Help a stupid German
Hello at all I need the help from all English native speakers. I want to know the different between this expressions for the same thing. At first for Nebenbahn I found this in the dictionary - branch line - local railway - secondary railway At second for Steinbruch I found this in the dictionary - quarry - stone pit - stone quarry When (or for what) do you use the special words? I need the meanings for this text: DURLESBACH – where the time stands still Dear visitor, if you’re interested in viewing the layout DURLESBACH you have to take time, because words like "to be in a rush"or hurry are unknown here. The exi-*test*-('") things here are: That the policeman catched a hobo, or that the linesmans goat run away. This layout shows a secondary railway at Franconian Swizerland (North Bavaria) in the early years of the last century. It has two main parts. The Durlesbach valley with the also named village and the stone quarry in the proximity of the village. Let’s start our overlook tour at Durlesbach valley. At the rightward on the hill you find the ruin of “Thurlesstein” castle and down at the brook a sawmill and before the tracks reaching the bridge and the Thurlesstein tunnel, a signal box at the front. At the left end of the hill a second railway line is leaving another tunnel and crossing the brook in the near of a little vineyard. Now you are at the village DURLESBACH with the station. The railway station has a small turntable, a engine shed, a water standpipe and a small coal bunker. Behind the church and the cemetery is the stone quarry in the back. A field railway is working here and if you discover in a little hut the blacksmith fire, you have good eyes and need no optician. The used scale at this layout is 1:87 and the gauge H0 and 009.

Hello Franz, Nebenbahn = Branchline. Steinbruch = Stone quarry. Field Railway = Narrow gauge railway. For an English speaking audience, the above are understood. David

Franz, I have PMed you some suggestions. David - my understanding is that one of the difficulties of translating the word Nebenbahn is that it is a general word which also describes a connecting lines between main line routes. It thus includes Vizinalbahn, Sekundärbahn, Lokalbahn, Stichbahnen and Verbindungsbahnen. The challenge of defining a branch line is not unique to German railways! Stephen Williams's Great Western Branch Line Modelling - Part One (Wild Swan Publications, 1991, ISBN 0 906867 95 9) has two pages trying to answer the simple question of What is a branchline? Some relevant comments, which I think would equally apply to a discussion on the definition of nebenbahn, are: "It is also implicit that the the branch is of secondary importance. This is the type of arrangement that is commonly visualised when branch lines are discussed; a secondary line diverging from the main line at a junction and terminating at some distant towns. However, the application of the simple definition to the railway produces problems." (p5) "In the end I think the question of definition or recognition of a branch line comes down to its perceived or effective status within the overall system. No doubt the railway itself had a very clear idea of where the traffic receipts originated and which were the important destinations ont he system both operationally and perhaps also in respect of its publicity strategy." (p6) Reading Stephen Williams's conclusions, it appears that his understanding of a (Great Western) branchline covers both definitions translated for nebenbahn, although I think some purists may still argue that a branch line must be a Stichbahnen and include a terminus! Greg

Hello Franz, You have mail. Grusse, David

Just some suggestions on changes to the English for you: DURLESBACH – where time stands still Dear visitor, if you want to view the layout DURLESBACH you have to take your time, because such as "to be in a rush"or hurry are unknown here. The most exciting things that happen here are the policeman catching a hobo, or the linesmans goat running away. This layout shows a secondary railway in Franconian Swizerland (North Bavaria) in the early years of the last century. It has two main parts. The Durlesbach valley; the village carrying the same name and the stone quarry close by. Let’s begin our overview tour at Durlesbach valley. On the right on the hill you find the ruin of “Thurlesstein” castle and down by the brook a sawmill and before the tracks reach the bridge and the Thurlesstein tunnel, a signal box at the front. At the left end of the hill a second railway line leaves another tunnel and crosses the brook in the near of a little vineyard. Now you are at the village DURLESBACH with the station. The railway station has a small turntable, an engine shed, a water standpipe and a small coal bunker. Behind the church and the cemetery is the stone quarry. A field railway is working here and if you can seethe blacksmith's fire in the little hut, you have good eyes and have no need of an optician. The scale used for this layout is 1:87 and the gauges are H0 and 009. best regards David

Hi Greg; I agree with the points you have raised. But I would say branch line as a discription to a railway modeller/general public viewing layouts at the NEC, would be universally understood. David

Thanks
Here my thank to all who shared their time to help me.