01 / Original form
Early lower-sided version
The original, shallower hopper profile gives the early wagons a particularly open and lightweight appearance.
Model railway · 3D printing
Alpine engineering.
In miniature.
A personal collection of Rhätische Bahn scenes, specialist railway vehicles and objects made layer by layer.
Explore ↓The work
Built for the details most people pass by: weathered rails, specialist machinery, Alpine landscapes and the quiet satisfaction of making something real at a smaller scale.
32 photographs02 featured prints∞ details to refine
Featured project3D PRINT / 001
Rotary snow blower
RhB Xrot mt
9217
A distinctive Alpine machine recreated as a detailed 3D print—finished in vivid orange, yellow and deep rotary red.
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Built by German specialist Beilhack, Xrot mt 9217 entered service in 1981 to keep the RhB’s metre-gauge network open through harsh Alpine winters. Its high-speed rotary cutters break through deep drifts and throw the snow clear of the line. Diesel engines power the snow-clearing equipment, but the vehicle itself is not self-propelled and is pushed by locomotives during operation.
Weighing 38 tonnes, the machine can clear up to 11,700 tonnes of snow per hour. Its rotary head cuts a path up to 4.6 metres wide and 2.5 metres high—vital after heavy snowfall on routes such as the Albula and Arosa lines. Xrot mt 9217 remains one of the RhB engineering fleet’s most recognisable machines.
- Subject
- RhB Xrot mt 9217
- Builder
- Beilhack
- In service
- From 1981
Featured project3D PRINT / 002
Permanent-way stock
RhB Fd
hopper wagons.
Two generations of a purposeful railway vehicle: the early lower-sided hopper and the later version modified with extended sides to carry a greater volume.
02 / Increased capacity
Later extended-sided version
The raised side extensions visibly deepen the body, increasing the wagon’s carrying capacity while preserving its distinctive hopper form.
Both versions were 3D printed to show how a practical railway design evolved in service.
Loaded with scale ballast and coupled behind Tm 2/2 by Bemo, the differences become clear: the low rim of the earlier wagon beside the taller, panelled sides of the later form. The 3D-printed railings and ladders came out particularly well. The RhB decals are home-printed on an HP laser printer, with the addition of Ghost White toner as required. Weathering completes the models.
From the layout
More from the
RhB collection.
Engineering trains, service vehicles and everyday railway moments set against rock, grass and overhead wire.
Open the archive7 more photographs +
New from the layoutICLOUD COLLECTION / 2024—25
Freshly added
Work trains.
Mountain moments.
More views from the layout: specialist stock at work, stone bridges and the RhB landscape seen from track level.
The layout in motion
Press play.
Watch the railway breathe.
Short films bring the landscape, rolling stock and scale movement together.
Behind the builds
Part modeller.
Part problem-solver.
I enjoy the point where traditional model-making meets modern digital tools. This is a living record of the pieces I build, the railway I shape and the details that make the whole scene believable.
This space is ready for your own story—your layout’s name and scale, how you began, and what you plan to make next.