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Here’s a quick review of the FREMO:87 meeting in Hemer, Germany that brought together modelers from Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and the US in a nice facility not far from the old Hemer station which was also featured on the layout.

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

Earlier this month, FREMO:87 enthusiasts organized the first regional meeting in Southern Germany. The meeting in the quaint village of Zunsweier situated in the foothills of the Black Forest near Offenburg featured a layout with stations from Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg with a timetable set in era III. A workshop on supering the Brawa Omm52/E37 open hopper rounded out the program.

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

I just returned from a quick trip to Europe where I attended the 20th anniversary meeting of FREMO Netherlands. It was the largest meeting that I’ve ever attended and featured hundreds of modules and over a kilometer of track. The H0 Europa layout reached from Scandinavia all the way to the Alpine nations of Switzerland and Austria.

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

A few weeks ago, my wife and I spent a weekend in the Scranton, Pennsylvania area. This was an opportune moment to pay a visit to the Steamtown National Historic Site. There was not enough time to go on the steam ride to Moscow, PA but plenty to take look around the museum.

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.

I just returned from a very nice visit to Germany, where I stopped by the 2010 Glottertal FREMO:87 meet. Even though I didn’t run a single train during the operating sessions, it was great to be back, talk shop and catch up with friends and fellow modelers from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The modular Proto:87 community seems to be growing quite nicely in Europe and I hope that we US modelers can soon start our own Proto modular system.

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