Hubert and Laurent Bertrand are two model railroaders from Alsace, France. They are father and son, and great enthusiasts of miniature trains, for example, steam locomotives, electric locomotives or diesel locomotives. In the last years, they constructed a modular model railway layout in HO scale, which is called “Le Train de la Moder” in French, meaning something like “The Train of the River Moder”. Without any doubt we can point out by watching the architecture of the buildings, that the model landscape is based on the valley of the Moder, a small river near the river Rhine, in the north of Alsace, France. The construction of this model railroad layout began more than ten years ago, when Hubert Bertrand inspired his son Laurent in railway modelling, model railroading and model making.
The design of their modular model railway based on a dog-bone layout. It is built in eight removable elements and transportable segments with a full length of approximately 13 meters. These modules are made of cleats and plywood. The model landscape is made from wire mesh coated with plasterboard glue. Furthermore, products - made by manufacturers Noch, Heki and Busch - were used for landscaping. In this miniature world, there are an Alsatian village, a viaduct, tunnels, a traditional architecture with half-timbered houses and pink sandstone of the Vosges and much more. All the buildings are made by hand. There are also 30 meters of rails in HO scale for different locomotives circulating on the railway lines.
