Very interesting thread. It is interesting that the largest rail net in Europe at the time gets so little love. I am a history buff (aren't we all?). I have a particular fascination with WWI. I would think that those of use who are more operations minded would love to model some aspect of the mobilization in Germany/Prussia/Bavaria. During the opening week there were 40-50 car trains crossing the Rhine on the then new Remagen Bridge every 10 min! All against a minutely detailed plan. I have been unable to determine if the time tables for the Schlieffen plan are existent. The intellectuals on the German General Staff were in the railroad department. I have thought that the first two weeks in August 1914 in some place like Aachen or Metz might have been the greatest display of steam power every assembled. As an aside modeling a section of the front later in the war would make an interesting 2 or 3 board model. due to the static nature of the war, both sides laid down extensive temporary networks of rails to support the operations at the front. I have come across almost nothing about these operations other than just mentioning their existence.