2013 Nürnberg Toy Fair

OK, first things first ... contrary to conventional wisdom, I did leave some food for your next visit to Germany.
As for what I (allegedly) consumed, here's some roast suckling pig from the first evening's fare:

As for my dining partner, the wiener schnitzel (with the obligatory potato salad)
 was, in a word, unbelievable:

OK, now that we have the preliminaries are out of the way (just in case you thought I would starve on this trip)...
This was my 13th consecutive trip to the world famous Nürnberg Toy Fair, and I knew it would not disappoint.
The "Messe" (exhibition center) is huge, with more than a dozen buildings dedicated this week to toys!

Now, don't get anxious, there are many, many more food photos below, but we really need to deal with the trains first:

The new "mfx+" protocol is very, very interesting.  Here you see the control cab for a diesel locomotive,
where you can read your fuel, oil and sand levels and have access to all the sound and light functions:.

OK, pay close attention here (below) ...  Notice the gas pump icon (left side of the cab window) and the fuel tank (right)?
This is where you stop to add fuel in the more advanced modes ... if you don't, the locomotive won't run!
You click on the fuel pump, an arm swings over and the fuel level increases -- click again and you're ready to go.
If you want a realistic way to run your trains -- this is it!

As for models, this year's "Crocodiles" are completely redesigned models, with 2 high-efficiency motors,
two drive rods on either side for both ends, new lighting features and many other improvements.  There's
an SBB two-locomotive set (37565) and a beautiful OBB version (37566) for the Austrian transportation museum:

 Here's your first look at the special black Crocodile, the "Toy Fair" locomotive 37567:

Here's a photo of one of Märklin's engineering drawings where you can see how the new motors, decoder
and speaker will be incorporated into the new design:

Probably the most talked-about models at the Toy Fair were Märklin's reproduction of the Swedish Dm3 locomotive,
with its dual motor design and two different 6-car ore sets -- a VERY impressive model for the world's most powerful train.
This photo shows it pulling all 24 cars (12 from Marklin, 12 from Trix), all with different road numbers;
the Dm3 is item 37753, the Marklin car sets are 46370 and 46371, and the Trix cars are T24237 and T24238:

Here's a close-up (well as close as I could get) where you can see some of the detailed construction of this impressive model:

And the Norwegian version, 37754, also with a 2-motor configuration, adds some nice color (note the red-trimmed
wheel flanges) to the Scandinavian ore hauling theme.  Both models (and the cars) are very impressive:

From any angle, these are very impressive models:

Continuing with the Scandinavian scheme, there will be a new version of the old-time favorite Da model (30301),
and a 4-car passenger sheet-metal passenger car set 40301.  Both items are part of the MHI program and will
have very limited availability:

The 36502 "Henkel" diesel locomotive will be great for kids ... it comes with a sheet of stickers
(and what kid doesn't like stickers) that can be easily applied to the body for that "personalized" look:

The 29310 "Forestry" themed starter set (along with its add-ons)
 will also be a great hit for both young and old kids alike:

The 37816 DRG class 50 will be the second "Borsig" model in the series and will come
with a beautiful wooden display box:

Look at the detail on the 37981 "Peat" locomotive and one of the cars in the 4-car passenger set 43984:

The cars will come with factory-installed lighting and lanterns in the last (baggage) car; truly an attractive set:

The beautiful 37960, K.Bay.Sts.B. class Gt 2x4/4 (later the BR 96) will have a lovely 7-car freight set 46082 to go along with it:

Here's a preview of the 37956 and 37957 (with the silver boiler bands) BR 03 locomotives:

And here's a nice photo of the 37153 SNCB class 26 (2-10-0) steam locomotive for this year;
it will have a very cool set of 7 coal cars (item 46024) to go along with it:

Here it is ... 26495 "Montreal Limited" (and limited in availability) set -- also very impressive:

And here's the new 37078, DB class 78 tank locomotive, complete with all kinds of sound functions:

The 37862 set of two class 86 locomotives is a fantastic buy ... two beautiful tank locomotives, with sound,
with Telex, all for a very special price!

Märklin's layout always draws the show's largest crowds, and this year was no exception:

How about some "real" trains?

On our trip to Göppingen, we had to change trains in Ulm. Here's a photo of a class 460 commuter rail car:

It's just so picturesque; lots of action everywhere you look:

Here's the S-Bahn we'll be taking back to Stuttgart after an afternoon of train shopping:

The trip between Munich and Nürnberg sometimes includes a stop at Ingolstadt, where the Audi's are made.
Here's just a small part of a long train getting ready to deliver hundreds of automobiles:

Some ICE trains go as fast as 300 km/hr.  Ours topped-out at about 250 this day -- still pretty cool:

What's this?  A French train in Germany (see the DB cars in the background)?
Yup, it's a TGV, just minutes before it pulled out of Munich, headed for Paris!

OK, you've been very patient so far... Did someone say food? 

The roast pork and potato dumplings in Nürnberg get me coming back every year:

Time out for a food photo... On Thursday we went to Göppingen; one of the high-lights for me (other than
going to the Marklin Museum, of course) is going to Nordsee for my lunch of fish and potato salad:

So, after lunch, then comes dinner, along with the best potato soup in all of
Germany at my favorite restaurant in Stuttgart: Paulaner...

And, lest I had you believing otherwise, it's not all pork and dumplings...  The salads are wonderful as well
(see the portion of potato salad at the bottom -- it just doesn't get any better than this)!

The roast duck was incredible:

But I just couldn't resist the sauerbraten and spaetzle:

Now, here's how it's done in Bavaria... The schweinhaxe (pig's knuckle) are roasted on a spit in front of a wood fire.
Here, the "chef" has just taken off one of the spits and is browning the end to get it nice and crispy.
Each of these knuckles will feed two people without any problem!

But you don't have to go "fancy"-- even the sausages are great wherever you go:

And, no, the other salad you saw was not the only salad in Germany:

And, for dessert, my favorite: rote grütze.  It's so hard to describe, I had to look it up!
Basically, its a mixture of various fresh berries in a fruit sauce, topped with vanilla sauce.
Whatever it is, it was my dad's favorite and I seem to like it too (imagine that)!