Pictures of a German semaphore home signal?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi all, I’m the new guy and from what I’ve seen in my small search, you have a nice forum here. I must confess that I know little to nothing about trains and model railroading and my primary interest in model airplanes. But, oddly enough, that’s what brought me here. I am working on a small WWII vignette involving a P-51 Mustang buzzing a German rail yard and I wanted to include a semaphore signal next to the tracks. I’m working in 1/48 scale and from what I have seen, O gauge German semaphore signals aren’t available so I will need to scratch build one. My problem is, I can’t find any pictures of a 1940s German semaphore signal that are decent enough or are from enough angles to build one. Since I’m not too familiar with this type of thing I was hoping one of you might know where I could find some good detail pictures. Any help would be great. Thanks in advance. Chris

2

I would say your best bet is to do a Google Image search for the semaphore signal your looking for. How ever there are several members from Germany that come to mind that may be able to help you in your quest as well as some modelers here in the US.

3

Here’s one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Velgast-suedbahn.jpg

and another

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3557526602_78b0f5a9b1.jpg?v=0

Google Images is your friend!

4

You should google for the words

Hauptsignal = home signal

and

Formsignal = semaphore

5

Hi Chris,

the German company Weinert is manufacturing kits for German semaphore signals in O scale (1/43.5 - which is close enough to the US 1/48).

There are a bit pricey, but highly detailed.

Check their info here

6

Yeah, I should have mentioned that I did a few Google searches before I posted my request. I was able to find a couple pictures of the signals I am interested in, but all of those pictures are from one angle and at the distance they were taken from, it’s difficult to pick out too many details. Best case scenario would be to find someone in Germany that knew where to find one of these old signals and then have them take some detailed pictures of it. That’s probably a long shot though. I will continue to do more searches in the meantime. Thanks.

7

Thanks. I knew I should have mentioned that I did a few Google searches before I posted my request. Those are the same two pictures that I was able to find. Unfortunately, both of them are taken from the front only and at the distance they were taken from, it’s difficult to pick out too many details. It does give me a place to start, though. I will continue to do more searches in the meantime. Thanks.

8

Wow. Having the German words really helped my Google search. Thanks Chris

9

Thanks. You weren’t kidding. Those look great. I may need to find a second job to afford one but it will definitely give me something to think about. Chris

10

Chris - I will search my library of pics, whether I can find one showing the details of this type of signal. In some German regions they are still in use! Unfortunately not in mine!