Back in the days before iPhones and iPads, I modelled in Sn3½. Not very successfully, mind you, but I still enjoyed it....and after all, isnt that what a hobby is all about?
One thing I have always been taken with has been the "Finescale in Small Spaces" ideas as championed by one of my real heroes in the model railway sphere, Iain Rice (The fact that I was unable to meet him in Chch was a bit of a blow). I always thought it was something that I could have a go at, and did, using a track plan from another luminary, Neil Rushby. The layout itself (called "Shell Island") was simplicity personified:
I immediatly started designing my own, and "Teschemakers" was born. Based on photos I have of the last days of the Waihao Downs branch, it celebrates dereliction and decay as much as it does unkempt roadbed and weeds.
I even got as far as mocking up the beast on some customwood in the bedroom one evening, with guild plans of the Rata goods shed, a stock yard and a rail crane added....and a red plastic tumbler thrown in to represent an old lime kiln:
And building the base for it....
And then...Catastrophe! The contractors discoverd Nz120, and the entire kit and kaboodle was consigned to the outside shed, only to be found infrequently while searching for other things.
However, recently I've been wondering if I should start again, but this time in Nz120? I still like the concept, and with the nucleus of a nice Dj hiding over at Druff HQ, the J wagons for the sheep yards well and truly shot and the feeling that a good shed and sheep yard would be "achievable", it might be time to break out the foam board and have another crack, creating (in effect) "Teschemakers Reborn"...
Simple and quick...might be just the ticket, really...
3 comments:
Now youve got me thinking of similar small modules I could build in my limited free space. One that springs to mind is the bitumen siding in Karoro in Greymouth or the Fuel depot siding on Tasman Street in Greymouth. If I built them to the module standard they could be added to a larger layout at some point.
Ryan Gibbs
Onehunga goods yard is another goodie...
On my layout I'm creating a small goods yard (two tracks) in a minimum space locale. Admittedly its fed from a through mainline and sidings, but the minimum space idea still applies.
So far I've had a couple of goes at laying the sidings, just to make sure I'm happy with it.
If you can visualise Avondale from the road overbridge, then you'll get the idea!
And yeah, you should go for it AM fet, and it'll still fit on top of the jigger!!
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