New Ideas for 2mm Finescale Layouts

[Armchair Modeller]

I think Olddudders has it correctly here whereas Mickey and Queen Square are totally out of order.

 

The impression I get is that 2mm Finescale is a huge challenge to any newcomer to the hobby - not just because of the skills required but because so few layouts are shown developing from start to finish in places like this. How is a newcomer expected to judge what is achievable?

 

I feel sure that a thread like this could be helpful to a lot of people - not just Snow White. If people respond like Mickey or Queen Square though, newcomers will surely get the impression that 2mm Fine Scale is a hostile place dominated by intolerant experts who have forgotten what it was like for them at the beginning.

 

We should really encourage Snow White to continue this thread and develop one or more ideas to the point where they become practical projects. That would encourage more people to give it a try, which must be good for 2mm scale and the hobby in general.

[-missy-]

Come on folks! Lets not take this thread away from the original post!

 

I can see where Mickey and Jerry are comming from, the problem with railway modelling (including 2mmFS) is that it has such a huge range of potential to the extent of you can model pretty much anything and anywhere you wish to model, Snow White has been a little vague in that respect which has made it harder to come up with possibilities. There has been a couple of posts previously that have given some very good advice though i.e start small than make it larger later on. Ben mentioned that the main advantage is creating a railway in a landscape, something that I strongly believe in, in this scale. I personally would look at the 'Beginners Guide to 2mm Modelling' and take it from there, in that book there are a couple of layout ideas that could easily be adapted to suit.

 

Snow White - What do you like modelling? Is it steam, diesel, wagons, passenger etc? Would you like a small station or goods, or engine shed etc? I would love to help (like others) but I need a little more to go on.

 

I feel sure that a thread like this could be helpful to a lot of people - not just Snow White. If people respond like Mickey or Queen Square though, newcomers will surely get the impression that 2mm Fine Scale is a hostile place dominated by intolerant experts who have forgotten what it was like for them at the beginning.

 

From my experience you couldnt be further from the truth! The 2mmSA peeps couldnt be any nicer and helpful, since I joined I have been made most welcome and there is always someone about who is willing to help when I get stuck.

 

I just think this thread needs a little bit of direction...

 

Missy

[queensquare]

I apologise if I came across as less than helpful, that was certainly not intended. I am always more than willing to offer help and encoragement to any newcomer to the hobby be that in 2FS or any other scale as any one who has met me at shows or otherwise will I'm sure testify. However, in this case I do feel the OP needs to make a bit more effert themselves. A number of useful ideas have been offered but all rejected for one reason or another. If this thread is to prove useful to the OP or anybody else they need, as Julia has pointed out, to offer a few more clues as to what it is they are after.

 

Jerry

[Armchair Modeller]

 

From my experience you couldnt be further from the truth! The 2mmSA peeps couldnt be any nicer and helpful, since I joined I have been made most welcome and there is always someone about who is willing to help when I get stuck.

 

Missy

 

I agree totally - it is just that the 2 posts I mentioned suggested otherwise.

 

I apologise if I came across as less than helpful, that was certainly not intended. I am always more than willing to offer help and encoragement to any newcomer to the hobby be that in 2FS or any other scale as any one who has met me at shows or otherwise will I'm sure testify. However, in this case I do feel the OP needs to make a bit more effert themselves. A number of useful ideas have been offered but all rejected for one reason or another. If this thread is to prove useful to the OP or anybody else they need, as Julia has pointed out, to offer a few more clues as to what it is they are after.

 

Jerry

 

That's more like it!

 

I agree that Snow White lacks objectivity - but has not rejected every suggestion so far. Having read the topic again from the start, I think you will find only one or two that have been rejected outright. All the rest seem to be on the list of things being considered, or at the very least have not been publicly rejected on this forum.

 

I am almost tempted to try one or two myself, but think the Manchester idea better suited to a group effort - just think of the cost of buying all the stock, never mind building the viaduct, OHLE etc. Its a great idea though - someone ought to do it and 2mm scale/N scale is the ideal size to do it in. It wins my vote for originality.

[£1.38]

Wow! this seems to have taken a few diversions since I last looked! As someone who has tried to squeeze track plans into small places in several scales, I may be able to offer some advice.

 

Starting with something small and simple is a good idea, but finescale layouts take far longer to build than you might think. Better to design something that can be fitted into a larger concept later, if at all possible. That way you don't waste your efforts. All too often people start a small layout only to give up part way through because they feel it is too limiting. Much better to start small, but see it as part of a larger plan in the long run.

 

Some people argue that your standards will improve so much, so quickly that your starting efforts won't look good next to your later work. Ignore them is my advice. If you take the time and effort to do a good job first time around and reject anything you don't like before it goes onto the baseboard, you should be fine. Pretty well any detail you are not happy with in the long term can be upgraded later if necessary. We are often our own worst critics though - and what you are not happy with might well be acceptable or better to others. What great layout doesn't have the odd weak point - but how many would notice other than the owner?

 

How to do it depends on what you fancy in the long term, but as suggested, it is best to stick with something that can use easy-to-convert Farish diesels or DMUs to start with. The Waterford and Tramore line might have its attractions, but everything would have to be scratchbuilt, which would be a massive job in any scale.

 

A small branch terminus would make a nice start and could be developed into an end-to-end layout. One thing to be wary of is that even the smallest termini are often longer than you might think. One variation on this which has been mentioned already is the branch terminus to mainline junction idea, where you model only the branch side of the junction and not the main line itself.

 

Alternatively, a large station could be built up in parts, if there are suitable points to break it up into smaller components. Alloa would be a good case in point, for example. It has 3 overbridges at strategic points on the overall scene that are ideal for breaking the layout into distinct phases. Stratford-on-Avon Old Town station is another idea - but for different reasons. The eastern section containing the platforms had only one point. It could be run as a very simple layout on its own. When you feel more confident, you could have a go at the western end, which has rather more to it.

 

A third option is somewhere like Midford, which has already been suggested too - basically a very simple track layout designed for running trains, rather than complicated operations. This again could be built in sections, gradually getting longer over time.

 

As for the off-scene parts, cassettes can be a good interim solution until you have enough trains and enough layout to justify a proper fiddle yard.

 

In general, it is best to base your model on a real place, even if you modify it to suit your needs. I think you agree with that already, if I understand previous posts correctly. That way, much of the detail is already sorted out for you. Find somewhere that has lots of photos available on the Internet and in books. The more abstract your starting point, the more difficult it will be to create a truly atmospheric layout - unless you are a true genius, that is.

 

Here's hoping that puts the discussion firmly back on track!

[Roygraham]

Try Greenwich Park, L.C.D.R.

 

roygraham

[bcnPete]

Here's my 2(mmFS) penneth...

 

If you are just starting out, why not consider a boxfile layout?

 

Anthony Yeates of the 2mmFS built this (first pic with the class 24) excellent layout which inspired my own one of Kyle.

 

It gives constraints but you can be imaginative with that and squeeze a a lot in a small space as a starter layout.

 

In terms of location I would choose something that you either know from experience or something that you are able to research (that's part of the fun for me)

 

A loco and a few bits of rolling stock and away you go...

 

And if it doesn't all work out, then its only taken up a small bit of shelf space... (don't get me started on shelves )

 

Hope this offers another option in the mix...

 

EDIT: Sorry, I realise that I didn't propose a location...but I think that's very much a personal choice, based on interests / memories...or a bit of both...

[Gingerbread]

A vote in favour of Jerry (queensquare) - though his post came across as being rather unhelpful, that's not what he is like when you meet him in person. After I joined the 2mm Association about 15 months ago, Jerry spent ages answering my questions, and dismantled a couple of locomotives on Highbury Colliery to demonstrate how they were put together. He is also easy to track down - go to a model railway exhibition any weekend in the southern half of the country, and you will probably see Jerry and Kim running Highbury Colliery. On the rare occasion that Highbury Colliery is absent, you will probably see them running Bath Queen Square instead, or running Totnes or Ashburton for John Birkett-Smith...

 

Returning to the original topic, I agree that it's difficult to offer much constructive advice without a better idea of the OP's preferences (era, area, etc). Nevertheless, I will toss out another possibility to consider: the Shropshire and Montgomery Railway.

 

The "easy" way to start this is in the 1940-1960 period, when the WD had taken over the operation (to serve numerous armaments dumps). Locomotives were mostly WD Austerity/J94 0-6-0 STs, which I think are covered in the Beginners Guide mentioned by Missy and others (conversion of the Farish model, which is out-of-production but probably available as second-hand or end-of-line leftovers). I don't think there are many photos of the line in that period, for security reasons, so you would have to use your initiative in terms of selecting plausible rolling stock, but I think a mixture of converted proprietary N gauge models and 2mm Association kits should suffice.

 

The more interesting/challenging part would be to backdate it to the 1910-1940 period when it was one of Colonel Stephens' eccentric collection of light railways. Built and run on a shoestring, it was a case of "anything goes". Cast-offs from other railways spent their last years here - for example some old 4-wheel North Staffs coaches (available as etched kits from Bill Bedford). I doubt that even Missy's ingenuity could reproduce Gazelle in 2mm ( see http://www.hfstephens-museum.org.uk/locomotives/gazelle.html ), but the rest of the locomotives look feasible. Some terriers were tried (possible conversions of the Dapol model), but weren't very successful.

 

Stations were generally fairly small, probably a passing loop and a siding or two, signalling was non-existent in the early period, so it should be relatively quick to get something built.

 

David

[2mm Andy]

 

Returning to the original topic, I agree that it's difficult to offer much constructive advice without a better idea of the OP's preferences (era, area, etc). Nevertheless, I will toss out another possibility to consider: the Shropshire and Montgomery Railway.

 

The "easy" way to start this is in the 1940-1960 period, when the WD had taken over the operation (to serve numerous armaments dumps). Locomotives were mostly WD Austerity/J94 0-6-0 STs, which I think are covered in the Beginners Guide mentioned by Missy and others (conversion of the Farish model, which is out-of-production but probably available as second-hand or end-of-line leftovers). I don't think there are many photos of the line in that period, for security reasons, so you would have to use your initiative in terms of selecting plausible rolling stock, but I think a mixture of converted proprietary N gauge models and 2mm Association kits should suffice.

 

Stations were generally fairly small, probably a passing loop and a siding or two, signalling was non-existent in the early period, so it should be relatively quick to get something built.

 

David

 

A very interesting idea, David. I made a start on a 2FS model based Criggion station on the S&M (there may be something about it in the dregs at the back of my blog!). Sadly it never got very far, and I've recently broken up the baseboards.

 

Anyway, a book on the S&M when under military control has recently been published. See here for details (no connection other than as a regular customer).

 

Andy

[65179]

 

I am almost tempted to try one or two myself, but think the Manchester idea better suited to a group effort - just think of the cost of buying all the stock, never mind building the viaduct, OHLE etc. Its a great idea though - someone ought to do it and 2mm scale/N scale is the ideal size to do it in. It wins my vote for originality.

 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned bmthtrains's Cross Street in this context. Not a faithful reproduction of the Oxford Rd area in N, but certainly a model that as an exiled Mancunian looks to me like it's developing a flavour of the area today. A 2FS equivalent would be more work due to needing to build the points and the need to re-wheel stock. How many trains are required is up to personal taste. A few representative ones repeated could be made to do if you are happy for e.g. one Voyager to represent many.

 

Simon

 

Simon

[Snow White]

Your replies are all appreciated.

 

Please treat this topic as closed now.

 

Many thanks.