Nothing is so far known about its history or years' of service, but I will be looking into old newspapers from the Nystrup area to see if I can find out more.

I then applied a black wash with heavily diluted oil paint followed by a localised rust wash. After that I added a few glossy oil spills, old engine grime around engine cover and petrol tank petrol pipe. Traces of wear were marked with a soft pencil and graphite powder. Finally dust was applied with a thin brown-grey paint heavily diluted and 'misted' over the relevant places. Where relevant glossy oil spillings were touched up to stand out. Finally I added gravel spill on top plate and in the inside bottom of the skip body, where 'cakes' of gravel often fasten. I added a starting handle and a small spanner under the skip body as a last finish.

The 'Planet' at the petrol pump for fueling. The worker is probably wondering why there is no seat in the cab. 

On the loading ramp photographed from a waiting lorry. The pole is still carrying an election poster from the March election for the Danish Parliament. The habit of keeping them hanging for far too long has obviously spread to model railways!

The 3D-printed kit has been a real pleasure to construct and the ease of assembly and installing the drive train and electronics surprised me. I have some extra rechargable batteries and a dedicated charger on their way from China. Once they arrive I look forward to some serious running sessions.

Train Spotting in Sweden

Getting out in the real world and seeing full scale narrow gauge railways (nowadays mostly preserved) has always been a favourite activity for me. Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend 2 days in Sweden with a handful of good friends from the vintage railway in Denmark where I volunteer. The primary target for the weekend was the 600 mm gauge line between Ohs and Bor.

A forest railway should be enjoyed from a heap of timber. I did just that on the Ohs-Bor line watching Orenstein & Koppel 8338/1917 passing.

I was travelling with a group in two cars and thus we had the possibility to combine train rides with excursions along the line by car. A dense network of narrow gravel roads along the railway makes it quite easy to overtake the train to reach new locations for photographing. I visited the railway during the annual Ohsabanan Days, a weekend when the volunteers at the line run as many trains as possible with a varied stock of locomotives. 

Standing on a tree stump in the forest I caught VEB Lokomotivbau Karl Marx 250572/1974 passing with a passenger train to Bor. 

OBJ loco 14 with the firefighting train. Despite it being rather wet weather, the railway watches the beautiful forests vigilantly to prevent fires.

Sächsische Maschinenfabrik 4183/1919 in dark green with O&K 8338 in black being turned in the background.

The Ohs-Bor railway is a 14.5 km long 600 narrow-gauge railway east of Värnamo in southern Sweden. The track, rolling stock, locomotives and traffic are owned, maintained and run by the Ohs Bruk Järnväg's Museum Association, a non-profit association formed in 1970.

Despite rain in the afternoon the volunteers kept up the good spirit. Steam locomotives in the rain is always something special.

I appreciated the efforts of the volunteers to dress true to the age of the locomotives. The crew on Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarf 13584/1944 had dressed up like a Polish crew from the 1970's at the Ciechanów sugar factory - complete with sideburns!

The Ohs railway was built between 1907 and 1910 to serve a paper mill, connecting it to a standard gauge line in Bor. The first rolling stock was purchased second-hand from the Helsingborg–Råå–Ramlösa Railway (HRRJ). During the 1920's, the fleet of locomotives and carriages was expanded with German built equipment from the Heeresfeldbahnen. Even if the railway was becoming increasingly worn down from mid 1950's the factory retained its railway right up until 1967 when lorries took over. The track was left in place and a few later the volunteers took over preserving the line into the next millenium. It's their investment of time, effort and money that treated me to a memorable day. Lots of inspiration for this winter's modelling!

The line has a range of charming sheds placed next to the track. This weathered red shed begs to be modelled in 1/19 scale!

The OBJ V10C loco is approaching one of the many level crossings.