Grimstad on tour!

Two weeks ago me and my Grimstad modules attended Fremo's 25th birthday celebrations in Alsfeld Germany. It is very nice to see my modules play their part in a huge operating session together with 117(!) other stations on the layout. There were a lot of freight and passengers in and out of Grimstad every session. For instance; fish was sent to a big station on the Chech part of the layout. And the local newspaper in Grimstad got a lot of paper from a Dutch paperplant on the opposite side of the layout. It took several hours of transportation real-time until these shipments reached their destinations on this huge layout which had almost a kilometer of mainline track. Unfortunately this is the only picture of Grimstad I've got from the meeting. Next time I'll remember to bring my camera...

New locomotive on the Grimstad Line

Due to shortage of motive power on the Grimstad Line, the management has turned it's head to other railroads for help. An agreement has been reached with SjB (Sjuskogbanen) which have kindly rented out one of their reserve locos. The loco is SjB no.9 which is a tank engine of NSB type 20b. The picture shows no.9 in Grimstad for the first time shortly after arriving with freight train Gt 5675.

Overview of Grimstad

Work continues slowly on the new and revised area around Grimstad station. I have also added a black "skirt" under Grimstad which enhances the overall look nicely. Here is a picture of how the three sections look when you enter my layout room.

Backdrop experimentation

I need a backdrop all along the wall in my layout room, so I bought some blue skyes and clouds from Vollmer :). Behind Grimstad station, which is a removeable Fremo-module that consists of three sections, I will make three removeable backdrops that can be clamped on the modules for use on Fremo meets or shows. I'm not 100% pleased with the color of the sky, as I think it is too blue. Also, the clouds are too low on the "horizon" so I'll probably look for something else. But these will have to do for now.

Finally - a track plan!

After a couple of long nights working with the computer I finally have something I can call a trackplan for my layout. I used the demo version of a german program called Wintrack 7.0 which has a cool feature; 3D! It's fun seeing my plans in 3D although it all looks like a picture from the Faller catalogue :) You can find the normal version by clicking "Trackplan" in the menu.

The Grimstad modules test their new home

Some years ago I started construction of Grimstad station using the FREMO-module standard. These three sections have been to many shows both in Norway and in Germany, and now they are going to serve as the main focal point on my new Grimstad Line layout. They don't look very good at the moment,as they are currently being renovated with new ground cover, more buildings and some modification to the tracks, but that will hopefully change soon!. A new turntable is also going to be installed. The layoutroom is not finished yet, but I couldn't resist to try out the modules in their new home.

The layout-room is finally nearing its completion!

I have been dreaming of my very own room in which i could build my dream layout for many many years, and now the goal is finally in sight. In the first floor of my home there has been an incomplete second livingroom for almost ten years now. Finally I have been able financially to complete this room, and it will house my first layout; the Grimstad-line. In a couple of weeks I hope to have the room ready for my Grimstad modules and the construction of the rest of the line can commence.

Gallery

Trackplan

This is not the final trackplan, but I think it shows quite good what my plans are - at the moment. Like all real railroads it has a point-to-point configuration. The railroad starts from the coastal town of Grimstad and goes up to Rise via Rykene on its way. The track goes two times around the peninsula on its way up to Rise which is 15 centimeters higher than Grimstad. During operating sessions a fiddle yard will be added on the end of Rise.

History

In the local newspaper in 1908 the following story could be read: "The train down to Grimstad was delayed several mintes one day. When he train driver upon arrival was asked about why this happened, he replied; a farmer wanted to send 40 eggs down to Grimstad, but when the train arrived he only had 39. We waited a for him a little bit so the hen could lay the last egg"

The Grimstad-line or G.F.B (Grimstad Frolandsbanen) opened in 1907 as a privately owned narrow gauge (1067mm) railway. The 22 kilometers of track went from the port in Grimstad up to Rise where it met the NSB's (Norwegian State Railways) line from Arendal to Treungen. It's main revenue was passenger services and transport of timber and agricultural products from the surrounding communities. GFB struggeled to make ends meet right from the start as most of the freight traffic was transported down to Arendal instead of Grimstad. Because of this NSB took over the Grimstad line in 1911. Discussions about closing the line down started already during the 20's, but luckily it survived and was converted to standard gauge track in 1936 at almost the same time as the line down to Arendal. The last train left Grimstad in 1961 and the track and most of the railway buildings was torn down the following years. The line from Arendal to Nelaug however, still exists today.

I try to make my 1:87 version of the Grimstad-line as true to prototype as possible, but will be making some compromises and changes to meet my interests - after all it's my railroad now :) My layout-room is only 335x275cm, so i have chosen to only model a small portion of the line. Rise and the outside world will be represented by an unscenicked fiddleyard at one end that will be removeable when not in use. Unlike the protoype my port is bustling with activity and much of the freight that in fact was transported to Arendal is shipped out via Grimstad instead. Iron ore from Treungen is transported in large quantities and so is wood and timber. To add to the operational interest of the layout, I will add spurs leading to a couple of the larger industries in the Grimstad area - "Rykene Brug" and "Fuhr". Rykene Brug make raw materials for paper, and Fuhr produce wines and apple juice. The industries existed in real life, but the spurs didn't.

My dreams, and main objectives with the Grimstad Line-project is to capture a small piece of railroading history that is now long gone, and to be able to have fun operating the railroad prototypically with good friends.

Grimstad station in the 50's