Tranvia de Sierra Nevada microlayout

[Dunalastair]

Today's 'diorama a day' is a microlayout inspired by the 750mm gauge Tranvía de Granada a Sierra Nevada in southern Spain

 https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranvía_de_Granada_a_Sierra_Nevada

 

In the mainland UK, tramways and railways were generally distinct, though there were a few exceptions like the Kinver Light Railway. In much of Europe that distinction was often more blurred, and rural trams often hauled freight well away from city streets. In Belgium, there was a complete parallel rail system, the Vicinal. One such line further south was the Tranvía de Granada a Sierra Nevada which used Belgian equipment, but in rather more mountainous surroundings than they would have encountered at home. 

 

Away from Granada, tunnels and bridges abounded in an arid landscape.

 

https://www.abc.es/archivo/fotos/tranvia-de-sierra-nevada-granada-4927210.html

 

My microlayout model was based on a Celotex insulation board structure with 3D printed rolling stock running on 9mm gauge Kato bogie mechanisms. The scale works out at about 1:84. Buildings were also printed, based on photographs of typical buildings from the Sierra. Printing allows a freer choice of scale for narrow gauge prototypes. Track was re-used Peco, reflecting the shoestring budget for this build.

 

 

Foam blocks were joined using PVA glue, weighted overnight. Some of the blocks were reused from an earlier layout. Some glues will eat the foam - beware of the likes of UHU.

 

 

Carving the foam is a messy business, but provides a quick way to get vertical relief. I have in the past been guilty of making slopes too steep on UK prototype layouts, but in this rocky landscape, contours often were very steep. The natural colour of the foam was left to represent the local geology.

 

 

Cheap Chinese trees helped soften the starker contours, and concrete lattice overhead dummy masts provided that European atmosphere. Road vehicles based on Spanish prototypes of the Franco period were also printed, some to my own recipes and some to Thingiverse designs. French and Italian designs were often built under licence in Spain. A tower wagon is tucked into the end of the goods siding.

 

 

Cameos such as the striped radio mast towering above a footpath carved into the side of a gorge are a feature of this small model. The first lattice radio tower failed during printing, but this was turned to advantage by representing a mast struck by lightning (as above), with a work crew around it planning remedial work. The cheap Chinese figures were a weakness - given more budget the layout would have benefitted from better scale people.

 

 

Another view of the station, as the clutter increases, possibly to excess.

 

 

A cruel closeup shows up some of the weaknesses of 3D printing - the broader view is generally kinder. The printer was not running at its best when some of these prints were made.

 

 

The tram and trailer run out of a tunnel and around the side of another gorge. The embossed plasticard retaining walls look rather too British - a more European-style stone bond would improve the appearance, as might a better treatment of the edges. The castle and hilltop cross were based on local features in the Sierra. Even the cattle were printed.

 

 

Though I have visited the surviving somewhat similar railway at Soller, the Granada line closed nearly half a century ago. I think that much of it is now a walkway. It was interesting trying to evoke the Sierra atmosphere, and I learned a lot about the do's and don'ts of 3D printing during the build, but I fear that I probably tried to cram too much into a small volume and strayed into the realm of the Kitsch. Squeezing too much into a microlayout is a dangerous temptation, perhaps typified by the rabbit warren Alpine layout. Fun but not very railway-like. Less can be more.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Dunalastair

[Dunalastair]

By 1970, the freight services would have gone, but the passenger cars were still running. I remember using this video as inspiration for my microlayout. Note the contrast between the start in the city and the wilder countryside further up the line.