This is a model of a railway station building on the Neuruppin-Wittstock branch line in the Brandenburg countryside, about 100km away from Berlin. The branch line was built around the year 1900 by a private railway company, and three station buildings (maybe more) were built to this standard design: in Fretzdorf, Dossow and Netzeband. Fretzdorf and Dossow have the same floorplan, but Netzeband floorplan is mirrored, left and right side are reversed.
Unlike so many rural branch lines in Germany which have been shut down, this line is still in use, with hourly commuter trains connecting the Brandenburg countryside with the Berlin metropolitan area. The line was modernized and the signalling has been automated, so these station buildings have lost their original function and have been replaced by plain utilitarian single-platform stops without any human operators. The new platform stops have even been moved some 100 meters up or down the line – to the benefit of the modern-day local passengers.
The Dossow station building has been razed down, but the buildings in Fretzdorf and Netzeband still exist, and the Fretzdorf building even has been nicely restored and converted to a family home.
Like any building that is 120 years old these buildings were modified over time and occasionally renovated, so their appearance has changed several times. I found images from different areas which show the alterations. For this model I used the appearance of the Fretzdorf building from earlier operational times as an inspiration, though probably none of the three buildings has ever looked exactly as the model now looks. There is also some guesswork involved regarding the front side – I couldn’t find any pictures of these. But I think the model represents well the style of a rural railway station from the 1900 area in the north of Germany. And it will fit well on a model railway from any area of the 20th century.
Enjoy.