Technical Details of Construction Of My New Layout

This page will have details of a more technical nature about my layout to be.

The layout at a glance:

Name: TBA (Any suggestions?)
Scale: O16.5 (1:43.5)
Size: 2000x1600x400(depth) Not including staging
Prototype: Various
Locale: My Imagination
Period: Early last century or late the one before
Layout Style: Shelf
Layout Height: 1450 to rails
Benchwork: Aluminium
Roadbed: foam base, plywood and cork
Length of Mainline Run: ~1500mm
Points Minimum: #4
Minimum Radius: 12"
Maximum Grade: Too small to measure (I might build in a slight incline for one or two sidings, but if any sidings aren't level, they will slope down towards the buffers)
Scenery: foam and ply
Backdrop: Low Relief Buildings and sky on ply or masonite
Control: single block, 2 throttles (one H&M Clipper, one Phil Badger or home design/build)

Some other details:

Trackwork: Handlaid, code 70 or 83
Points: Common blade, possibly stub, with live frogs.
Soldered electrical connection to every length of rail.
Buildings from thin plywood shell with textured material glued on, or board by board timber, or hand carved stone.
Method of operations: So far unsure on this, but I expect some type of card based system or a computer generated random list. Every session has to be different!
Automation: Sack hoists on multi story warehouses in OLD section will be operable by push button. Turntables in front of verandahed building will be operable, but probably not motorised, or if they are, only through 90°
other, non automated details will include working doors (including gatehouse and engine shed), windows, cranes (to a point), removable loads, movable wheelbarrows and smoke machines in factory boilers.

I plan to take this to specialised exhibitions such as Narrow Gauge Conventions. Therefore I will use as many lightweight materials as possible, there will be no plaster of paris used at all, no real stone, the heaviest will be whitemetal castings, and if I can possibly get alternatives in plastic, resin, epoxy etcetera then thats the option i'll choose.

The layout plan itself is two separate shunting puzzles. The OLD is based on half of Carl Arendt's Canal Railway, whilst the NEW is my own idea, originally designed to fit on a 2'x4' baseboard. It is in fact not changed at all, and could provide reasonable shunting operation without the rest of the layout. The sidings all face the same way, excepting the Engine shed siding, but as no wagons end up there, that is no matter of concern.

Needless to say, there is plenty of shunting operation available here!

Here is a photo of a building with similar architecture to what I have planned for the office building. It is a solicitors that can be found on Manning Street, Kiama. A beaut 2' gauge tramway hauled heavy gravel up a huge grade past this very building.

Layout Overview Rollingstock Latest Thoughts

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any comments?

Email me: trainbrain @ optusnet . com . au
(remove spaces from address before sending)

Mark Kendrick 20/4/04