With 120 meters of track, the Hemer FREMO:87 layout was the world’s largest Proto:87 layout ever assembled and consisted of four branches, including a main line, a Bavarian branch, a private railroad, and a Dutch branch. The layout size and clever timetable kept a crew of 20 to 30 operators busy for hours at a time.

The Dutch branch introduced a number of wonderfully scenicked new modules and sidings, on which I spent considerable time taking pictures while operating local freight and passenger trains. The timetable on this branch was loose enough to allow for frequent rail fanning stops.

There is a growing trend of building track module sections that extend themes and landscaping beyond a single module and provide a more cohesive look. These new sections included a four-piece section modelled after a prototype in the German Allgäu region that featured super elevated track with a transition curve and a three-piece section of a rural Dutch scene with an agricultural access road stretching across the three modules.

A special thank you to Andreas Rittershofer for letting me use his background. Enjoy the photos!

Hemer 2011: FREMO:87 layout in the center (click to enlarge)

Local freight on its way to Hemer

Class 50 engine with local freight leaving Iserlohn Ost

Shunter waiting for orders

Passengers in Iserlohn Ost

A local freight and passenger train meet in Iserlohn Ost

Diesel passenger train waiting at Heinerslust junction

Steam passenger train entering Geisecke

Man working in the distillery near the Dutch border

Super detailed RP25 class 41 engine visits Geisecke

Rural scene on the Bavarian branch

Rail bus in Hölle

New module section with super elevation

Local freight crossing the German Dutch border

Bridge between Nahuis and Schelling

Level crossing in Schelling

Spotting cars in Schelling

Scene in Lintelo

Shunting in Lintelo

Dutch level crossing

Rail bus on the Dutch branch

Cow pasture in the Netherlands

Rail bus to Winterswijk

Loading the vans

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fly in for this meeting so I am going to share a few photos taken by a friend of mine. It looks like the meeting was a success and will hopefully be repeated in 2013.

Zunsweier 2011 FREMO:87 layout

Signal at Fornsbach

A passenger train makes a stop in Gutach

Lumber from the local saw mill ready to be hauled away

The game is simple. In the first round, you enter a town, which must be located within the UP network, put in your email address, and your vote is recorded. You can enter one vote a day and earn additional points for reffering friends via email, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as your blog or website.

In the second round, UP will tally up the votes for the towns and come up with possible routes for the steam train excursion, all while you can still earn points through votes and referrals.

In the final step, you cast votes on your favorite steam route, share them with your friends, determining the route of the steam and win prizes.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Click on the banner below, select your town, and get started.

There were plenty of opportunities to operate trains – everything from little commuter rail buses in Norway to international express trains on the double-track mainline running from Denmark to Switzerland to mixed freight trains on a private branch line.

Check out some of the sights that I caught along the way:

H0 Europa Layout (click to enlarge)

FREMO USA, americaN, 0e/0m, 1:32 scale layouts

Steam engines in Thorshaug, Norway

Shunting in Steinhorst, Denmark

Rail bus waiting for service in Grimstad, Norway

The last VT25 from Arendal arrives in Grimstad at dusk

My favorite scene complete with express train at Vatnamot mountain in Norway

Freight train on its way from Hullebua to Krasnes, Norway ...

... passing a farm in Stussustuen ...

... gaining speed in Korsnes ...

... waiting for a green light near Sandnes, Norway

V65 ready for duty in the petroleum plant Rheinshagen, Germany

German workhorses waiting for permission to enter Rothenburg on the double-track mainline

Prototypical control panel in the Michelstadt, Germany fiddle yard

Local commuter train snaking down to Burg am Stausee, Germany

Austrian narrow gauge train in Niederoberzissen

The legendary Swiss "crocodile" peeking out of the shed in Weinfelden-Wildegg

Swiss Rhb 213 picking up transport wagons in Bietingen

Unit coal train and international express train meet in Czech Stará Paka

Micro brewery with its own siding on the FREMO USA layout

View more pictures on Thomas Woditsch’s page

Here are a few highlights from our visit:

Baldwin Locomotive Works #8 (click to enlarge)

Lehigh and New England Railroad, Caboose #583 (brake rigging)

Delaware & Hudson Boxcar 18119 (brakehose & coupler)

Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Post Office Car #1100

Lackawanna 664 EMD F3 & Reading 903 EMD FP7

United Pacific 4012 Big Boy

DL&W 82209 coal hopper

Turnout - notice the missing guard rails

View more photos on flickr.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Rapido Trains, Inc. alerting me to the fact that more price increases are looming ahead. Labor costs are rising even in China and thus the costs of manufacturing model trains.

Manufacturers will have to think about whether it makes sense to bring production back or moving to another off-shore location where labor costs are more favorable. I do commend Rapido for openly communicating this development to their customers. In the age of social media, transparency is king.

One way of keeping the cost of the hobby down is of course limiting the number of purchases. This is what I have resorted to even though the reason is not an economical one. Since I modify and detail most of my models, there are a few projects in the queue and usually I can resist the temptation to add even more to my list.

Got an opinion on the development of model train prices? Share it in the comments below.

I find the ad interesting because custom runs make a lot of sense for large clubs like FREMO. If you get an order big enough (Rapido indicates a 300 piece minimum which is really not that much), you can easily get a run of a cars with no number, which would make unique renumbering for club operation much easier. Instead of trying to carefully remove the original road number, which sometimes damages paint and surface, one could just apply a custom decal, apply dull clear coat, weather the car and be done with it. Leaving a number off instead of making a whole custom scheme should also be a lot cheaper.

Maybe it’s time that European train manufacturers such as BRAWA are starting to openly advertise similar services or at least offer cars with no lettering so one can do the whole thing from scratch.

By the way, I do like this Rapido caboose. They just released new paint schemes and the one I want is among them. But more on that another time…

More interesting than the pictures are Alexander’s accounts of the PRR’s history, which he lays out very thoroughly from its origins to its development and construction. Further, he describes passenger, freight service, and covers locomotive development extensively from steam all the way to electrics. He closes with a chapter of vivid description of incidents on the railroad including the Pittsburgh Riots of 1877, the Johnstown Flood and the Broad Street Station fire.

I found it a great introduction to the railroad and I was amazed at how many technical advancements were first introduced by the company. The book is out of print but maybe you can still find it at your local library or buy it used on Amazon.

An ETA 515 makes a quick stop in Seeburg (click to enlarge)

The layout was compact but offered a few interesting features including a short narrow gauge set-up that crossed the standard gauge line on a few dual gauge modules. A completely separate test layout with two fiddle yards allowed for running unfinished projects, locos and cars from other eras/continents including my just completed Penn Central X58.

My Penn Central X58 361825 on a test drive

The new coupling tool from Dutch Werps Modelbouw was in wide use and seemed to help speed up coupling and uncoupling – otherwise quite tedious tasks, which tend to slow down switching and lead to time-crunches during operating sessions.

The new coupling tool from Dutch Werps Modelbouw speeds up switching

I left the meet inspired to pick up the pace on my modeling projects including a few converted Proto:87 engines. My goal is to help prepare enough era 4 German rolling stock to allow for an operating session with more modern material by 2012.

Below are a few more scenes along the right of way taken with my new DSLR. Enjoy!

Taking a breather on the front porch - a popular scene on the FREMO:87 layout

VT 95 in the colorful fiddle yard Rambach

Missed photo op at a level crossing

A local freight train on the way to Gutach

Getting milled lumber ready for pick-up in Gutach

The local freight train arrives in Heiligenthal

93 1099 with an afternoon freight train on the way from Fornsbach to Iserlohn

A VT 95 and ETA 515 meet in Heiligenthal

Because I am painting inside a small apartment, I decided against using the solvent based Scale Coat Penn Central Green sold by the Penn Central Railroad Historical Society. Instead, I painted the car with the water based Floquil Polly Scale paints Penn Central Green for the car body and Flat Aluminum for the roof.

Rail Yard Models Penn Central X58 after paint job (click to enlarge)

A few days later, I added a glossy finish using Badger Modelflex paint. The outcome was less than desirable as the glossy paint seemed to crystalize in some spots. In my next project, I am going to mix Model Master glossy paint with the Polly Scale green to save me a step and minimize the risk of messing up a nice paint job.

I let the glossy finish dry for a few days as recommended in the X58 instructions and then started to apply the decals.

The decaling was an easy albeit slow process because I was customizing the lettering based on a prototype photograph. After cutting the decals, I prepped the surface with Micro Set, slid the decals on it and let Solvaset work its magic. Excess fluid was sucked off using a cotton swab. The cotton swab did a great job in removing fluid but occasionally left tiny fibers behind. Next time, I will try a micro fiber cloth used for cleaning lenses instead.

Putting the decals on the X58 was a slow process

Two evenings later, I was ready to decal the other side. I thought about a way to peek at the other side without turning the car over all the time. The solution was to make a copy of the decaled side. Make sure you cover the area around the car with blank sheets of paper to avoid wasting a lot of black ink.

Copying the decaled side for reference

The copy turned out to be just a tad smaller than the actual model but I found that when referencing lettering to other parts such as ladder steps it was still helpful to use and sped up the decaling process. Every now and then I did take a digital caliper to measure key proportions on the other side, though.

Using a copy of the decaled side of the car sped up the process

So here it is, the finished product complete with roof, brake hoses and extra weight.

Finished Rail Yard Models Penn Central X58 36 18 25

For a first try at a craftsman kit, I am very happy with the result. Let me know what you think in the comments below. I hope you will join me when I report on the weathering after I return from the FREMO:87 meet in Glottertal, Germany.