Micro Model Railway Dispatch

[Ian Holmes]

Issue 1 of The Dispatch is ready for you to download. link here, I hope you enjoy it:   

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n9h9p11mauzsduf/Dispatch 1 final.pdf?dl=0

Edited August 5, 2021 by Ian Holmes

[Ian Holmes]

I’m working on putting issue 2 of The Dispatch together, so if anyone has any less than 4 square feet micro layouts they’d like to share with the world, drop me a line at MMRDeditor@gmail.com 

 

Ian

[Chops]

Good day, Mr. Holmes. I am most recently drawn into RM Web from hearing about your new online magazine in the UK Model Railway Forums, where they have tolerated my nonsense for several years, now. I did send you a link to a 48 inch square Subway Pike recently, but have not had the pleasure of your reply. I hope you are doing well, and it is my desire to follow your publication with great interest, both in this site, and your own. Micro layouts fairly explode with ambiance and character, and this is the heart of model rail: trying to capture the experience of something, and share it with others. I am not particularly skilled, for all my years in this diversion, but I do manage to enjoy myself, none the less. 

 

https://youtu.be/WNw3Rg9Rw9U

Edited September 8, 2021 by Chops
Add attachment

[Chops]

On 20/08/2021 at 10:21, Ian Holmes said:

I’m working on putting issue 2 of The Dispatch together, so if anyone has any less than 4 square feet micro layouts they’d like to share with the world, drop me a line at MMRDeditor@gmail.com 

 

Ian

I did, Ian, hope "Subway Pike" landed in your inbox. One of several submissions I'd enjoy sharing. 

[Ian Holmes]

Issue 2 of The Dispatch was sent to the subscribers  yesterday. That means that this time next week the rest of the world will be able to read some more micro layout goodness. 

Of course it’s not too late to sign up and receive your copy early like the other 100 subscribers on the mailing list.  Just email MMRDeditor@gmail.com and I’ll arrange it for you.

 

Ian

[Ian Holmes]

 

Issue two of The Micro Model Railway Dispatch is available to download from the link below. Layouts from all over the world again in all scales. I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdzbcq2boc75fdz/The Dispatch Issue 2_Final.pdf?dl=0

 

Ian

 

[BernieL]

Wow, a very impressive publication and brilliant contributions.   I have just asked to become a subscriber.    As a beginner in the wild world or model railways, these are inspirational and seem to be achievable goals to start out.

[crackedmember]

hI,

 

I am considering a circular layout to go around a christmass  tree.  This would be essenntially a dougnut style of baseboard.  Would the inside of this be considered to be part of the 4 square feet?

 

Cheers

 

Clive

[Flying Fox 34F]

Ian,

 

Excellent work with both editions of the Dispatch.  I’ll send a Subscription request for future issues.  I’m tempted to have a go myself.

 

Paul

[The Bandit]

Do have a go. I did and I found Ian very accommodating - especially patient with regards to my useless IT skills!

[Nearholmer]

Some very interesting work on show there, thank you for producing this.

 

One quibble is that the final item reads as if “not greater than four square feet” is A Rule laid down in immutable fashion by Mr Arendt, and handed down on a tablet of stone, whereas if you read what he wrote it is quite clear that he never intended it as a rule, except possibly a very soft-edged rule of thumb. He let one of my (never finished as it happens) layouts on board even though it was, IIRC, 2000mm x 600mm, because it was a microscopic for the scale (1:18). 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

On 11/10/2021 at 23:35, crackedmember said:

hI,

 

I am considering a circular layout to go around a christmass  tree.  This would be essenntially a dougnut style of baseboard.  Would the inside of this be considered to be part of the 4 square feet?

 

Cheers

 

Clive

 

Hi Clive, most definitely it could be classed as a micro-layout - if you follow this link to Carl Arendt's Micro-Layout Gallery: Single-Level Micro Layouts (Cont'd) then scroll down to an article "Round and Round They Go!" you can see how Carl and I worked out a scheme for a continuous run double track layout that fitted onto a baseboard with a surface area of just 4 sq. ft:

 

I started with a design for a circular baseboard with a radius of 19.1" (surface area 8 sq. ft.).  If you cut a hole with a radius 13.5" into the board you will remove 4 sq. ft. of baseboard, so the remaining doughnut ring must also have a surface area of 4 sq. ft. and is therefore a micro layout.

 

If you just wanted a simple continuous run without any points / operating features (often called a 'pizza layout'), then you could use Hornby or Peco Setrack (easy to get if you're in the UK): my original calculation was for a simple twin circuit of 1st radius and 2nd radius track that fits comfortably on the board, but note, some modern r-t-r locomotives and rolling stock won't run on 1st radius curves - older stock is fine (and comes with the 'pizza cutter' wheels you may need too ).

 

I suppose the key thing then is how big your Christmas tree is!

 

(To this day, this remains perhaps my only real contribution to the advancement of model railroading / railway modelling as a hobby!)

Edited October 13, 2021 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Keith Addenbrooke]

12 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Some very interesting work on show there, thank you for producing this.

 

One quibble is that the final item reads as if “not greater than four square feet” is A Rule laid down in immutable fashion by Mr Arendt, and handed down on a tablet of stone, whereas if you read what he wrote it is quite clear that he never intended it as a rule, except possibly a very soft-edged rule of thumb. He let one of my (never finished as it happens) layouts on board even though it was, IIRC, 2000mm x 600mm, because it was a microscopic for the scale (1:18). 

 

It's a fair point - in the introduction to his second book, "Creating Micro Layouts" Carl wrote:

 

“Micro layouts are small model railroads, usually less than three or four square feet in area, that nonetheless have a clear purpose and excellent operating capability.” (Carl Arendt (c) 2003).

 

However, I think some confusion creeps in as Carl also ran his "Small Layout Scrapbook" as part of the same website, which featured both micro-layouts and small layouts together.  I've subsequently seen a fair number of examples of small layouts described as micro-layouts - including one magazine project that involved four 4' x 2' modules.  They were very good, but to my mind were examples of compact layouts rather than micro-layouts (eg: they still had plenty of room for conventional scenery, and just needed short trains to work in the same way as many larger layouts do).

 

For me, the 4 sq. ft. constraint imposes on the design process a need to do something innovative, creative or different to fit in a working layout that goes beyond either selective compression or switching to Z Scale.  I’ve always seen the purpose of ‘the rule’ as to get me to think imaginatively in a very small space: at which point it becomes a guide rather than an imperative.  However it is seen, as Carl demonstrated and Ian is now curating, the possibilities still seem to remain endless.

Edited October 13, 2021 by Keith Addenbrooke
Clarification

[marc smith]

Hi @Ian Holmes, I just wanted to say, thanks for allowing me to contribute to the latest edition of The Micro Model Railway Dispatch.
It's another fab issue (and I'm not just saying that because my efforts are included) it's testament to the notion that lack of space doesn't mean no room for a railway.

 

Plus, what struck me with this issue, is that lack of space also doesn't mean a limit in design approaches. IMHO, every micro featured has quite a different  design, atmosphere and appearance - each micro is quite different to the previous one. I'm already looking forward to the next issue  

[Ian Holmes]

21 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Some very interesting work on show there, thank you for producing this.

 

One quibble is that the final item reads as if “not greater than four square feet” is A Rule laid down in immutable fashion by Mr Arendt, and handed down on a tablet of stone, whereas if you read what he wrote it is quite clear that he never intended it as a rule, except possibly a very soft-edged rule of thumb. He let one of my (never finished as it happens) layouts on board even though it was, IIRC, 2000mm x 600mm, because it was a microscopic for the scale (1:18). 

Thanks, but it’s all down to the modellers. All I do is put the thing together. It wouldn’t be anything without them. I’m grateful that they let me publish their work for the world to see. 

Personally, I have always considered four square feet as a rule. There has to be a hard and fast upper limit, otherwise you receive submissions from 8 square feet to as much as 16 square feet. 

Carl often referred to large scale layouts that exceeded 4 square feet as “in the spirit of a micro”, which is something I’ll gladly carry on as the magazine develops. 

Right now, its early days and I’m still trying to find a direction for it. I have features I want to run and things I want to try, but still carry the spirit of Carls original “Micro layouts for model railroads” website

I appreciate you taking the time to read it and share your opinions.

 

Ian

 

[Ian Holmes]

8 hours ago, marc smith said:

Hi @Ian Holmes, I just wanted to say, thanks for allowing me to contribute to the latest edition of The Micro Model Railway Dispatch.
It's another fab issue (and I'm not just saying that because my efforts are included) it's testament to the notion that lack of space doesn't mean no room for a railway.

 

Plus, what struck me with this issue, is that lack of space also doesn't mean a limit in design approaches. IMHO, every micro featured has quite a different  design, atmosphere and appearance - each micro is quite different to the previous one. I'm already looking forward to the next issue  

Marc:

It is I that should be thanking you for letting me share Brachty Bridge. It’s layouts like yours that can inspire others to try building a micro.

The pressure is on to keep the standard up for the Christmas/Winter issue.

Ian 

[The Bandit]

When is/was the deadline for the winter/Christmas issue Ian? I read the deadline date somewhere but can’t remember where. It’s an age thing!

[Ian Holmes]

57 minutes ago, The Bandit said:

When is/was the deadline for the winter/Christmas issue Ian? I read the deadline date somewhere but can’t remember where. It’s an age thing!

December 1st if you have a winter or Christmas themed micro layout you’d like to share. Otherwise the issue is jam packed, and I’m working towards the spring issue. Maybe I’ll have to go to bi-monthly.

 

Ian

[Ian Holmes]

It's the first day of Winter so that means it's time for the Winter issue of The Micro Model Railway Dispatch. There's lots to see and enjoy. Including a special Winter/Christmas layouts special section.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5oejrx0kvyhr1p0/Dispatch Issue 3_final.pdf?dl=0

 

Enjoy.

 

 

[Flying Fox 34F]

This issue is a very good read.  As a Subscriber I’ve managed to reread it three times in the last seven days. I still find something new!  
Merry Christmas to all followers of Micro Layouts and especially to Ian for all his efforts.

 

Paul

Edited December 21, 2021 by Flying Fox 34F
Grammar

[The Bandit]

Another great issue. Well done Ian.

[Nearholmer]

Beuatiful layouts, beautifully presented on the virtual page; a tribute to builders and editor. Many thanks.

 

At risk (near certainty, I fear) of being thought a curmudgeonly old grinch, I do feel compelled to return to the topic of "hard definition" of a microlayout as being no greater than four square feet. I can quite understand the need for a definition, a firm boundary, for the editorial purposes of The Dispatch, but the idea that the term has always and forever had a firm boundary, which seems to be the implication, is one that continues to bother me, because it is, to be a bit blunt, incorrect.

 

The May 2007 edition of Carl Arendt's 'Scrapbook' contained a good article by David Thomas, about the history of very small layouts https://www.carendt.com/small-layout-scrapbook/page-61a-may-2007/ , within which he says:

 

"However, the first use of the term “Micro Layout” so far discovered was in the February 1988 edition of 009 News (the journal of the British 009 Society). Kevin Payne used it to describe a 48x12in layout in two halves."

 

Now, I don't lay claim to have invented the term as I wrote that article, because frankly I can't remember whether I did, or whether I stole it from someone else, but I can say that I was in there at or near the beginning of its use, and that at that stage it had no hard definition. It was used simply to identify layouts that were a great deal smaller than typical, on a "you'll know one when you see it" basis. As I've pointed out before, Carl Arendt never operated it as hard definition either.

 

Might it be possible, perhaps, to draw a distinction between the purposeful editorial boundary used for The Dispatch, and the more permissive, original use of the term?

 

All the best, Kevin

[Ian Holmes]

Well, I don’t know why I bother. I really don’t. Way to go to destroy someone’s enthusiasm. Two issues in a row now you’ve queried the accepted definition of a Micro Layout. I hope this is not going to happen every three months from now on. 

[The Bandit]

I for one have no problem with the parameters set for micro layouts for inclusion in The Dispatch. Without them any size layout could be submitted then the whole point is lost. Having a set size for inclusion also makes people work in a creative way to fit a scene within the area stipulated. Ian should be congratulated on the efforts he is making to make layout building more inclusive. Large layouts are lovely but not everyone has the space or financial means to build one. I have submitted one micro and another is on the way. My first micro was picked up by a French magazine and included in one of their issues. This made me very proud and it was thanks to Ian that this happened.

[HillsideDepot]

Than you Ian for another great issue. As a subscriber I've already been able to read the latest one several times over, and have drawn inspiration from its contents, and dusted off the micro I've been [not] building for too long. 

 

Micros let me try something different, something which doesn't fit with my main layout, and with an every increasing stock of ideas saved from The Dispatch, from RMWeb and other sources I know I'll never get them all built! That said, I'm in the early stages of planning a "round the room" layout, which while not a micro in itself, has several elements which could be micros, just they link to each other rather than straight to a fiddle yard. 

 

Whilst there are still things to glean from the current issue, I'm looking forward to the next; I might even get sufficiently organised to contribute something!