Reusing old Fremo americaN modules

Was doing some work in the second bedroom in preparation for building a home layout when I was reminded of all the old modules I have. So I went to my storage area and looked at them for some time. Got some ideas rumbing in the back of my mind now.


CGW in Dubuque county Iowa

One idea is to reuse a 1 meter long and way to heavy module and cut it in three smaller sections. By making the cuts at a slight angle and turning the middle section around it should be possible to make a module with a curve in it. As for a theme, I have long been fascinated by an area on the CGW, just west of Dubuque Iowa, where the railroad follows the Little Maquoketa river. There is a palisade like stretch and even a free standing rock named Split Rock. Don't know if it is natural or manmade but it seems a nice theme for a module where you look at it from the inside of the curve. In the 1970s the track was removed. Now it is a trail known as the Heritage Trail.

The wooded palisades could be made removable and stored under / inside the segments that would be screwed together in the original shape to facilitate transportation by public transport.

M&STL Adelaide

The M&StL Adelaide station was a very simple affair, 1 switch. The station was the first station west of the junction at Conde on the line to LeBeau on the Missouri river in South Dakota. Today you can't 

I have 2 Fremo americaN modules that are 50 cm long. Originally they were to be modules portraying single track going to double track but I gave up on that.

Seems to me that since the modules stacked together form a compact unit and since Adelaide had virtually no buildings beside 2 elevators that likely can be stored under / inside a segment, it is an ideal candidate for a Fremo americaN module!

Today there isn't even a trace of this town that didn't even got off the ground. It was located in southwestern Beotia township in Spink county, roughly where it says abandoned next to the border of sections 31 and 32.

Caught - update on planning G&M Junction

Caught the flu before the holidays and can't quite get rid of it. The design for the G&M modules is nearly finished but I haven't gotten around to start cutting them up. I keep finding little things I've overseen and I can only cut them up once...

This is the situation right now. 

I will probably turn the module with the Interstate bridge around if I want it to be prototypical but keep it this way as this gives more of a curve for Fremo America-N layout planners. The scenery will most likely also be made as puzzle scenery. This means that most of the scenery but not the track will be separate pieces. In this way I can model the Interstate bridge in more modern times but with fields in a 1950's session.

All module ends will be conform the Fremo America-N standard though likely some centimeters 'higher' (actually below the usual 10 cm to cater for the new much thinner sections being stored below them during transport to save on volume) than the usual 10 cm.

From any module end there will first be 5 cm of straight track to mitigate potential problems when coming from an adjoining module before any curves start. It's been my experience that if an adjoining module has the curve right up to the end of the module this gives problems if the next module starts with a turnout. Even if the turnout and the curve are curving in the same direction.

A curve, a switch and two modules connecting is one thing too many. I would make it at least 10 cm but that gave too much problems.