The first train has left Grimstad station, and is seen here on route to Rykene.
I have covered the newly built benchwork with some Styrofoam. This creates a really sturdy and nice base for both the trackbed and the future landscape. For the trackbed I have used regular 10mm. styrofoam and cut the sides at an 45 degree angle. This method of construction is much more fun I think than the traditional wood trackbed with wooden risers. And it's much faster as well.
I have connected the Grimstad modules to the rest of the layout now. The curve right outside of Grimstad is in the corner is the tighest on the whole layout at 55 cm. radius. Now I'm ready to lay down some Peco code 75 track. Stay tuned for more pictures soon!
The Grimstad Line has so far only consisted in model of the three modules that make up the Grimstad station. Now the construction of the peninsula in the middle of the layoutroom has begun! I hope to be able to finish this soon so I can attach it to my previous modules and begin to lay some track :)
After World War II one of these locomotives was left in Norway. It was named Skd211 by the NSB, but is more commonly known as Köf. It will be used for shunting work in Grimstad and small local freights to Rykene and Rise.
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...
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.
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.
