The Hjemstad Line

[Svein]

Finished the cork roadbed, now it's time to lay some track!

Here is the staging yard along one long wall, the sections are just wide enough to fit six tracks with a track distance of 52mm (just over 2"). In the far end there is a pinwheel ladder of curved turnouts. Five of the tracks are double ended staging tracks, while the sixth (closest to camera) will be a branch line. Each of the staging tracks can hold a train of 180-200cm (6' - 6'8") length, not too bad for a layout this size I think:


Here is the other end of the staging yard, with the main line curving around the corner and passing below the window on the short wall. The branch line will make a 180 degree curve on the inside of the main and connect to my old sections, which will form a peninsula in the middle of the room, but the exact placement of the curve can't be defined without the old sections in place, so that will have to wait until later:


Along the entire other long wall I have planned a station and a small town with some industries. The passing tracks are just under 200cm (6'8") long, but with only two through tracks, I'm thinking of having an extra crossover between them, in front of the depot (about center in the first pic below), to make switching the industrial track along the wall a little easier:

[faraway]

That is a fine craftsmanship!

[Svein]

Thanks, Reinhard. You know, I'm actually using your layout as an inspiration when building it. I love how you transform your layout from one year to the next, and I am impressed with your skills each and every time. My decision to build flat top sections is directly influenced by your layout, and how you manage to use your flat area to create such wonderful variety of scenes. That is one of my main goals with the station/town area on my own layout, to be able to experiment with different scenes and track configurations as you do, but I can only dream of producing such beautiful results as yours!

[Svein]

Today I finally did something I've been thinking about for a very long time; getting my old layout sections out of storage and incorporating them into the layout! I've been somewhat skeptical about having a peninsula on my layout, as the room is quite narrow, but I figured I will never know for sure until I try. So today I wiped off some cobwebs from the sections and built a simple frame for them to rest on, and here's the result of today's work:







The last pic shows how I removed part of the small module below the window to recess the end of the first section, I deliberately built the module the exact same width as the old sections with this in mind. The section is resting on the bottom half of the module to ensure that the track is level with the rest of the layout, and fastened to the two adjacent modules with bolts, washers and wingnuts.

There's still some work left before the peninsula is operational though; the old control panel have to be reconnected, and there's some tracklaying to tie the peninsula with the rest of the layout.

[modelsof1900]

Svein, very solid work!
You do not use the Freme valley profile as connections to other Fremo modules? Here in Germany is the valley profile more or less a standard.

[Svein]

Thanks, Bernhard.

The modules (or perhaps I should call them sections, as they aren't completely modular and interchangeable) are built with the FREMO B96 profile in mind, and have all the mounting holes and the correct height to be bolted together with other FREMO modules. How ever, the strict FREMO standard with just one track centered on the module joints was a bit too restricting for my small room, so I decided to build the modules/sections with just a flat top for now. That way I can experiment with different track configurations and figure out what I like, and if/when I decide to go FREMO all the way, I can convert them into real modules by just ripping up any non-standard track and cut out the B96 profile, which is already marked with a pen on the module ends.

[JaBear]

That way I can experiment with different track configurations and figure out what I like, and if/when I decide to go FREMO all the way, I can convert them into real modules by just ripping up any non-standard track and cut out the B96 profile, which is already marked with a pen on the module ends.

Gidday Svein, just a thought. Does the FREMO standards allow for the use of adaptor modules? I don’t see why you should go to the trouble of arranging the track to suit your room and then have to change it to something less satisfactory, if you could plug in an adaptor module at each end.
Cheers, the Bear.

[Schraddel]

Bear,

of course you can use adaptor modules. Here in the Fremo Southwest Division the use of adaptor modules is very common. May it be an connection of an moveable home layout or simply a break of scene and/or module standards:





A one-end adaptor when the length space is too short to switch a loco at the end of the line.

Lutz

[Svein]

Here at home anything goes, but at FREMO meetings they are a little more restrictive, at least here in Norway. I'm less inclined to build a strict FREMO home layout now than I was a year ago, but the B96 interface has sort of stuck with me as I have planned this new layout. Maybe because i'm just indecisive and can't make up my mind, but I like the idea of having the opportunity to shift around the different modules and rearrange the layout, or maybe build a new module to replace an old one, and that's where the standardized interface really shows its advantages.

[JaBear]

Lutz, I should have actually looked at some of the FREMO videos on Youtube first, it’s just that I’ve argued for years with the local module groups, that provided the track work and wiring meets the standards and with the use of adaptor modules at both ends , the sky’s the limit for what happens in between.
My goodness Svein , now I understand what you wish to achieve, that’ going to take some disciplined track planning.
Thanks gentlemen for your answers,
Cheers, the Bear, (the indecisive and undisciplined)

[Svein]

After a lot of thinking back and forth, I finally concluded that a duck-under was never going to be a satisfying solution, and so yesterday I modified the middle section and built a lift-out instead.

Here's what it looked like before; with a section joint and four turnouts for the staging yard ladder right in the middle of the doorway, it wasn't the easiest task to figure out where to make the cuts for the lift-out:


First I planned to remove 50 cm (20") from the middle section and 25 cm (10") from the corner section, making the lift-out 75 cm (30") long, but after making the first 50 cm cut I realized that it was sufficient. A little tight but doable, and it saved me the work of removing the corner section and making another cut. Also, I was able to re-use the cut off part from the middle section as the lift-out piece, saving myself even more work! The line for the proposed cut on the corner section to the right is clearly visible, but luckily it turned out to be unnecessary. This solution also cut the staging yard ladder in half, with two turnouts on the lift-out and the other two on the corner section:


After cutting and fitting a new end piece for the middle section, I made 4 small cleats (two on each side) to support the lift-out in the correct height:


There's still some work left before the lift-out is complete, as I have to make sure it locks in the correct position every time, and I haven't quite figured that one out yet.

[Svein]

The duck-under project has been put on hold for a while. Before the removable section can be fitted, I have to finish a couple of other sections first. The small section below the window can almost be considered the cornerstone of the layout, as both corner sections as well as the peninsula depend on it being in place, and so I decided to finish that one first.

The track is fixed in place and the track ends soldered to brass screws, I have cut the webbing between the ties and adjusted the tie distance according to Norwegian prototype, and all the wiring is done. I have also prepared for the possible future use of track occupancy detectors, and I have made small connector boxes with plugs for easy connection to the other sections:







After I posted this on a Norwegian forum, we had a small discussion about proper wiring and the use of different wire colors to make any possible trouble shooting easier. As seen in the pics, I have used the same colors (blue and brown) for both DCC bus and AC accessory bus, with only the plug colors (black vs red) separating them. After some thinking, I have decided to replace the accessory bus with different colored wires, just to be on the safe side.

[Svein]

Maybe slightly off topic, but not quite: On the first page of this thread is a short discussion about the heavy water plant in Rjukan, and the WW2 sabotage actions against the Germans.
Well, here's a real-time rail trip from Mæl to Rjukan, filmed this summer: https://www.nrk.no/video/PS*271436

[FiatFan]

Maybe slightly off topic, but not quite: On the first page of this thread is a short discussion about the heavy water plant in Rjukan, and the WW2 sabotage actions against the Germans.
Well, here's a real-time rail trip from Mæl to Rjukan, filmed this summer: https://www.nrk.no/video/PS*271436

Excellent video! Thanks for posting the link.

Tom

[Svein]

Today I finally gathered enough courage to start with my first brass kit; a small Norwegian G3 type 1 freight car:





Progress is almost painfully slow, as I'm terrified of doing something wrong and ruin the kit, but hopefully I'll get more comfortable with brass kits soon.