Playing With Views - Two Scene 'Micro' - 'Reverse Inglenook'

[splodgestudios]

Hi All, hoping your doing well.

 

I've posted varied concepts to this forum before, unfortunately none have ever come to fruition due to a number of reasons (turbulent living situations, and lack of funds mainly) 

 

That spark to build something I can be proud of has never gone away, the modelling itch has been eating at me like nothing else. I'm thankful for the path I've taken, the time away has given me time to think. Even more thankful to have a place I can call my own with room for something I can operate.

 

To say a little about myself, I'm currently in school studying and practicing film. Seeing as my goal is to be a director I like to think I have a decent eye for capturing a scene. I find this key when creating a layout, although what I aim to create may fall closer to operable diorama.

 

Now in terms of modelling interest, I adore realistic interpretations of the Railway Series, as penned by the great Rev. W. Awdry. That is what captured my interest in the hobby, and continues to do so today. It too means I'm not locked down to anything other than loose descriptions of locals with a lot of history. Subject to that, I find the Ffarquhar Branch ripe for interpretation and a lot of wiggle room for what I can create and run.

 

 

Now with all that babble over I'll go into the layout plan; I start with a few key necessities for the layout;

 

- Must be no larger than 4ft x 18in and operable within that

- Must have precise viewing angles (This is necessary to 'sell' the scene)

- Must be an operable Shunting puzzle

 

A few wants that are not entirely necessary but otherwise important to me are as such

 

- Both locomotives large and small must fit and operate on the layout (The largest of my collection being a Bachmann 24, the smallest being Rapidos J70)

- Possibility of Extension when space and time are available

 

With these parameters I found the small Knapford Harbour to be an excellent muse to model. Not much is actually said on the layout of the harbour, so I've researched and found musings with both Malliag and Whitehaven Harbour. Both will be valuable references to pull from.

 

What I have come up doesn't really seem to be found online, at least in my research. The best way I could describe it is a 'Reverse Inglenook' See below, not to complete scale in terms of depth. (and I apologize for the poor quality, I am currently using a Mac and do not have access to anyrails). The only comparable I can make is O gauge layout 'Arun Quay' which employs excellent techniques for depth and perspective.

 

(one square representing one square ft)

 

Two kick backs allow some maneuvering and interesting operation, while the rest of the plan is rather self contained. A facia will separate the left and right scenes; representing two areas of a longer quay, Buildings will aid in disguising the scenic break and keeping the scenes separated.

 

This takes out the traditional fiddle yard and instead has the entire layout be on display. A fiddle yard of some kind would be built in future, especially for use at Exhibitions although realistically in southern Ontario there is only 1 or 2 I could reasonably attend each year.

 

Stock would mainly be kit built wagons, representing a mix of stone, fish and general traffic. All would be fitted with S&P couplings for 'easy' operation. And of course Locos would comprise of DCC control.

 

Some photo references;

 

 

I will follow up with further drawings to better illustrate the plans for depth. Comments and Suggestions are not just welcomed but encouraged.

 

Edited February 13 by splodgestudios

[Typographer]

On a Mac, I certainly recommend RailModeller Pro. Has all the likely track components, and very easy to quickly make a design. it has quite a nice 3D walk-round feature.

https://www.railmodeller.com/home-railmodeller.html

(no connection or commercial interest!)

 

[The Johnster]

A filmic approach and a director's overview are by no means bad starting points for building an effective small layout that looks bigger than it's actual size, splodgester, incorporating as it does an understanding of illusion, smoke & mirrors, sightlines, lighting, and proscenium scenic break techniques.  Like you, I'm also a big fan of 'Arun Quay', which is a tour de force of this sort of theatrical presentation.  If I may put in a few suggestions...

 

I would, in your circumstances, be much enamoured of the Arun Quay approach of the wharf/quayside being at the rear of the layout, 'upstage' as far as possible, and the tide being out.  Bland and flat diffused lighting; dark & gloomy corners but not strong shadows.  The neccessity of providing buildings and features between the front and this arbitrary cut-off point (re-inforced in a viewers' interpretation by bollards, railings, and someone fishing, all Arun features) will enhance the impression of depth, and 18" needs all the help it can get (having to compress the entire width of an albeit narrow South Wales mining valley into 20" width I know whereof I speak!).

 

Your choice of locos are redolent of the English East Coast north of the Thames, and this as far up as the Humber is mostly flat, soggy, muddy, featureless, creek-infested, and very much along the lines of the sort of scenes in your photos.  Arun-style mist and drizzle to close down the visibility (remember the diffused bland lighting) so that an observer won't even think of looking for detail in the background makes the backscene a lot easier.  Enhance the impression of a very dull and bleak day by having some lights on in the buildings, and avoid right-angles as much as possible; structures angled away from the viewer give a better impression of distance, and there is nothing wrong with a subtle use of perspective modelling to further this cause, so long as it is subtle, but you know all this already and I'm doing the thing with grannies and eggs...

 

Fiddlesticks.

 

Right, now that's out in the open; a fiddlestick is a single road fiddle yard/off-scene headshunt on a piece of 1x1 timber that can be removed and/or folded under the layout when it isn't in use.   You could have two, one at each end, or one removable one that can be used at either end as neccessary.  The actual join is hidden (unless you specifically look for it) by the proscenium, so it needs to be at the front edge of the layout (I'm assuming there is space here at at least one end and the position is not constrained by a chimney breast or something).  The value of this in operation will make the idea worth investigating IMHO.

 

A development of this fiddlestick concept is to use them as removable and stashable cassettes, which will increase your storage of stock ready to use without being handled on/off the track.  A fiddlestick/fiddlecassette 18" long should hold a 25 and four wagons, or a J70 and six, and if you can manage 24" that goes up by two wagons in each case.

Edited February 14 by The Johnster

[Chimer]

At first glance, I'm not sure having sidings going in both directions can work without some way of a loco running round wagons.  But if you can visualise how to do it, please ignore me!

[Keith Addenbrooke]

5 hours ago, Chimer said:

At first glance, I'm not sure having sidings going in both directions can work without some way of a loco running round wagons.  But if you can visualise how to do it, please ignore me!

 

Hi Chris, the three most commonly deployed methods when modelling are probably these:

 

1.  Use two locomotives, one pushes wagons onto the quay and one pulls them (or some variations thereof): “Oh no, I need to buy another loco 😀”

2.  Use the Fiddle Stick as a Sector plate to complete a run-round loop, probably using the front two tracks in this example.

3.  Loco operates first in ‘push mode’ shunting the front siding, then withdraws to the fiddle stick, which is then either be re-arranged or simply turned 180°.  The loco then pulls the remaining wagons onto the quay to shunt the kickback sidings.

 

The most commonly used prototype method was probably to shunt either using chains, or a horse, or shunting poles, and on a quayside there’d probably be capstans that could be used to help?

 

Hope that helps, Keith.

[splodgestudios]

Here’s a rough illustration to put my view across, I will probably do another in future this is just a base line thought. 

 

I appreciate all the comments! 
 

23 hours ago, The Johnster said:

A filmic approach and a director's overview are by no means bad starting points for building an effective small layout that looks bigger than it's actual size, splodgester, incorporating as it does an understanding of illusion, smoke & mirrors, sightlines, lighting, and proscenium scenic break techniques.  Like you, I'm also a big fan of 'Arun Quay', which is a tour de force of this sort of theatrical presentation.  If I may put in a few suggestions...

These are wonderful tips and a great analysis of Arun Quay. I too plan to use many of it’s techniques to ‘sell’ the scene.

 

The left hand view features angled buildings, the water line towards the back and a lower wooden ‘deck’/quay (?) (similar in part to Malliag). Approaching the backscene with a minimalist approach allowing the ‘downstage’ and ‘center stage’ to capture most of the focus. With that many micro scenes of dock workers a vehicles will too, capture attention keeping eyes downstage. 
 

The right hand quay end is very much the same although featuring the water both in the back and foreground. A distinctive lighthouse will act as a scenic break. The quay end will feature a small rail crane in use doing repair work. While most of the shunting happens parallel to it. 
 

As mentioned by Johnster, ‘Arun Quay’ sells its scene through many techniques including many fine details including bollards, equipment, etc I plan very much the same (modelU will have one hell of an order when I’m ready)

 

6 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

 

Hi Chris, the three most commonly deployed methods when modelling are probably these:

 

1.  Use two locomotives, one pushes wagons onto the quay and one pulls them (or some variations thereof): “Oh no, I need to buy another loco 😀”

2.  Use the Fiddle Stick as a Sector plate to complete a run-round loop, probably using the front two tracks in this example.

3.  Loco operates first in ‘push mode’ shunting the front siding, then withdraws to the fiddle stick, which is then either be re-arranged or simply turned 180°.  The loco then pulls the remaining wagons onto the quay to shunt the kickback sidings.

 

The most commonly used prototype method was probably to shunt either using chains, or a horse, or shunting poles, and on a quayside there’d probably be capstans that could be used to help?

 

Hope that helps, Keith.

When it comes to operation I plan two main modes of shunting, I know they are not exactly realistic but at the same time not too far off.  (Again to note the plan is to have this layout operate both with and without the use of fiddlesticks/cassettes.)

 

1. An engine pulls a train from left to right. Using the kickbacks to shunt the three lines. When a train is ‘complete’ the loco can push the wagons off the layout onto a cassette (an off stage where you can imagine any mode of switching the train is present). Again this also works without the cassette and can act just as a wagon sorting puzzle.
 

This can also be accomplished as Keith mentioned with two locomotives operating, one to the left taking away wagons and the other shunting. This would require a cassette.
 

2. An engine pushes a train of wagons using what were the kickbacks to shunt. This would need a cassette to operate. 

 

I also enjoy the idea put forth by Keith to use fiddlesticks as a way to have the engine runaround the train. 
 

All this said, the use of a few cassettes/fiddlesticks will add greatly to the operational capabilities of the layout. It’s just now a matter of nailing which points would make most use in this context. I am currently thinking of a Peco 3-way on the centre line diverging left, and a small-medium radius point on the lower line connecting the lower kickback. 
 

Again thank you for all the kind comments, I am exciting to progress with this project.

Edited February 15 by splodgestudios