The main feature is this incredible looking Hamburg station - with that awesome canopy!
Update! Start saving now as this building does not come cheap.... €329, or about $440 USD at today's exchange rate with the dollar! Yikes! More info on the Trix site in German. It is planned to be released in the fourth quarter...so a very expensive surprise from Santa perhaps?
And not to be over-looked are these 'viaduct sections' which seem like they could be incredibly versatile!
There are also several city apartment buildings. I like the unusual shapes of some of these, although I have no idea where to use it! I can imagine using many of these to kit-bash into either 'flat fronts' or maybe some taller structures! Cool stuff!
It would have been nice to see a couple of more modern structures in this mix, but I sure do like having a few more choices as the current offerings in this realm have been around for a long time. Good to see some fresh new faces!
What we don't know at this point is the price! I'm hoping that there is some economy in the laser cut production process so that we're looking at $20 dollar structures rather than $40 (I sort of expect the large station to be above $100 due just to its apparent size), so not quite convinced yet on how many of these I can take. Time will tell!
Update: So the buildings are going to be pricey (sigh, should have known). For example, the
66145 "Bausatz Eckstadthaus aus der Gründerzeit" (second from bottom) will be €69.95 ($93 USD) to €59,95 for the more plain 66144 (second from top). The buildings are planned to be released in the second quarter.
66145 "Bausatz Eckstadthaus aus der Gründerzeit" (second from bottom) will be €69.95 ($93 USD) to €59,95 for the more plain 66144 (second from top). The buildings are planned to be released in the second quarter.
Station looks amazing, might look more into this, need something for my layout
ReplyDeleteHi Jerry.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a first for Minitrix. & or 7 years ago Minitrix had this station in H0, and sold the silos and the blast furnace using Walthers models.
Cheers.
Yeah, but look at the price. EUR 329 for the station alone! That said, this is an attractive station for model railroaders, as it is the smallest Category II station in Germany by far, i.e. it receives ICE and IC service. A more compact, yet completely prototypical big city station with long-distance service can hardly be found.
ReplyDeleteFor me the biggest news actually is the new Minitrix 103.2 class. The 103 was the flagship of DB for over three decades and has been featured in N scale since the late 60s. Arnold, Minitrix and Fleischmann all had their versions. Yet no single manufacturer up to now had bothered to make the lengthened 103.2.
PS: You can see the prices in the German listing. E.g.: http://www.trix.de/produkte/frontend/index.php?page=detail&detail&sCountryCode=de&start=100&nr=66140&stichwort=&baureihe=&spur=&gruppe=&untergruppe=&epoche=&merkmale=&show=detail&iNeuheitenKatalogID=1320&sNeuheitenSpur=&fromSLIMSITE=0&wishednumber=0
ReplyDeleteThe Minitrix kits (including the blast furnace) used to be made by Heljan in Denmark. Heljan produce the bulk of Walther’s kits including the blast furnace which is the same model just a bit more expensive and a different logo on the box.
ReplyDeleteHamburg station looks superb: a long overdue addition to the usual fare. The models of Bonn and Baden (stations) were good in their day (thirty years ago plus) but are looking a bit tired, flimsy and under scale now.
As you say though, it would be good to have some modern stuff; maybe somebody will do the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Ever thought of running an international laser cut kit business from your garage starting with that nice new station of yours??
Ross S
North Berwick
Scotland UK
Actually, what would be great as a modern N Scale station is the Frankfurt Airport Fernbahnhof, the way it looked before they plopped the "Squaire" office building on top of it.
ReplyDeletehttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FRA_fernbf2.jpg
Berlin Hauptbahnhof is way too big. But FRA Fern has only four tracks and is compact enough that a relatively appropriately scaled model could be made that would fit on most people's layouts.
BTW, Minitrix has announced ETAs. The city buildings (around EUR50 each) are planned for 2nd quarter 2013, Dammtor Station for 4th quarter.
ReplyDeleteThe power of the internet! Thanks for all the great info! I've updated my blog post with the price/availability data. Glad to see the agreement that some more modern structures would be nice...
ReplyDeleteI did sort of remember the blast furnace, but I was thinking more along the lines of 'people buildings' than structures. I do like the whole 'theme' idea that Trix has with this. I just hope I can afford some of it!
Hey Jerry,
ReplyDeleteWas there any mention of extension modules to lengthen the station? If I recall they had these for the HO version. If so, my layout might undergo another revision. My only reservations are paying that kind of price for cardboard material. I much prefer the permanence of plastic. I like my Kato urban station, but having this Hamburg station would be so nice.
Alvin
Hi Alvin! I totally agree with you...that's a lot of money for cardboard! I may still be tempted to go for it just because its such an awesome building.
ReplyDeleteI think MK or someone mentioned that expansion kits will be available, but I don't think I've seen a product number for those yet.
There are no extensions. The extensions were offered for the old H0 kit as one of those compromises you have to live with as an H0 modeler. Since the station in its full size would have still been too big for most H0 layouts, it was offered as a "base" kit with extensions to bring it up to the full size of the originals. Since we take up only a quarter of the space in N, the N version will only be available as the whole station. Only the bridge and the viaducts will be separate addons, as shown in the catalog.
ReplyDeleteOne more update: there is another N scale manufacturer I had not heard of before, Stadt im Modell, which is offering some additional Hamburg buildings. Clearly, there is some cooperation with Minitrix, as their skyscraper is visible in one of the Minitrix catalog pictures.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stadtimmodell.de/home.html
Click on "Neuheiten 2013" on the right then go to page 3 and onward.
Those prices are insane, even for european kits, absolutely insane.
ReplyDeleteGlad you noticed those buildings Jerry, but I share one of your thoughts: it would have been nice to see some modern buildings in the mix as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's not really an era problem, it's more of a geographic one: most German N buildings are very, very German (mostly southern Bavarian/Schwabe style...). They are impossible to fit on a French layout for example; while modern buildings would fit anywhere.
Now those Hamburg style buildings are welcome; this "northern style" could pass for Dutch/Belgian/northern French constructions....but it's still not going very far away from the Rhine river ;-)
Wow! Lot's of comments on this post! I shouldn't be surprised as I know many of us share a common passion for structures!
ReplyDelete@ MK - thanks for the link the Stadt im Model site! Some interesting items...escalators? Very cool! The photo of the modern high rise does not seem impressive on their site, but does look much better in the background in the Trix photo as you mentioned!
The full price list of these kits are now in Märklin Online Shop
ReplyDeletehttps://www.maerklinshop.de/index.php?sid=53601fb6b8d2884b4c2995c955aad014&cl=alist&cnid=5439c69fba133988269e2ea9e9991e76
There seems to be a Hamburg conspiracy... another German producer with related Hamburg-style laser-cut buildings announced for 2013:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mkb-modelle.de/index.php
Click on Neuheiten 2013.
There are pics of the station, the hotel tower and some city houses taken on them Nuremberg Toy Fair in the german 1/160 scale forum : http://www.1zu160.net/scripte/forum/forum_show.php?id=685336#aw13
ReplyDeletecheers
Jörg