I've been very fortunate to have such a wonderful room over my garage in which to build and display my layouts and dioramas. But I'm starting to think about the future when, in all likelihood, we'll be moving to smaller living quarters.
So in mid-2019, I thought I'd start playing with N scale trains. Being a fan of the Santa Fe Super Chief, I was quite happy when Kato re-released a starter set that had been out of production for a while. I ordered two locomotives, the 8-car set, and a basic track layout.
I had figured that since I've been able to build a substantial layout in a simple 4'x8' area in HO scale, then I should be able to build a layout about half the size in N. Before it was all delivered I was a little concerned as to the length of the train, but I didn't realize just how seriously flawed my presumtion was.
What I did not take into consideration was that the passenger cars of the Super Chief were about as long as anything else I already had on my HO layout. Plus the train I assembled consisted of 10 cars (including two locomotives) and was about five feet long.
When I set up the track and put all the cars and locomotives on it, the engineers could probably have seen the drumhead on their own observation car in front of them. I added some track, but as I approached a 7' length oval, I realized this would not address my goal.
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The Super ChiefAfter that realization, I came up with a plan "B", something I'd actually been interested in for a while: a shelf diorama. It just so happened that I had a 6'x1' shelf in my studio that I could utilize. Some shelf dioramas I've seen in books and magazines are actually "real" layouts, just long and thin, attached to a wall. Others (those created with a modular/removable approach) simply sit on a shelf. Along the shelf, I created an abstract mock-up of the Super Chief's route from Chicago to LA (with emphasis on the westernmost states). At the western end of the layout stands my scratch-built replica of Los Angeles Union Station. My interest in the Super Chief continued to grow, and I have collected quite a bit of information, books and paraphernalia about it, and the Santa Fe Railroad in general. I learned a lot from the shelf experiment as to what I'll need to work in a smaller area. Besides the space itself, I'll need the ability to mix plaster and have access to power tools. But I soon stopped working on the shelf layout and got back to my main town. I knew I'd start working on the Super Chief again sometime - somewhere. And, of course, I'll be using my modular technique. ;) Edit: The last couple of statements proved to be prophetic, but the "shelf diorama" was not to be. (See Layouts page 10.) | |
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