Wedensday 25 June 1952 (1/35)

On an ordinary day in the summer of 1952 the trains ran along the little gravel railway belonging to Nystrup Gravel. Just as they did almost every other day, year after year. This summer day in 1952 was a little different, though, as there was a photographer present.

One of the first trains of the day. Nystrup Gravel's Jung loco pulling empty skips to one of the pits in operation that day. On the hill behind the loco a cow reminds us that Denmark at the time had a large agricultural sector with more than 15 % of the workforce employed directly in farming.

A loaded train passing the water tower at the loco shed. It is a wonder that not more of the load has spilled out of the skips. The gravel must be from a rather wet part of the pit. No 3 was one of the few locos that ever carried the company's name written out in full - Nystrup Grus- og Stenindustri A/S.

 

Here is no 6 again. This time the loco is pushing large surplus stones to Nystrup. Once arrived there the stones would be loaded on lorries and transported away, most likely for use in harbour maintenance or costal protection. A lorry carrying what appears to be an excavator showel is just passing over the viaduct.

And despite all the normality of the day, one of Nystrup Gravel's workers was missing for the day's work. The day before he had to report at a military facility as he was called up for duty as part of the first large scale mobilisation exercise in Denmark since the war.

Cut from 'Politiken' June 25. 1952. The article mentions "for the benefit of mothers, wives and girlfriends" that the mobilized men were fed well - even detailing the menu.

 

Modelling Without Deadlines (1/35)

These days last year I was very busy finishing a lot of modelling tasks. I was preparing for the big Gauge 1 exhibition outside Odense. My 'after action report' is still available on the blog. This year I can fortunately take a somewhat more relaxed attitude to modelling, having no deadline to meet. So all is moving forward in its usual slow pace at my workbench.

Having a deadline is on the other hand a powerful driver of progress. A deadline helps to bring focus and results usually follows. But really modelling is a hobby and I don't like to let 'real life management'-methods spill over into my modelling hobby. This April I am working primarily on my Jung loco. I have primed all parts of the loco and painted the frame red. Next up is getting a very dark green on the upper parts and fitting an ESU micro decoder. A heavier than usual weathering will finish the model.

Frame painted red and washed with heavily thinned burnt umber oil paint.

It will probably take at least a month to finish as I'm off on a business trip and having a big family event coming up - modelling is just a hobby, you know.

Jung Assembly Done (1/35)

One of the benefits of resin casting is the (relative) ease of production that enables manufacturers to model obscure prototypes. Very fine parts and prototypically thin edges can be made with resin. But most resins are brittle and not particularly well suited to the handling and mechanical stress that is unavoidable on a model railway. I think the Jung kit was designed for military modellers and most likely not intended for motorization. For a static model the resin is durable enough. As I will use the model to pull real trains I braced the frame of the locomotive with heavy plastic strip. It remains to be seen if the model will stand up to the ‘wear and tear’ of daily operation.

The kit parts makes it possible to build a 600 or a 700 mm. version of the loco. As Nystrup Gravel is using 600 mm. gauge the 700 mm. parts accompanied the kit buffers I mentioned in the previous Jung-post to the spares box. Two types of bonnet sides are also provided. I fitted the ones with the large Z-shape impressed into them. And yet more parts for the spares box!

In this Jung fact sheet the ZL114 is fitted with side plates without the flashy 'Z'. I just couldn't miss the opportunity to have 'Z for Zorglub' on the side of a simple industrial locomotive. Readers of the Belgian comic 'Spirou et Fantasio' will know the villain Zorglub.

Cab front fitted. I did work on yet another Scale Link skip while building the Jung.

I added weight to the frame from scraps of brass. I struggled somewhat with a warped cab front, but managed to get it almost straight and glued in place. I will only glue the roof in place after having painted the interior of the cab. I decided not to fit the brake equipment as it would interfere with wires and easy handling of the Black Beetle. Sometimes you have to compromise.

My renditions of the Jung cast metal buffers. They are built from plastic card and Humbrol putty. Next they will receive more sanding and a layer of primer before being sanded again.

Buffers fitted. Still a little sanding to be done before I can prime and paint. I replaced the seat with my own made from plasticcard. The warped cab front could perhaps be used to underline the loco's hard working past?

Jung ZL 114 (1/35)

In the fall I bought a resin kit of a Jung-loco from French manufacturer U-Models. I had hoped to fit a Bull Ant drive unit to the loco, but there wasn't room enough. Instead my Jung will run on a Black Beetle from Steam Era Models of Australia.

I have now begun to assemble the kit. The first step in the process was to make the BB fit in the rather narrow loco. After carving out room for the top of the BB I made a simple bracket from scraps of plasticcard. I'm glad that the bracket is hidden inside the loco, because it is one hideous piece of modelling! But the hodge-podge of plastic does its job and keeps the Black Beetle safely in place.

Current status of my Jung ZL 114. I still need to work a bit on the position of the rear axle boxes.

The kit comes with two different types of buffers. I chose to use none of them, although the castings are very nice. In daily use on Nystrup Gravel I suspect that my homebuilt buffers will be sturdier.

The two types of buffers provided in the kit. The lower type seems to have been quite rare - possibly a one-off? I think the buffer in the top photo will be too weak to work properly in normal service on any model railway. The resin being way too thin and brittle to stand the rigours of shunting skips.

The type of buffer I will fit to my Jung-loco. The cast metal buffer provides added weight to the loco.

The Jung model ZL 114 were built in approximately 800 examples between 1935 and 1960. Only few Jung-locos came to Denmark as Danish manufacturers had a firm grip of the market for small internal combustion locos.

"A Package from Paris" (1/35)

...said the postman as he handed me a small card board box. A resin kit and some figures had arrived from Blast Models of France two days after I ordered them.

The kit is one of those surprises that sometimes comes along. I knew that the French company U-Models were selling the well known kits of the 1:35 Billard-loco and Pechot-wagons (originally from 13'eme Dragon) but that they had released a Jung-locomotive was completely unknown to me. It didn't take long for me to find my credit card and place the order!

I'm checking the main parts of the 1:35 Jung kit just minutes after the arrival of the parcel.

Parts layout and assembly instructions from the kit.

I hope to be able to fit a BullAnt to power the model. I would like my model to be like a real Jung-loco as the producers themselves described it in 1938: "einfach im Aufbau und in der Bedienung, kräftig, unempfindlich, stets betriebsbereit".

You can find info and drawings on Jung-locos in 'Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review' issues 50 and 51. More on Jung's production of locomotives on Jens Merte's website.