The Train Now Standing at Platform Two

[Dickon]

I thought it might be fun to try and recreate a typical miniature railway as found on the promenade of almost any seaside resort around the British Coast. 

 

So: take a Del Prado N gauge static loco, cut away the back of the cab roof and place a nice comfy Blutack cushion in the front of the tender to fit an O gauge driver.

 

4' 8 1/2" times 43 divided by 160 equals 15, so suddenly we get a reasonably accurate 15" gauge railway which we can then begin to surround with typical O gauge holiday makers, an ice cream van and anything else that crops up on eBay at a sensible price.

 

Mods and rockers?  A whelk stall?  Who knows, there's plenty of time yet.

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Dickon

[Ian Morgan]

I don't understand your mathematics, but 9mm gauge represents 387mm at 1/43 scale. 387mm is 15.2inches, so you get the same result, somehow.

 

You will need plenty of seagulls.

 

[Kevin Johnson]

That’s a wonderful idea for a cakebox challenge and it looks great to.

[Dickon]

3 hours ago, Ian Morgan said:

I don't understand your mathematics

 

 

We  reached the same answer by different means

4'8.5" = 56.5"

O gauge is 1/43

continental N gauge is 1/160

so 56.5 x 43 /160 = 15.18 which I then rounded down to the nearest inch

 

I'm glad we agree

 

Seagulls are almost essential..........as is a dropped ice cream cone

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Dickon

[Dickon]

2 hours ago, Dickon said:

Seagulls are almost essential

 

 

 

They're on their way

[Keith Addenbrooke]

47 minutes ago, Dickon said:

They're on their way

...always wise to have a warning.

[Marly51]

So glad you have decided to take this idea forward, Dickon! The Del Prado model has worked a treat and I love that Skegness poster!! 

[Dickon]

On 27/08/2019 at 17:58, Keith Addenbrooke said:

...always wise to have a warning.

 

But occasionally useful when other people don't.  Years ago we got our own back on some rowdies who were keeping everybody awake on a camp site by waiting until they had turned in and then gently throwing a few slices on bread onto their caravan roof.  Every seagull for miles homed in and held a party on  their roof at first light.

Edited September 30, 2019 by Dickon

[Dickon]

After a couple of false starts, one set of seated passengers sold on eBay as O gauge who turned out to be closer to 1/32 scale and another at 1/50, I'm painting up a set of very nicely detailed people from Omen Miniatures who I think will fit the story behind diorama very well:

 

 

The girl with her hand to her mouth has just dropped her ice cream while her brother sitting on his mother's arm is reaching towards the serving hatch in the ice cream van which I have opened out with a Dremel and needle files.

The gentleman with the twin lens reflex camera will be photographing his wife who will be sat in a toast rack carriage behind the little blue loco.  The teddy boy lounging against the fence just looks on. 

 

The carriage needs to be wide enough to seat an adult and a child side by side and will be mounted on the chassis of a Roco parcels van. Once that is built I can then space the platforms to suit and hopefully widen the prom a little to give more space around the ice cream van.

Edited September 14, 2019 by Dickon

[Dickon]

You can't have an ice cream van without somebody to serve the ices, so one of the smaller plastic figures has found himself a job.

 

 

 

I'll paint him once the glue has dried

Edited September 30, 2019 by Dickon

[Dickon]

I normally model in N guage, but I'm finding a few advantages in "O".  The teddy boy can have crepe soles on his blue suede shoes!

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by Dickon

[Kevin Johnson]

Your cakebox layout looks great, I like how you have used O gauge railway items to make the locos look the correct size when emulating your seaside theme.

[Dickon]

Now I've decided on the spacing of the platforms, I've been able to lay and ballast the track.  I started with Javis granite chippings which looked way too big on the narrow gauge track.  I've settled on  their fine brown ballast which to my eyes looks like beach shingle which could well be used on a 15" seaside railway; why import tons of expensive granite when there's all the ballast you want lying on the beach just yards away?

 

As I had hoped, I've been able to widen the promenade by 12mm which gives more space around the ice cream van and allows it to be parked at a slight skew rather than parallel to the fence.

 

 

The 'concrete' kerbs and fence posts need more work.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Dickon
spelling

[Kevin Johnson]

Looks really nice, the ice cream van looks inviting.

[Dickon]

I have just finished building the toast rack carriage.  I've made it wider than the locos as in the photo of the real seaside railway at the head of the page.  This allows an adult or a teenager to  sit beside a small child.  A shallow well in the centre of the coach gives adequate leg room for teenagers or small adults but anyone bigger would have his or her knees up by their ears.  It would have been nice if the carriage could have been a bay longer but if it was it would not have fitted behind any loco with a tender.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Dickon
added space between the photos

[DMU]

Dickon I like your cakebox layout. Riding along in a carriage at the back of a small locomotive is exactly what I can remember and still love to do.

[Dickon]

The people and animals are beginning to find their places.  A driver is about to climb into the Flying Scotsman and little Lucy has dropped her ice cream. Hoover the dog is rushing over to help clean up and more and more seagulls appear to be gathering.....

 

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Dickon

[DMU]

Dickon I like the little story to go with your cakebox challenge. The modelling you have achieved is really good.

[Dickon]

Having originally decided against having a backdrop so that my fictitious seaside prom could be anywhere around the British coast as imagined by the viewer, I have now decided that it looks better with one.  I hope I'm right....

 

 

 

 

Second thoughts.  The 6" backdrop had too much sky and forced me to take most of my photos in portrait mode.  Reducing the height gives a less top-heavy composition and allows me to photograph it in Landscape.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Dickon

[Kevin Johnson]

I think the backdrop looks great and it brings the layout to life.

[Dickon]

Packing a 7mm scale diorama into an  8" square cake box has been fun as the larger scale gives less effective space in which to tell a story and makes the people far more important than they would be in a smaller scale.  It also let them become characters in their own right.  So the teddy boy can wear blue suede shoes with luminous yellow socks and  the little girl can be shown to have dropped her ice cream (the point of a wooden skewer, a cocktail stick was too small).  Her distress has upset her little brother, so their mother is trying to comfort him while the friendly (or opportunistic?) dog trots over to help clean up. 

 

I've added a few weeds here and there to make the environment less sterile and turned the dog slightly now that he has scented the dropped ice cream.

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by Dickon

[Dufus]

Looking very good.  We have a couple of miniature railways in North West Norfolk, One at Norton Hill, and two at Wells next the sea.  I think your carriages look better than the prototype at Norton Hill.  Well done

[Marly51]

I love your original concept, the little cameos and detailed modelling, Dickon, and agree with your choice to have the backdrop!