Rubin Mill – A FiNescale Shunting Game with FREMO ModuleAdapter

The Idea

Inspired by John Whitby Allen’s Timesaver shunting puzzle, I developed a concept for a relatively small shunting game suitable for my living room. I have an ideal, compact space on the wall for two segment boxes, each measuring approximately 120 cm by 32 cm, which can be stored vertically one above the other. For operation, one box will be taken down and connected to the other to create the layout.

As a member of FREMO, I would like to use this model as a module at meetings. To that end, I have designed an adapter (see below). For this reason, the model also features a through track to which it is connected. Naturally, the model is not optimized for operational throughput, as it is intended to be a shunting puzzle. However, unlike the original Timesaver, the track lengths are dimensioned in such a way that I believe meaningful operation is possible even at a FREMO meeting. To increase the difficulty level during shunting puzzles, the longer tracks can simply be occupied with wagons so that the available space becomes tight—exactly as the original Timesaver intends.

The model recreates an industrial siding within the Hamburger Hafenbahn network. But see for yourself…

The Subject

My shunting game, which I will call “Rubin Mill”, is inspired by the Aurora Mühle (formerly Diamantmehl Mill). This mill is located on the Rethe, a connecting waterway in the Port of Hamburg, in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, and features quay facilities.

Several parts of the complex are listed buildings (historically preserved), which makes them attractive to replicate, including the main building (1953/1954), the boiler house (1896/1922), a residential building (1904), and two of five silos (silo II and silo III, 1934)

Notably, the mill’s water side is protected from flooding by a 5-metre-high concrete wall above a sheet pile wall. However, there is no longer any railway connection, and no visible traces of one remain.

The model is therefore, just like its name, purely imaginary. The track plan is based on the Timesaver by John Whitby Allen.

Fantasy logo created by Gemini AI (Nano Banana 2)

In the original, the main building is about 100 metres long, 20 m deep and 35 m high. In the model, I would probably shorten it in length while taking proportions into account. One Silo (no. III) would be reduced in size. The concrete wall in front will be reduced in height.

My design

The design calls for two trapezoidal segments, with the front side concave and the back side convex for aesthetic reasons. The tallest structure will be the chimney at 43 cm, followed by Silos at 34 cm and the main building at 19 cm.

Click to zoom!

The Tack Layout

The track plan is my own free interpretation, inspired by the Timesaver. Construction features a minimum prototypical radius of 190 m (≙ ~119 cm) with Code 40 N scale track (FS160). The industrial site is connected to an imaginary through-line of the Hamburger Hafenbahn.

Track	Track length	Platform length	Note
1	793 mm		Freight transport only
2a	215 mm	100 mm	one wagon after the other
2b	680 mm	310 mm
3a	275 mm
3b	275 mm	60 mm	one wagon after the other
3c		95 mm	one wagon after the other
3d		95 mm
3e		130 mm

Operations

The following operating procedures are planned:

Goods dispatch

Flour in bulk (for large bakeries), Ucs dust container wagon pneumatic loading, track 2a
Flour and bran in sacks, covered goods wagons (Gs), track 2b
Mill products for export (via quay) on pallets: sliding wall wagons (Hs), track 2b
Direct transfer: If the mill’s silos are full or the grain is not to be processed in this mill but sent on to another facility (e.g. inland), it is loaded directly from the crane into the waiting hopper wagons (Tdgs) at the quay, track 3b

Goods receipt

Grain (wheat, rye, maize) mainly by coastal motor vessel and barges at the quay (elevator)
Additives (baking agents, vitamins), pallets and sacks: covered goods wagons (Gs), track 2b
Grain (wheat, rye, corn) by self-unloading wagons with swivel roofs (Ktmm, Tdgs), track 3c

Operating resources

Packaging material: sacks, pallets, cardboard boxes, covered goods wagons (Gs), track 2b
Machine parts / maintenance: Staggered wagons (Ks) for larger plant components or crates, track 3d
Heavy fuel oil (for own power station system): Tank wagon (Z), track 3e

Freight Transport in Table Form

Track	Goods Issue	Goods Receipt	Wagon type
2a	Flour in bulk		Ucs, Uacs
2b	Flour and bran (pallets and sacks)		Gs
2b	Grain (pallets and sacks)		Gs, Hs
2b	Mill products for export (pallets and sacks, via quay)		Hs
3b	Grain (direct transfer)		Tdgs, Uagpps, Tals, Tms, Klmmvs
2b		Packaging material (pallets and sacks)	Gs
2b		Additives (pallets and sacks)	Gs
3c		Grain	Tdgs, Uagpps, Tals, Tms, Klmmvs, Tanoos, Fcs
3d		Machine parts	Ks
3e		Heavy fuel oil	Z

Further ideas

Another idea is to create an adapter to expand the shunting game into a single-track FREMO module showing an industrial connection at a through line. It could look like this:

Fremo adapter — Green: FREMO module adapter, pure landscape; brown: the two segment boxes; black: tracks

The FREMO module adapter will be 100 mm high, and the segment boxes will be about 70 mm or so high, so that they can rest on the adapter in a corresponding recess (and, of course, be secured there).

I am concerned about achieving the necessary precision for the horizontal curved vertical contact surface, as depicted in the drawing. Nevertheless, I find the concept of the curved track’s edge aligning with the segments appealing (referencing the Jigsaw approach, Iain Rice, Layout Design, 2010, page 50).

Pictures of the Prototype

Aurora mill main building — View from the east: the quay and the main building (foreground, centre), Silo I with the *Aurora* logo (centre, background), Silo II (half-right behind the main building), Silo III (behind Silo II), elevator crane (yellow, right)

Aurora mill Plange's villa, Silos — View from the south: [Residential building, harbour crane (left)], Plange’s villa (centre left), one of the newer Silos (centre), Silo III (right)

The elevator (grain suction device for unloading ships)

Boiler house — The boiler house (foreground, centre), the main building (left), more new silos (background)

Google maps view — The location in Google Maps

Version history

Date	Description
2026-06-15:	Here is the next iteration (#18)
2026-05-18:	This is the 7th iteration
2026-03-05:	Here is the previous iteration (#4)