brazilian Porto Do Rio Sul : A Brazilian Micro Layout

[jimsmodeltrains]

A left over piece of MDF produced the idea for “Yet Another Micro Layout”. My youngest daughter recently acquired a new bunk bed for her room, and wanted a place to do some painting without painting on the walls of her room. My wife purchase a large piece of MDF for that purpose, and had it cut to size at the hardware store, and a 1200 x 240mm piece of MDF and a few extra pieces about 70mm deep, were left over. My wife specifically said to me “can you use these for a model railway”. Of course I can, I thought!

 

 

But how to use it? I perused the various eBooks by the late Carl Arendt until I settled on an expanded and customised track plan based on the “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan in the “Creating Micro Layouts” eBook. That track plan is only about 600mm x 300mm, whereas the track plan I will be using will cover 1200 x 240mm.

 

The next thing to do was to decide on a prototype / theme. I had thought of a tram / streetcar layout like that suggested for the “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan in the eBook, with the possibility of a Melbourne (Victoria, Australia) Tram layout. But in the end I settled on a Brazilian themed layout.

 

 

The reason for this is that I have a limited budget, and a Melbourne Tram model was over $250 (Australian) – a huge chunk out of my model railway budget. I had previously come across the Frateschi HO scale models, made in Brazil. So I did some research about them and from what I read they seem like reasonable models, and very reasonably priced. I went onto ebay, and found a model of a Brazilian G22 Bo-Bo diesel electric locomotive with an RFFSA (Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima) paint scheme which is about 7 inches long, for $99. And so I purchased it. To make the most use of available space, I purchased 2 Peco short radius Y turnouts to minimise the space for the layout. The combination of the reasonably short locomotive and Y turnouts should give me some space to also have up to 2 freight cars attached to the locomotive to able to move through the switchbacks on the layout.

 

Not only is this the first Brazilian themed layout I have built but it is also the first one where I employed multi-use foam board (called XPS insulation board) which is very similar to extruded foam board used in the USA. Because of the use of XPS foam board, it is also likely to be the first layout that I use no nails or screws on!

 

Photos above, top left to bottom right: XPS foam board info, the MDF left over that is the reason for the layout, the layout base from the front, the layout base from the back.

 

Rather than the layout being a passenger switch-back between multiple tram stops like the original “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan, this layout will be a freight switching layout, with a small 2 track yard, the switch back, and various industries on the different legs of the switch back. This gives a fair amount of operational interest in a micro layout space. Because the RFFSA only operated between 1957 and 1999, and the layout will be run with an EMD G22 diesel rather than steam motive power, the era is fairly well defined to between 1967 (when the G22 was introduced) and 1999. This era is about the same as the other model layouts I have, and is purposely broad to allow for the use of more types of rollingstock. As well as the locomotive, I also purchased some Frateschi rollingstock: a reefer, covered hopper and boxcar.

 

 

After testing the G22 locomotive and rollingstock on one of my other layouts, I am quite impressed with the quality and running ability of the Frateschi models I purchased. I’m particularly impressed that the locomotive and 3 cars cost less than $200 (Australian), and that the cars have metal wheels and are reasonably close coupled when connected together.

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by jimsmodeltrains

[jimsmodeltrains]

In many areas of life we make plans. When planning a model railroad, we make track plans, plans for scenery. But sometimes they don't work out quite as we planned. This is what happened with the HO scale Brazilian micro layout I have been working on. Before I purchased the Frateschi G22 locomotive for this layout I calculated that it would be around 6 inches long. When it arrived and I checked it's length, it was a bit over 7 inches long. I thought I had a track plan all figured out, but when the Peco short radius Y turnouts arrived, and I tested the G22 locomotive and 2 of the longest cars I purchased, I realised that that a locomotive and 2 cars wouldn't fit on all the switchback spurs. Part of this is my mis-calculation of the length of the locomotive, and possibly a second mis-calculation on mine part regarding the geometry of the Peco Y turnouts I purchased.

 

Hmmm! What to do? I thought about it for a bit. After a bit of testing with the rollingstock and locomotive I realised that I could still have 2 cars on one of the switchback spurs, have slightly longer yard tracks, and have the other 2 switchback spurs able to hold 1 car + locomotive. This would allow for some interesting switching movements, while only limiting capacity to a locomotive and 1 car on one of the switchback spurs.

As a cost cutting measure, that is, so I could use as much of my recycled track as possible (including one of the turnouts), I also flipped the track plan. This is the plan before the changes:

 

 

In this plan, it was hoped that the Cold Storage and Sugar Mill & Storage switchback spurs could hold a locomotive and 2 cars. But after adjustment, and re-arranging the industries, this is the revised plan:

 

 

In this plan, the yard is on the top right hand side, the Coffee & Cocoa Warehouse switchback spur will hold the locomotive + 1 car, and the Cold Storage switchback spur will hold the locomotive + 2 cars. But that will still be workable.

[jimsmodeltrains]

I got the track arrangement more or less sorted out, and so as I was creating the track arrangement, I was checking clearances to see how much would fit on each switchback spur.

 

Loco + 1 car - fits!

 

Loco + 2 cars - fits!

 

Once I was happy with the track arrangement I managed to build I got the track base (thin plywood) cut and laid down, and laid the track. Then the extremely simple wiring was done. This was very basic and involved 2 wires being added from the power track to the controller, and a jumper wire between the power track and one of the tracks near the corresponding track furthest from the power track to allow for power when the insulfrog Y turnouts insulate various sections when they are thrown. And voila! It was ready for a test.

 

Track base laid.

 

Track base painted

 

Track laid on the track base

 

I put all the cars and the locomotive on the track, and ran the loco back and forth, moving carriages between the yard and the various spurs. And it worked really well. So now the layout is fully operational.

 

Loco and all 3 cars on the layout, ready for test run.

 

Next: scenery. But that is for a future post.

[jimsmodeltrains]

Scenery done so far:

 

Have been working on a low relief building for one end of the layout.

 

 

Have painted the whole layout a dirt color.

 

 

Have added a rocky area / landslip roughly in the middle of the layout.

 

 

I did some research and found out that Brazil has coconut palm plantations, bamboo (both wild and cultivated) and Agave plants, all of which I found models of on eBay. So I purchased some of each. This should give this layout a very different scenic look to all my other layouts which don't have any of those types of plants on them.

[jimsmodeltrains]

Since my last post about my Brazilian micro layout I have had the opportunity to have some operating sessions on it, which has proved very enjoyable. But the lack of a locomotive escape was something I felt needed to be remedied. More on that later in this post.

 

The HO scale Coconut Palms have arrived. The HO scale Bamboo and Agave plants haven't yet arrived, but they were ordered from China so it might be a while before they arrive. While I have been waiting for the order from China to arrive, I have been assembling the Palm trees, and doing more scenery work on the layout itself. This included painting of the scenery base, adding some small hills, and creating a rock / landslip feature roughly in the middle of the layout. The Coconut Palms are surprisingly slow to construct as I have to hold the trunk so that the branch I am adding is vertical so that it doesn't fall off while the glue is setting, and have to wait for the glue to set sufficiently before adding the next branch.

 

In the previous post, I showed the start of a low relief building I had started. That low relief building was inspired by a colonial gate and wall in a MacGyver episode called “Trumbo’s World” about an ant plague in the Amazonian jungle. It's strange where inspiration for model railroading can come from! I had built stucco looking walls before and had used a rough sandpaper as the wall covering which was then painted a white-ish color. It worked well when I tried this in the past, and it worked quite well this time too.

 

Low relief colonial style wall with metal roller gate – obviously the roller gate is not an original feature of the wall!

 

After watching a video on YouTube about employing chain shunting on a micro layout (see Green Lane Wharf - OO in a shoebox, By TechnicArrow on RMWeb) to add interest and allowing more interesting switching moves, I decided I would try that on this layout. I acquired a couple of plastic cotton bobbles, painted them a mid-grey color. After testing for the best location, and having purchased some small link chain from a craft shop, I tested the chain shunting idea using a couple of carriages, and after I was satisfied with it I glued the bobble down in a suitable place on the layout.

 

Chain switching guides and chains.

I still havent added a dirt layer to the layout base, but am hoping once I have the palm trees constructed and placed on the layout that I can start to add that.

[TechnicArrow]

Looks great! I can see from your previous posts that the chain shunting will allow greater use of that kick-back siding without needing a second loco, and the cotton spools look like they'll work well as bollards. Good work!

[jimsmodeltrains]

2 hours ago, TechnicArrow said:

Looks great! I can see from your previous posts that the chain shunting will allow greater use of that kick-back siding without needing a second loco, and the cotton spools look like they'll work well as bollards. Good work!

 

Thanks TechnicArrow. Yes, I was going to use wooden cotton spools (and have actually use one of those elsewhere on the layout for the same purpose), but I would have had to order them over the internet and it seemed a bit silly to order just those, so I asked my wife what she had that I could use and she suggested these spools. I think they will work very well.

[jimsmodeltrains]

A video I made of recent scenery work done on the layout and an operating session I had today, using the chain shunting system.

 

The video quality is not that great, I think it was partly because of the camera I was using for the video - a Panasonic Lumix DC Vario. I was also holding the camera (rather than using a tripod) while also operating the trains which makes the video a bit shaky in parts! But it gives the idea of what it is like to operate the layout including the chain shunting.

 

 

 

 

[Ian Holmes]

Nice. Interesting subject. I wasn't aware of any Brazilian Railway models. I really like this little model.

[jimsmodeltrains]

1 hour ago, Ian Holmes said:

Nice. Interesting subject. I wasn't aware of any Brazilian Railway models. I really like this little model.

 

Thanks Ian.

 

The same company that produced the models I used for this layout (Frateschi) also does models of African and New Zealand railways, and believe other railways as well. At the time I chose to do a model of a Brazilian railway scene I was tossing up whether to model a New Zealand, or South African railway scene instead. But in the end I chose a Brazilian theme.

 

Regards, James

[jimsmodeltrains]

Three new cars for my HO scale Brazilian micro switchback layout.
That brings the total number of cars for the layout to 6.

 

But realistically I couldn't use much more than that, maybe just a couple of flat cars with containers would be about all that it might need.

Regards, James

[jimsmodeltrains]

Since the last post I have done a lot of work on the scenery. All the track is now ballasted.

 

 

The palm trees mentioned in the previous post have been added to the layout, although there are a few trunks and leaves left over which I might make into another few trees.

 

 

I have added some grass areas to the layout. The bamboo and agave plants I ordered from China in early August have arrived and some of them have been added to the layout, although there is quite a large amount of those left over.

 

 

 

 

 

The bamboo added to the front right hand side of the layout added a good scenic break, so that it gives the impression that the industry spur on that side of the layout continues on beyond the confines of the layout.

 

So the question is do I try and fit the left over bamboo and agave plants on this layout? Maybe. But I am thinking the 2nd micro ‘pizza’ layout I have been thinking about for some time could be where those left over plants will eventually be used. Maybe a tropical island somewhere in the Pacific, where bamboo and agave is farmed and exported? More on that in future.

 

The vegetation has really made a difference to the overall look of the layout, adding that much needed ‘life’ and vibrancy to the scenery. Although I think the scenery can be still enhanced - some of the obvious borders between layers of foam could be filled in / covered over - there really isn’t much more to do on this layout, except enjoy operating it, of course.

[jimsmodeltrains]

I'm published!

 

A few weeks ago, I read a post on here about a new Model Railway magazine / ezine called “The Micro Model Railway Dispatch“. Unlike most model railroad magazines / ezines, this new publication is dedicated to micro model railways, which are model railroad layouts that are 4 square feet or less in size as defined by the late Carl Arendt.

 

I read that if anyone had a micro layout that they would like to see published in the magazine / ezine to send the editor an email. Over the course of a week or so I indicated to the editor that I would be willing to submit an article for the magazine, received a reply and wrote an article which was published not long after in the 2nd issue.

 

 

I used to be the editor for a regional model railway club many years ago, and wrote an article for the NMRA Australia magazine some years ago, but this is the first time I have been published in a magazine / ezine for the general model railway community. The model railroad layout of mine that was featured was my HO scale switchback Brazilian Micro layout, but reading about every layout in the magazine was interesting and thought provoking as micro model railroad layouts often are.

 

The excuse “I don’t have room for a model railway layout” doesn’t stand up against the plethora of micro model railway layouts in magazines / ezines like The Micro Model Railway Dispatch and Carl Arendt’s website and others with like-minded content. If you are interested in micro model railway layouts, regardless of scale, it’s worth having a look at The Micro Model Railway Dispatch.

Edited September 28, 2021 by jimsmodeltrains

[F-UnitMad]

49 minutes ago, jimsmodeltrains said:

I'm published!

Well done!! It was seeing your layout in Dispatch #2 that led me to find it on here.

 

Jordan (the O Scale boxfile builder )

[Ian Holmes]

14 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Well done!! It was seeing your layout in Dispatch #2 that led me to find it on here.

 

Jordan (the O Scale boxfile builder )

Wow! The Dispatch. Bringing modellers together since 2021  

 

Ian