Sunday Morning

Well, the calm after the storm really. It now appears that we have brought a new house, so everything will soon be in boxes for the shift. Hmm, that had not struck me till I just typed it...

So, not much to comment on here apart from how the change in Lebensraum will affect the model making. short answer is no idea, but at least its inside
I've already had it suggested that I could join 2 rooms to make one. However given that the 2 rooms are separated by the bathroom, toilet and wash house/brewery (there's some forward planning for you) I doubt if it will happen.

So, in lieu of anything interesting this morning, here's an aerial shot of part of Pendon.

(Photo by Andy Y from Rmweb)

Bite sized chunks

With moving into a smaller area the layout constrictions change. With my self imposed minimum radius of 600 mm this does limit the things you can do in a small room. The hunt then begins for stations in a corner. Just looking through the collection tonight, I found this little gem

Port Ahuriri (or Napier ) circa 1912. It has some interesting items which caught my eye.
First up it's on a curve. This scores points on the 'fit into a corner' box. There are 2 distinct sections that could be modeled. The 1st (and smaller ) is the dock which is on the opposite side of the road to a group of warehouses (all of which still exist but converted into restaurants). This would make a good small shunting plank about 6' long (including the fiddle yard).

The second is the main yard. At first this doesn't seem that interesting. However if you look closer, the right hand side the trackage belongs to the Napier harbour board, which is a private railway. In American layout planning terms, this is an interchange, or a source of traffic for the NZR. What is even more useful is the large goods shed at the front of the yard. This can be used to hide the tracks to the right leading to an off stage fiddle yard. The backdrop of industrial buildings also provides a shunting track at the back.

So, there are plenty of ideas here for a corner MMW module.

Sunday evening.

Well, only a week late...

I was going to write something last weekend, but its taken this long for my thoughts to gel a bit more.

Carrying on from lasts weeks post, smart money is on a downsizing of modeling space in my immediate future. This has a few implications layout wise. There won't be enough space to set up Paekakariki in the new digs, so it will probably be going into storage (unless there is a good home for it to go to).

I've been doing some deeper thinking about what I would like in a layout. I have not been overly satisfied with the roundy roundy type layout for a while now. Paekakariki is only really an extension of this. Granted it is a fidle yard-station-fiddle yard set up, but there is no real shunting to be done. I've also made any possible shunting moves quite difficult when I scaled it down 5 years ago.

I've been doing some reading on design of layouts for operation, and it doesn't make too much sense to me I must admit. However its doing a good job of expanding my horizons. I just have to work out how to compress everything into a smaller space and still get a layout that I can live with.

Saturday Morning

Posting has become a bit slow here of late. Odd as work has stabilised. The project that was sucking the life out of me 5 weeks ago has become a project that now seems to be behaving (which in chemistry is no mean feat). I should have recovered the drive to get back modeling aging, shouldn't I? Maybe not, and here's why sort of.

The Lady of the house and I have been dipping our toes in the time honoured Kiwi pastime of 'selling ones soul to a bank for an extended period of time', otherwise known as buying a house. We are currently at the exploratory house hunting stage '(get me the elephant gun, its a big one this time'). Its always intriguing to have a look through other peoples houses, if only in a 'what the hell were they thniking' kind of way (and yes, there have been a few like that).

Its an interesting juggling act as well with a variety of things to be factored in. Most important is a good bathroom and kitchen as this is where all the costs are if you have to fix these things. Number of bedrooms etc and a decent garden all figure in. So, what about the most important room?

This is an issue with huge implications as when one signs up for these things it doesn't tend to be for a short period of time. Renting is all well and good when you can just decide one day, I feel like something different, lets go out and have a look. So, what am I looking for in my next model room. I guess I should have a look at the pros and cons of my previous 2 rooms.

Nelson was a bedroom inside the house. It was about 9' by 10' with carpet (and plenty of small springs and screws by the time we left). The modeling desk was in the sight line of the TV, and I could converse with the lady of the house if I felt so inclined. There was no layout to speak of (though if the MMW module ends had been available, who knows what could have happened). In terms of productivity it was very good. Paekakariki was destined to run down one side of the garage.

Palmerston North is the sleep out behind the garage. It's 11' by 20' (give or take) with plenty of space for all my gear. I'm on my own out there for hours at a time. Its been not that great in terms of productivity, to the point where modeling projects have appeared on my computer desk inside the house with an increasing frequency.Paekakariki takes up one whole side of the room (and more).

So it appears that I am looking for a room inside the house, possibly with some extra space outside. This means 3 bedrooms (one for guests) plus a decent garage of some sort. Now given that I'm unlikely to find a 16' long room inside a house what does this mean for me layout wise, and more importantly, it begs a large question.

Has Paekakariki become a 20' millstone around my modeling neck, and is it time to move on to something more practical with better design and more operational satisfaction?

I'll continue this thread tomorrow, assuming I'm not mauled by an errant house during an open home.

Week off

Just finished a weeks holiday, which I have spent wargaming with an old friend.
hopefully it will soon start warming up so that I can get back into the shed.

During the week there were a few excursions out, during which there was a bit of train chasing.