The Bahnhof Dammtor station kit met with much fanfare when it was announced at the Nurmberg Toy Fair, it was announced in the New Items Brochure 2015 and currently available.

The Bahnhof Dammtor opened in 1903, it is still in operation today near Hamburg’s city center. Two platforms and four tracks support suburban, regional and long distance trains: one platform for S-Bahn and the other for regional and long distance. An architecturally important train station with walls of windows running parallel to the tracks thus allowing easy sightings of trains passing through the station.

Building the Bahnhof Dammtor in ‘Z’ is now possible with Marklin 89792 build kit. MKB Modelle designed and manufactured this kit along with others in the Marklin line-up. If you have some experience with their kits this one will revisit some of the same characteristics of their kits. This is a complex kit for the ambitious railroader, Marklin notes the build time is 50 hours. Building this kit is a time investment that I recommend spreading out over sessions of 2-3 hours to reduce fatigue and possible mistakes. Building and designing a kit of this size is an undertaking for any manufacturer and their attempt to recoup a profit a sizable achievement considering number of parts to design that must fit together plus material production of numerous laser cut parts. I built this kit quickly, and I made some mistakes that are avoidable. I already ordered a second kit that will combine what I learned from building it once, this posting I hope will help others too!

Two parts: 1. notes on instructions 2. parts

1. My notes and recommendations are a supplement to the printed instructions included with the kit which are at times confusing and misleading. Steps B-C1: illustrates guide lines for platforms, my kit did not have guide lines these will need to be made before gluing platforms. Here are spacing measurements I used before attaching exterior panels: spacing for outer tracks 13/16 inches and spacing for two tracks between platforms is 1 5/8 inches. With a pencil make spacing lines to help guide gluing of platforms. Instructions show trimming platforms to align with ends of station leaving platforms untrimmed is more prototypical and will extend outside the station. Equal spacing of the platforms 1 inch outside building is okay, but if you will be using the bridges and arcades kit 89793 the platform will extend too far over the bridge approach therefore you may want to mount the platforms on that end flush to the end of the building thus allowing the platforms to extend 2 inches on other end of station building. Steps D-G: Take extra time with these steps making all parts level throughout, warped assembled sections of exterior walls will be difficult to glue to the foundation of this building later in the project. Special Note: window glazing is attached to windows at this point, use great care and precision to cut provided mylar just enough to glue it in place, the next step shows window detail panels for each window, these pieces need to be glued directly to framework (cardboard and plastic cannot be securely glued together), having overlapped the mylar slightly over the windows will be secured by cardboard window panels. Step F shows interior side of panels with attaching brick sections around windows. Take note of the illustration within the circle showing 1mm between these window panels, it also is the spacing needed to keep the slots in the framework exposed (later in the project the trusses are attached to these slots!). Step H-I2: glue entry portal panels together keeping bottom of parts flush to your work surface. Carefully examine illustrations in I1 and I2 and assemble first without glue to orientate yourself to these assembly steps. Note: illustrations within circles shows 1mm spacing for architectural detail 79 attached later in step K. Step J: it is no fun to precisely cut window glazing for 24 windows, but the more careful you are here will result with good results. Step K: part 59 is actually 61 on the parts sheet, part 24 does not show dark brown cap (part 27 which was assembled in step H), part 28a is part 33 from step H. Step L: part 59 is wrongly illustrated as part 61. Step M: illustrations show front side facing out, maybe glue parts after each is assembled provided you are using a fast setting glue like Elmers Wood Glue or Daige Rollataq (available at art supply stores). Instructions suggest window glazing is attached to outside of window framing, this is incorrect, window glazing for two small side windows is attached in step 0 (glazing is always attached on the interior sides of windows otherwise they would not look realistic). Step N: this is a straightforward part of instructions and careful use of tweezers will help make alignment of all parts easier. Note: glue only after parts in this illustration are assembled, glue can be applied to joints and in and around other parts you can access, that is enough. Noch’s new glue is perfect here: 61104 Laser Cut Adhesive available in the USA at none other than ZScaleHobo.com. Step 0: window glazing is attached to two small windows and central large window. A cool design feature here is the part that surrounds central window which is secured in place by the sliding vertical parts 126 thus holding the glazing flush to window. A little line of glue applied with toothpick around interior side of window/door entries is enough here for parts 57 (glazing will already be attached to these parts from step J. Step R: parts 124 and 125 that line the entry ways will be easier to install first before outer layers. Step S: illustration shows exterior side of train entry. Note: this is a tricky step, there are 4 parts that are laminated together without a lot of room for glue. Parts assemble in this order: 85, glazing, 86, and 78. Part 78 is a delicate framework that attaches to part 86 along with two tiny complementary parts, little drops of glue and a deep breath along with tweezers and good set of magnifying glasses (magnifying glasses are always highly recommended for laser cut buildings). A cat-walk is also part of this assembly, assemble parts 82 and 83 before gluing otherwise the paper fibers of these parts will expand and make assembly very difficult. A finish strip is added as the last step to hide the assembly slots. Step T-V: this is were the building starts to come together, but there is still much work ahead. Each side of building is comprised of three panels: start with the center aligning it with the unfortunate seam in the base followed by both side panels that fit together with seamlessly if your panels are without warp! Trusses fit into those exposed slots between interior window detail panels, they will bow slightly but no worries (trusses are made of lightweight card-stock, careful not to press into place with too much pressure). These two steps take time maybe attach panels and end units in one session and trusses in another. Step V: truss framework is completed with long running trusses that run length of station, these are comprised in half sections that come together on a special center truss part 70. Best to study the illustrations and parts before assembly. Trusses match up with slots and any bow will be eliminated during step U. Apply small drops of glue to truss joints otherwise they may slip out of place, plus this will be the only time the trusses are glued following my further instructions. Step W: roof sheathing is comprised of two layers: brown under-lay and outer gray sheeting. These two layers are also comprised of three pieces each: two small ends and one large center section. At this point the beautiful trusses are exposed, consider before attaching roof if you want to expose all or part of the trusses by not attaching the roof in its entirety. I am not interested in leaving the trusses exposed but certain museum models often do and it could be interesting with this building kit. Attaching the roof is a significant step and nail biting. Roof sheathing is beautifully colored but constructed of very very lightweight paper, there is sweep in the roof design thereby requiring material that easily contours to the roof requirements, but there are also disadvantages to this material: it is highly absorbent to water based glues which leads to ripples in the surface to avoid this I did not glue sheathing to trusses instead I glued sheathing to outer edges of building starting with one side first and allowing glue to dry. I then pulled the sheathing sheets over to the the other side and glued in place along with ends of building. Roof sheathing easily ripples so be very careful getting too much glue on it!!! Step X : half domes over main entrance requires bending roofing material around a radius, I glued only the building edges and a couple of drops where it contacts the roof. For the top layer I glued it only to the building edges. Step Y: nearing the end of the project includes the assembly of a long vent, it too has the same lightweight paper as roof and gingerly applying glue dots to framework is better than too much glue, maybe glue top layer along edges only, but maybe underlay should be glued similarly with glue on edges and ends only just to keep it from buckling. Cutting a hole in the roof for the vent maybe more prototypical, but avoid this exercise because the roof sheathing won’t go on well at all. At this point a lot of money and time has been invested so please do not modify the kit at this point unless you are well experienced with such things and can overcome a big set-back. *If I am able to come up with a better roof solution when I build this for a second time I will share that advice to this post, but as of this writing I am partial to gluing the edges only and allowing the trusses to be free from anchoring to the roof. Parts 152 are roofing for the entry ways, these parts are hard to bend therefore I suggest wetting slightly bending to shape and allowing to dry before gluing in place, they can also be finished with black construction paper to at least look less distracting than unfinished cardboard, but you be the judge. Step Z: not a step at all but a page of recognition that you made it through the kit. If you made some mistakes don’t fret, kits of this nature and size we usually build once thus making for an unavoidable learning curve. I hope my notes are clear and that they help to avoid some of the mistakes I made.
2. Parts are many and varied in design and material, here is my list of parts that deserve extra care and caution with starting from beginning to end: Parts A5 do not have alignment guidelines for platforms, you will need to draw these lines to precisely make even room for the 4 tracks that will run through the station. If you plan to add the 89793 arcade and bridges I recommend waiting to cement the bridges until you know where the tracks are coming out of the station, bridges can be moved in accord with the station tracks. Parts 6/7 are laminated to parts 9/10 for one platform thus there are two of each of these parts to comprise two platforms. Laminating thick card-stock will result in curled platforms unless . these are placed on a flat surface with weights for 24 hours, I have an artist dry-mount press that I use. Rolling with rubber roller available from an art supply shop will help press the sheets together. The instructions indicate gluing directly to the foundation one layer at a time, this may work okay, but I opted for the completing the platforms and then gluing because there is a final finish layer of paper that is glued and bent around the edges, I found it easier to prep the edges of the platform with a nail file and then attaching the paper before gluing to station foundation. First criticism of this kit is that the stairwells are not finished thus they are simply openings in the platforms. If you can fashion railing around these openings I would highly recommend it. And add some black construction paper to the base of these openings will at least give some depth. Parts 13 and 15 are important, I highly recommend studying the illustrations to determine the correct orientation of these parts. And keep them straight! Part 33 is a small decorative facade detail but there are 12 of them, if you use tweezers be careful that the legs of this part do not separate too much or two little, they should align with the edges of the building they attach too. Part 65 is a window in the center portion of station, there are four total in the construction of the building, these parts are installed before part 108 is attached the building! Likewise parts 63 install before parts 109. Part 78 is found as the outer layer of station ends of which there are two, this part goes on the outside of the building.

Special Note: The first level of the station comprises numerous shop fronts, because of the design of the building some shops have views of seams and all have views of unfinished cardboard, I recommend lining the back walls of each shop with dark gray construction paper to even out the interior details and at the very least making for less distraction. I also used Noch self adhesive gray cobble in Z for going between tracks inside the station. After completing the station it will be next to impossible to clean to tracks and any loose prototypical ballast will be a nightmare to remove.

I highly recommend this station which further advances modeling in Z and the advantage Z’ers have over other gauges with prototypical and accurate scaling in a reasonable amount of space.

Siding: Marklin has released many Hamburg trains in Z making this station a must for those who are after prototypical accuracy.