Our News

Hot on the heels of the arrival of the Pocher C3b, their DF5 arrived during October! This means that we now have both of their 2-axle carriages; both very old, but both impressively accurate in detail; unusual for their age! This one has a box, but we still need to work on the couplings! It has already received some modifications, so again, its price was agreeable.

We have more news about the new railway, and the exciting project that it has the potential to become.

The main H0-scale/gauge railway will be called the “Rickbacken—Töjnan Järnväg”. Rickbacken will be the main diorama with the largest scenic area. Töjnan, and a third station, Skarpa Gård, will be smaller but will receive as much attention in their construction and development. Instead of following the FLMJ’s theme of north-central-south, Rickbacken will be a typical town area, Skarpa Gård will be open country, and Töjnan will be mostly industrial.
One thing that the FLMJ lacked was a narrow-gauge line, despite narrow-gauge being so popular and widely used in Sweden; but the garden environment just wasn’t right. We now have the possibility for several narrow-gauge lines, H0e (9mm to represent Sweden’s 802mm gauge), H0m (12mm to represent Sweden’s 1067mm ‘cape’ gauge), and H0n3 (10,5mm to represent Sweden’s 891mm gauge); but thoughts about H0n2 (7mm to represent Sweden’s 600mm industrial gauge) and even smaller would be too premature at this stage!
There have been musings about a tramway as this would be very Swedish, but trolleybuses are unlikely because although Sweden has them, and has had them, there seems to be a gap during Epoch-IV! One extra possibility for the main railway, is to have a “good-weather-only” outdoor section. But, that is looking a long way ahead, and might not come to fruition.

Construction should start in 2024, after the floors, ceilings and walls have been made more ‘homely’.

Manufacturer News

After a pause with updates (evidently nothing new to report), HNoll has now advised that whilst the B4 carriages and those like them have been paid for, they will be delivered; but all else will have to wait until everybody’s economies have recovered. Whilst not entirely good news, it is the most sensible option given the current circumstances.
Some H0-scale Volvo 740 models have arrived from Minichamps, but the pictures suggest that the PCX87 ones are better detailed, and better proportioned! This is surprising given the high level of detail that their more sporty cars have!

Other News

MJ-Hobby had their Tåglördag (train-Saturday) during October, and as is becoming typical, it was inspiring for us to see the layouts on display for scenic inspiration. Scenery upon the FLMJ was very basic due to the outdoor considerations, a complete contrast the last indoor layout that the Director General had built in the 1980s! So, the whole team is gearing up for the new challenge.

In the meantime, a train operating along the former NOJ was perfectly timed for a visit to the area (to the house), and the typical steam-related smell, sorry, aroma from the steam loco at the back was awesome!

Behind the Scenes

Mini-Series around the FLMJ; K: The future

We have looked at the many means of keeping our friends (known and otherwise) informed and up to date with the Railway’s progress. So, what about the future? We have already decided against continuation of “FLMJ-Nytt”, “AJ-Nyheter”, and the Year Book in their current formats. Updates on our website will naturally continue (updated monthly seems to make sense) and quite possibly the production of an annual review which combines elements of the Year Book and the Stock List (and the regular journal), could be a good idea. Naturally, the new railway will be written about in articles for the main magazines. But the old layout is not forgotten; and we are preparing a book about that Railway. All of the resources are being examined; the publicly available publications, and the various reports; all combined into one overview of what was a remarkable and unusual railway.
From time to time, other social media platforms are mentioned and suggested. Some seem inappropriate, some have a poor reputation. But the way in which we use the website seems good enough for our purpose, so any progression onto these platforms seems unlikely, at least for now.
An annual review has always been considered interesting. It puts the Railway’s development into perspective, and serves a sense of nostalgia. Over the last year, a new format has been developed, inspired by the “Lok & Vagnar” series produced by Stenvalls; but for us, remaining as an annual production. It will serve as an overview, and we would like to give it a new title, but we’re still working on that! It will be created in Publisher again, and a PDF version is likely to be made available online, or sent by email by request; with a paper copy being equally available.
Desktop publishing in whatever form is widely produced today. In fact, today, even the term ‘desktop’ seems almost obsolete with people posting updates on the social media platforms via their smartphones. Presentation and layout (and quite often, grammar and spelling) are seemingly considered not so important on these platforms, and pre-selective text often leads to much mirth and embarrassment! For the foreseeable future, we will continue to use ‘desktop’; we will use ‘Publisher’ and PDF; our updates will be timebound (not casually as-and-whenever); and we will endeavour to present a professional image. But of course, as the times change, so might we change with them; but change needs to be for the better, not for change-sake!

Next month: Online videos