Auswiss 3.5mm HO
Auswiss Description:
Auswiss is a fictional location, based on Eastern Switzerland, in the Canton of Graubünden, close to the Liechtenstein and Austrian borders. The layout has an Alpine area, under which tracks from Austria and Switzerland emerge from tunnels to converge into Auswiss station. The rear of the layout has an extensive, scratch-built Cement Works, containing a ‘cyclone’ pre-heater tower and kiln, together with raw materials and finished product silos. There are some adjacent sidings with a locomotive servicing shed.
The layout is 1:87/3.5mm scale, with mainly standard gauge HO (Peco code 75) tracks, except for dual gauge HO/HOm track (Tillig ‘elite’ code 83) tracks in the front station platforms. Passenger and freight operations mainly involve Swiss (SBB CFF FFS), Austrian (ÖBB), and Rhätische Bahn (RhB) motive power and rolling stock. Some other private carrier movements are also evident.
Overhead Catenary masts are installed on the front 4 tracks – catenary wiring is in-progress. Stock is mainly by Roco, Bemo (HOm), and Rivarossi (for occasional special “Wagon Lits” services). The layout is in Box-theatre format and DCC powered, with sound equipped ‘electric and diesel’ locomotives. Points are servo powered using a MegaPoints system, via a control panel that has LED indicators for route selections. Operation is mainly from the front using an 8-track traverser to generate train movements.
