Thanks for the kind words guys, I'll let her know. And BTW, she can cook too!

Svein

Things are really starting to come together. It's all looking great too!

Not much happening with the layout these days. We've just started the process of selling my apartment and buying a bigger house, so any layout building is put on hold for a while. Went to look at the new house last weekend, and got the loan approval from the bank this thursday. We still have to sell this place first, but the realtor may allready have found a possible buyer, and things are looking good.

However, I haven't completely forgotten about the layout. I have declared the biggest storage room as the new layout room, and are working on how to fit my existing sections into an area allmost three times the size...

Svein

Hey -

Congratulations on getting more layout space. Have you closed on the new home yet?

Smile,
Stein

Thanks, Stein. No, we're not quite there yet. We're having an appraiser over this friday, and hopefully the lady who viewed our apartment last thursday wil place a bid after that. There are still no other bids on the house we are interrested in, and the owners said they were willing to make a deal with us, even if it meant waiting for us to sell our place first.

Svein

Well, guess it's time to revive this thread. We're still looking for a new and bigger house, but for now we'll do with what we have. So it's back to working on the layout again, I still have to fasten the remaining loose track pieces and finish the wiring before I can start with the landscaping. Meanwhile, my girlfriend has another project going on, this time it's a model A Ford pickup truck 1928:





Svein

Very nice . I have to ask - is the car brush painted?

Wow - is that one of those Jordan cars kits I brought back from Minnesota for you a couple of years ago?

Miss V really has the magic touch with painting those cars!

Smile,
Stein

Thanks guys!

Jens: Yes, it's all brush painted. I haven't yet invested in an airbrush and compressor, but maybe this summer...

Stein: It sure is, all three of them actually! The rest of the cars I got from you are still in their boxes, just waiting for V to get her hands on them.

Svein

Been playing around with my camera today, trying to get some decent shots of my engines. Since many of you may not be familiar with Norwegian locomotives, I thought I'd post them here:


Brimalm Exclusive brass model of the class 31b #447, in service between 1925 and 1963. No decoder in this one yet.


NMJ Superline brass model of the class 26c #399, in service between 1920 and 1965. DCC.


Brimalm Exclusive brass model of the class 24b #236, in service between 1912 and 1970. DCC/sound factory installed.


NMJ Superline brass model of the class 32a #288, in service between 1915 and 1969. The prototype is preserved at the Norwegian Railway Museum. DCC factory installed.


Roco model of the class 61a #3236. This was originally a German class 57 left behind after WW2. Due to the five axels and rigid frame, it wasn't suitable for the Norwegian railroad tracks, and was retired in 1955. DCC.


Heljan model of the class Di3 #602. This engine was put into service in 1957 to replace the steam engines, and proved to be a real success, in fact several of the Di3 engines were in regular service as late as 2000 before they were finally retired. This model is currently being slightly modified and detailed to represent the prototype as it was just after delivery in 1957. Detailing and modifications include adding window protection bars, scale couplers and brake hoses, removing the 1000V electrical contacts outside the buffers, and replacing the plastic ladders with brass ones. DCC.


NMJ Topline model of the class Di2 #805, in service between 1958 and 1983. DCC factory installed.

Svein

Beautiful locomotives - even the diesels too. Glad to see 4-8-0's well represented, and especailly unusual that they stayed in service so long. Over here that type fell out of favor once trailing trucks caught on and larger fireboxes could be used. Still, the N&W kept several going until the end of steam on branchline service, a rarity.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with your new space.

Galen

Hi,

I've enjoyed following your progress. My wife and I rode the train from Bergen to Oslo to Bodo in the summer of 1995. Our train North was pulled by a locomotive that looked a lot like that Di3 but with red and yellow livery. Very cool trip in a wonderful country!

David

Thanks, Galen. We're still looking for that new space, haven't found any suitable house yet.

Hi, David, and welcome!

I have taken the train ride between Oslo and Bergen a couple of times myself, but I must admit that I've never taken the train farther north than Trondheim :oops: . It's not unlikely that the locomotive on "your" train was a Di3, they've had 3-4 different color schemes through the years, green being the first. Here's a site with more information (in English) about the history of the Di3:
http://www2.dmmh.no/~ses/index.php?aut=&...&engelsk=1

Svein

Here's my latest addition to the Hjemstad Line roster, I ordered it in February and picked it up on my way home from work today. It's an NMJ Superline brass model of the class 15f #83 modeled as it was in the 50s. This engine was originally a class 11b delivered in 1896, which makes it the oldest engine in my roster. It was retired on September 6th 1956.



Svein

Oops, didn't realize it had been so long since my last update..!

Things have happened here the last six weeks. We've bought a new house, sold my old apartment (got a good price for it too, about 10% above asking price), and we're expecting to start moving in the next couple of weeks.

The two largest storage rooms in the basement will be dedicated to my new layout. While the area may not be so big by US standards, it's almost 3.5 times my current area, and plenty of space to work with. No new track plan yet, but I'm working on it.

Here's a drawing of the area, the rooms in question are labeled Storage 1 and Storage 2:



Svein