Max Legroom

Here are a couple of four wheel critters. The EMD Model 40 is Roundhouse and really is a superb runner. The Mack is a nice Jordan Highway Miniatures kit and is unpowered but gets the occasional tow down the line. For a while I was thinking of going down the interurban route and here are a couple of shots of boxcab electric no. 112. It's a shortened Roundhouse body on a Bachmann Plymouth chassis. The pantograph came from an ancient Lima Class 87! Now I just need an excuse to run it and a few trolley cars. I can feel another micro layout coming.

Here are a couple of photos of the good old days. No. 7 is a Chris Ellis-inspired gas-electric doodlebug. (In fact, Chris Ellis has provided inspiration for most of this project!) It's based on the Bachmann Brill trolley but still needs some cow-catchers. I couldn't resist a BLI inspection car when Model Junction were selling them at a discount a while back. I've added a horn and plow and given it a blast of dullcote. It really is great fun to watch this little creature scuttle along the line.

Here are a few shots of the mine/Django Junction side of the layout. Plymouth no. 6 is pushing a couple of empty coal cars up the mine branch having just brought down a couple of full cars on the left. Clearances are really tight here and I had to do a bit of pruning of the foam foliage to enable the loco to fit. The next shot shows why the little railroad has survived this long - the local roads are nothing more than dirt tracks. Our intrepid photographer has hiked up into the hills to get a couple of overhead shots of the mine loader. The mine itself is somewhere behind the photographer and I need to add the overhead conveyor to the loader. It will cross the main line and be supported by some rickety girders. The whole thing is going to be an exercise in rust so I've picked up some Deluxe Materials Scenic Rust in preparation. I've been eyeing up the Minitrains 0-6-0 Porter saddletank but I can't really justify the expense. Instead I picked up an N gauge Bachmann Plymouth on E-bay which runs really nicely and gets around the tight curve on the trestle bridge. My initial thoughts are a homemade boxcab on the Bachmann chassis (I've done something similar in HO using the Bachmann chassis and a modified Roundhouse boxcab body) but any other suggestions are welcome. All the best Max Legroom

That's a great bit of footage. The trouble with being a shortline fan is that there is so much inspiration it's hard to know which way to go. I've got an Athearn CF7 sitting in a box which is crying out for a more up-to-date setting - perhaps Florida like you suggest. The temptation is to try and squeeze in every favourite shortline feature and ending up with something that looks too contrived. Having said that, this is a good problem to have and, as you have shown, the beauty of these schemes is that they can be built relatively quickly.

I've been thinking of a layout based on the Union Railroad of Oregon ever since reading the Chris Ellis book on US shortlines. I think I could fit the interchange, lumber yard and street running in my available space and now Walthers are making the two-axle Plymouth which will be perfect motive power.

I think the locals pronounce it 'Mee-lan and Kay-ro'! I was toying with the Bristol & Cadiz or even the Bristol, Cadiz & Pacific to go for the maritime theme but thought this a bit OTT for a land-locked shortline.

The Milan Junction board is now 13'' wide and Milan is about 10'' wide. The sides of the corner board are 30''. I must admit I've been admiring the various modern Florida layouts. Low-rise buildings, water and palm trees, CSX geeps. Lance Mindheim has a lot to answer for! What era are you thinking about?

Originally, the corner board contained a depot and freight house but it didn't quite work for me. Then I realized it was because there was no real distinction between the two ends of the layout so I increased the width of the end boards and added depots to each end, turned the freight siding into the line to Cairo, and added a lot of trees to the corner board to emphasize the country between Milan Junction and Milan. I'm really happy with the way it has turned out.

Hi all Here is the trackplan at last. Overall size is 6'6'' x 6'6'' and I've indicated the off-scene trackage to give some context. In reality the track ends at the edge of the baseboard and that is where stock starts and ends during a typical operating session. If I was starting again I would make those angular baseboard edges into flowing curves and the backscene higher. All the best Max Legroom

Superpower on the M&C! A pair of GE 70 tonners arriving at Milan with a train of hoppers from the mill at Cairo. Both are Bachmann but no. 43 is unmotored and has a cut-down cab. At the other end of the scale, here is a beat-up little GE 25 tonner that normally works the mill at Cairo (off scene). This is a Grandt Line kit that can just about haul a couple of cars. It does have a really nice cab interior and I need to add a bit of extra weight under the cab roof and a driver at some point. In my opinion you just can't have enough critters so here is my latest acquisition, a BLI Plymouth. I need to get to work weathering this little fellow. I'm tempted to add a full length rock-protection roof in the style of some critters that worked in stone quarries. The Morning Sun 'Critters in Color' books have few examples.

Now the 45 tonner is running round the train. The loop here is very short with two 50' cars being the maximum it can hold. The next view shows the cars being pushed forward to the end of the line. In my imagination the line swings round to the right to join a bigger railroad. The depot is a shortened Atlas model with a corrugated iron roof. A glimpse between the auto repair shop and the freight shed as a CP boxcar is picked up and then added to the cars to be exchanged. The job is done and 49 can amble back to Milan with the caboose. The driver of that Mustang will just have to wait!

Here is another shot of the junction. The train is now passing behind Max's diner. In the background is a shot spur that originally made up the third side of the junction. Now it is a useful place to store old stock like the bobber caboose. Next we are crossing the road and arriving at Milan Junction. The layout is conventional DC but I have wired in a MDC sound box with a speaker under the layout so there are plenty of opportunities to blast the horn. East River Auto Repairs is in the foreground in the next shot. The points are switched by Caboose Industries throws which are a bit over scale but give a nice prototypical feel to operations.

Hi Jason Thanks for your comments. I will draw up a track plan but, in the meantime, here are a few photos following a typical train from Milan to Milan Junction. No. 45 hauls an SP gondola loaded with scrap at the team track, a tank car and the caboose out of Milan. That gondola is a long way from home! Another shot of the train passing the warehouse and a MNJ boxcar full of beer. No. 45 crosses the trestle over Cruiser's Creek. The train takes the line to Milan Junction with the route to Cairo heading off to the right. Finally, an overhead shot of the junction. I really need to add some road markings to the highway. More to follow.

Hi folks Here are a few shots of the town. The first shows the main street with a Woodlands Scenics white metal bar on the left and a couple of lovely Rusty Rails castings on the right representing a general store and doctors. In fact, the Doc can just be seen leaving the building and heading across the road for some refreshment. Is that a pink Cadillac? Here is a closer view. That Caddy will get the locals talking. Apparently it belongs to a singer, uh huh huh! A Nash Rambler lurks in the background. Below is a view of the back of the store and doctors. Finally, a Minitrains caboose sits in the yard.

I'm quite pleased with the way this layout has turned out though it is tempting to overload it with stock. Five freight cars is probably about right.

Hi folks Here are a few more photos of the Milan end of the line. A police cruiser is parked outside Pizzaland (a lovely Blairline kit) while the officers have their evening meal inside. Meanwhile, across the road nos. 41 and 49 slumber at the depot. The buildings on the backscene represent the rear of main street. No fancy street running for the M&C which sneaks into town via a trestle over a small creek. Next up is an overhead shot showing most of the track in Milan. The depot is an Atlas Maywood station salvaged from an earlier layout. Plenty of grime has been added and a few windows broken. I think a truck must've reversed into the crossbuck! (Actually it was the cat!) The owner of Pizzaland has a nice VW Beetle. That ACY 40' boxcar really should've lost its roofwalk by now! Last up is a shot of the factory with an Athearn shorty tank car. These are perfect for a small layout and often appear, together with some older Roundhouse versions, when I run in 1970s mode. Cheers for now Max Legroom

Ha, ha! I like your style. I've got a vision of a six-unit lash up (each with a crew of course).

It really is a good time to be a critter fan with this new Plymouth following the recent BLI WLG six wheeler. Thumbing through Critters in Color by Morning Sun has created a dilemma for me - whether to go for blue, yellow or black!

Thank you for your kind comments. I'll draw up a trackplan but things are very simple. The layout started when I challenged myself to build a layout in a month using stuff I already had and began life as two four foot long by six inch wide plywood boxes. One end had a loop and the other three short sidings. It has now expanded to a 6'6'' x 6'6'' L shape, with a corner board where the line up to Cairo splits from the main, and the original boards have expanded in width. I'll take some more pics soon but in the meantime here is a Walthers Brown Hoist crane in the yard at the Milan Junction end of the line.

I tend to switch between eras by changing the stock and road vehicles when I feel like a change. I've deliberately kept the location vague so I can run almost anything from the north-east (though SD45s might be pushing things!) and sometimes I run the layout as a branchline of one of the big railroads.

Hi all After years of admiring everyone else's handiwork, I thought it was time to get off my backside and post a few pics of my own modest shelf layout. The Milan and Cairo is a shortline set somewhere in the north-east and sometime between WW2 and the early 1980s. Here are a few snaps to get things moving. Above, a Boston and Maine 44 tonner sits at the depot in Milan. Below, Milan and Cairo 45 tonner no. 49 at the end of the line in Milan. Finally, an overhead view showing the factory on the left which produces unspecified foodstuffs (probably!) and the team track on the right. The three freight cars are all Ertl. More to follow. Max Legroom

Thank you for your comments. The advantage of a layout this size is that the plan can be drawn full-size on paper. Originally, the mine line was intended to loop over itself around the central hill section but the full-size plan showed that this idea looked a bit too unbelievable whereas the plain central hill provides a nice unobtrusive background to the railroad. Likewise, I had intended to include a turntable and engine shed by the depot but, again, it looked too contrived so I went for the simple approach of a siding with a pile of coal (and a water tower when I get round to making it!). I did do a lot of sketching as I wanted to have several distinct viewing angles with a scenery backscene where possible, for example, looking along the river from either side where the bend in the river avoids the 'straight through' look. One thing I have found is that the Peco points are not particularly reliable when it comes electrical contact and I would go for electrical switching with extra feeds if I was starting again. Unfortunately, I went for simple electrics and relied upon contact at the point blades. However, this really is just a layout for watching the trains go by rather than complex switching and if I get bored with a particular view then I just turn the whole thing around.

Here is the VW crew bus and Plymouth no. 6 doing some work at Django Junction. In the next photo, the engineer strolls across to no. 5 which will take out the eastbound Lightning Bolt. Note the aforementioned local snoozing next to the depot. The depot is a Walthers yard office with a roof from a Wills garage. The combine is by Minitrains and is the only passenger car at the moment though, in truth, you could probably fit all the passengers into the VW.

What's this parked outside the maintenance sheds? The company have invested in a new VW railbus for the track crews. The crews weren't impressed when they saw the size of the engine. 'Where's the V8?' However, they have to admit that it is performing well and a big improvement on the old handcarts. It even has a built in turntable (the big hand from the sky!). The body is Schuco on a trimmed Kato chassis.

Ha, ha! There is a 'local' asleep next to the depot with his jug of moonshine. I'll try to get a photo if my iPhone is up to it.