Page 123: March 2017

March 1, 2017 by Gert

Scrapbook update number 123 is here for you to enjoy. Have fun reading and be inspired!

North East Railroad Company USA 1942 – by Mario Oertel from Germany

Theme: 19 abandoned Miles
Scale: 1:48, 0n30 narrow Gauge
Type: Station modular design + fiddle yard +turntable module

Details conforming the epoch/era

1,65 meters  x 1,65 meters
An almost disused railway line. Traders, farmers and craftsmen have taken over the vehicles and are running an illegal railway operation.

The Three Circles – by Thomas John from Germany

I am really pleased that you entered my first micro layout „Zwei Kreise in Preußen“ at carendt.com. And as much fun as I have had with that layout, I now built a second one that adds even the possibility to run a third train, and still increase the footprint of the layout only by a small margin. So, this one is called „Die Drei Kreise“ or „The Three Circles“ and it again takes place in the first decades of the 20th century.

This layout is again N scale and has a size of 50×65 cm. The layout is a complete „foamie“ so the baseboard, landscape etc. are all made by styrofoam and 3mm and 5mm sheets of some denser foam material that you can get in D.I.Y. stores as some sort of underground for floor tiles or such.

I have no track plan but I have some overview pictures that make it it very obvious how the layout works: There is a double mainline on the ground level that consists of two circular Fleischmann Piccolo tracks (radius 1 + 2). Then, about 2 1/2 inches above that, I built a second level with a single branchline, again a circle of Fleischmann track (radius 1). There are no turnouts on the layout. Every train just runs for itself, three altogether. You shouldn’t probably run InterCity trains on a layout like this but as I decided (again) for the 1900 era that is not a huge problem…

Due to the two levels I had to create a more mountaineous landscape. The branchline features a goods shed, in that area the mainline on the lower level disappears in a short tunnel. On the other, more open side of the layout, the branchline crosses the mainline via a simple steel bridge. I decided to keep that bridge very basic so it would not block the view to the inner area of the layout too much. To make the simplicity of the track plan less obvious to the eye, many trees were planted that block the view a bit.

For the mainline, I installed a small station that is located right next to the tunnel exit. It has two platforms. They are covered by sand in an effort to emulate typical smaller 1900’s platforms. In the corner adjacent to the tunnel, there was even some space to add a small waterfront scenery. I should place a boat there.

The layout is designed to be mainly viewed from two sides – either the station in front, or the side with the bridge. But some detail such as the goods shed are best seen from the „rear“, so in reality it’s good to watch from whatever side you want.

Millrather Sandbahn – by Falko Fritzsch from Erkrath, Germany

As Carl Arendts website inspired me not to build (and never finish) a big model railroad but a small Layout I would like to show it.

This small Layout shows a fictional narrow gauge railway, the “Millrather Sandbahn”, which transports Sand from the hill to the road.

In the beginning the Owner used a horse and only few rolling stock. After a while he bought a Locomotive, the small “Jenbacher Pony” on 600mm tracks and he buildt the silos. As the business grew, he had to enlarge the transport-capacity, so he bought a used 750mm railway and started using a digital marketing agency to let people know about his projects online. Social media marketing has also been doing great, you can start using this strategy at https://www.socialmediadaily.com/youtube/comments. Today the sand is carried downhill and then transferred into big trucks, but the old “Pony” still works…

The Layout is 1m x 0,5m, the box was left over from an other project a couple of years ago. When I first saw the “Gum Stump and Snowshoe RR”-Design I decided to build a narrow gauge railway, the Tracks are H0e (H0n30 1:87, 9mm) and H0f (6,5mm), but the H0f train doesnt work. It is a low budget project, most of the equipment is left over from other projects, but I really enjoyed building it!

Valkenveld – by Dieter Marquardt from the Netherlands

An H0 Inglenook layout

The Netherlands in the early 1960’s. A freight-only short line serves various industries in the fictional town of “Valkenveld”. The track plan of this H0 layout of 150 x 30 cm is based on the traditional “Inglenook” design. I have long been intrigued by the possibilities and switching operations of this concept invented by Alan Wright where the track plan and length of tracks are determined by the rules of the switching game.

The layout is built on a wooden frame with a top board of 7 mm and a cork layer of 3 mm. Rails and switches are RocoLine code 83 glued onto the cork. The switching motors are from Tortoise. The layout is DCC operated with a Roco Multimaus. Rolling stock features the typical short line diesels of the Netherlands in the early 1960, like NS series 2200 and 2400. Operations follow either the traditional Inglenook rules or the car card system.

I have exhibited Valkenveld a couple of times already like most recently at Eurospoor 2016 in Utrecht, The Netherlands where the Inglenook concept proved its worth.
For more information on Valkenveld visit my blog (valkenveldmodelrailroad.blogspot.nl) or my Flickr stream (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dietermarquardt/albums/72157653200568406).

Please don’t forget to submit your own layout updates, or send in tips about beautiful Micro Layouts you’ve come across! Click here for Submitting Instructions.