After many years of our Czechoslovak group participating in the H0-Old group meetings it was finally time to have the first official Fremo Era II meeting of the Old group in the Czech Republic. We managed to find a suitable place with several halls, a good restaurant and nice accommodation in the village Lány which is just northwest of Prague.
The layout was set in two smaller halls connected via a corridor. Because of that the station masters really needed to rely on the telephones as they couldn’t see what the situation was like in the other parts of the layout. The main part of the layout was a single track line between two shadow stations - Petrov in the small hall and Mikulovice in the bigger hall. From Petrov the line went to station Loket where an industry branch to a small harbor was connected. From Loket it continued via Poříčí nad Sázavou stop to station Elčovice. Then to Nová Ves pod Pleší and Hukovice ve Sl. with a connection to a small coal mine there. And then to the Mikulovice shadow station. In Elčovice a short branch line to Dobříš was also connected.
The operation took place in the early 1930s. The passenger trains were hauled by ČSD classes 354.0 and 354.4. And on the fast train we could see the beautiful 264.1 class. The freight trains were operated by various steam locomotives as well. The local trains were pulled by classes 414.0 or 413.0 while the long distance trains were pulled by classes 434.0 or 1, 524.0 or 335.0. The branch line was operated by the locomotives from the depot in Dobříš where classes 422.0 and 324.1 were situated. For example, a meeting of local freight trains from Dobříš and Petrov in Elčovice with 414.0 and 324.1 locomotives was a spectacular sight and shunting and exchanging the freight cars was very enjoyable. The diverse operation of steam locomotives was accompanied by several railcars - brand new M234.0 on the main line and small M120.4 on the branch line. There were also several trains of Deutsche Reichsbahn that were coming to Hukovice from Germany via Mikulovice shadow station.
The timetables were visually modified to resemble the original timetables from the 1930s Czechoslovak state railways. The operation was very enjoyable and the timetable was not too busy so there was enough time for shunting in the stations. A new feature which tested the skills of both the train drivers and station masters in Loket was introduced. It was a symbol in the timetables of passenger trains informing about the need to refill water to the locomotive. The Station master had to keep that in mind and send the train to the correct track with a water crane. And the train operator then had to stop his train precisely at the water crane. It was all just for fun but it added another realistic aspect to our game.
The overall atmosphere at the meeting was good and friendly and we spent 4 days recreating the beautiful atmosphere of the old steam era. We are looking forward to next year - this time in the bigger hall.
