Layout at an art festival

[Adamphillip]

right here is the story so far, this time next year my college will be holding it yearly arts festival and I have been able to get the tutors to agree to let me enter a model railway but I need to make it on a budget. I already have 35m of flexible track and a comprehensive collection of rolling stock from the 1930's to present day but mainly in the BR sectors era. no what would a suitable size of layout be if I wanted to run full length 225's in as little space as possible with the operators standing in the centre? please reply i am open to sugestions.

[Mallard60022]

I would suggest you keep the layout 'short' and make the viewed bit between two tunnels. This viewed space could be really urban or countryside/seaside (like Dawlish/Teignmouth) if you didn't mind not doing ECML. To be honest I would maybe go for four track deep urban on the viewed bit as this might be easier to model? You'd also not need to model much OHL gubbins.

This way you could do a roundy roundy within (say) 4 metres length.

OK so you wouldn't be able to see a full 225 all at once but you need a lot of space for that.

 It also means you could run some freight too and maybe some bog carts?

As it is an arts festival,  go for the superbly landscaped diorama effect using all the various techniques you know and can find out about on here (and do get some 'teddy bear fur' in somewhere just for fun).

Make the layout so that it can be 'expanded' later if you wish and maybe a much more complex rear fiddle yard set up added for your use.

This is a great opportunity to demonstrate modelling in miniature and it just happens to be a railway scene rather than, say, war-gaming.

I've stuff available for your reference - just ask.

Cheers P @ 36E

[Adamphillip]

Thanks for the pointers I may create a station in one part of the layout and make it 4x2m's

[Adamphillip]

would using no points and having it as a moving diorama work?

[Mallard60022]

If you mean just end to end with train 'reversing' having used cassettes then yes. Otherwise keep it a single line and do 'Hand of God' rearrangement out of site at each end OR just use bog carts then that would be 'simples'. The latter would involve less work.

Beware of stations as you get into signal and track-work complications + those people that don't move. Maybe a single line terminus I suppose would work at one end?

 

P

[bbishop]

Been there, got the medal.  The dahlings (sic) will be more interested in the old dear, knitting Winnie-the-Pooh for her grandchildren ("why have you chosen exactly that shade of blue to complement the beige") than in your four dimensional scene.  There will be no interest in your stock or in any operational subtlety.  I would go for the cute, picturebox look but Mallard has really hit the nail on the head.

 

Bill

[cromptonnut]

Another option would be to consider a "modular" type approach - so each board is its own distinct, framed scene - as long as the track is at the same position at each end of the board, then you could build extra boards in due course or shuffle the order.  Then you can have a winter scene, a summer scene, a town scene, a country scene, a big bridge, a small freight facility, etc etc etc?

[Adamphillip]

what I mean is a 4 track mainline section with minimum point work with scenes going on in the background.