Keith Addenbrooke

As a non-DCC user this all makes sense so far, thank you, Keith.

A very modelable scene, Keith.

For anyone interested in seeing how the Ontario layout in the Pilentum video linked into the blog post was built, there's a thread here on a Benelux modelling Forum (in Dutch). Build photos reveal how the layout goes together, as @AndyB highlights. Very informative. I have no connection with the builder, or with Beneluxspoor.net - everything I've linked to is in the public domain, Keith.

Thanks Andy, some good pointers as always. I think the picture in my blog post of the abbreviated mainline DB train illustrates your point about train length very well. Fortunately I also have a couple of railcars: Epoche I: and Epoche III / IV: As for goods or freight trains, this is only 20" long in OO and could be used to generate ideas too: I do need to give some further thought to your observation about cassettes - thank you for flagging this up. If I want something simple to enjoy at my leisure, I won't want to end up 'driving fiddle yards'. Good point, Keith.

Thanks Mark, re-reading my old stuff reminds me that you suggested I try building a photo plank back then - looks like it could still happen, Keith:

I think this is a really good idea from @Chimer: as @richardw1970 notes, including just a couple of inches of fixed track on the sector plate is key to making the scheme work, simplifying the alignment issues both for the cassettes and the operation of the sector plate. An idea I’ve not seen before, but worth highlighting for wider use, Keith.

I suspect I got my copy from Amazon - though some Kalmbach books are reprints not originals when bought that way. Definitely a good book to have in the library, Keith.

May 2024 marks the fourth anniversary of when I used a free day to being planning the model railway layout I hoped to build. Inspired by the writings of Frank Ellison and Al Kalmbach from 1940's America, I set out on my great adventure: But so far the great layout hasn't happened (yet). I've written extensively, elsewhere and in earlier blog posts, about how plans and space around me have changed regularly, hopefully commenting informatively (I've learned a lot) and reasonably entertainingly (I've also had loads of fun), but with our planned house move now set for the end of June, it is time to look ahead. As I won't have a dedicated layout space in the new house, I've taken a step back to consider some ideas where space takes second place to other aspects of our engaging hobby. I've long had an interest in micro-layouts, and while they do share a lot in common with larger projects, I keep coming back to a photo on @MAP66's engaging Tyteford Halte micro-layout thread that really shows the difference well. The third photo down in this post from 2023 is the one I'm referring to: While the photo shows the space for a good-sized layout (which can be followed here), it is the passing reference to the micro-layout on a shelf over to the right that caught me eye - that's how different a micro-layout in the same scale can look. While I may still dream of watching my German express coaches flashing past as they criss-cross the continent, am I 'brave' enough (for want of a better word), to focus my interests for the next however long on much smaller projects - in other words: will I enjoy them, and will I finish them? I ought to, but my track record isn't great. So I've had a look at some ideas: Back in 2019, @Phil Parker ran a series of layout builds in BRM designed to fit on the shelves of an IKEA 'Billy bookcase' that were documented here on RMweb. I was fascinated, and it just so happens that there is a piece of mdf in my outhouse cut to those precise dimensions: 76cm x 26cm (30" x 10"). Add a cassette to each end and there's room for this in H0e: While a Fiddle Yard / Terminus might need even less space (just one off-stage cassette), my mind is telling me that a run-through could get me closer to a sense I'm "watching trains run", my choice when there is room for a continuous-run layout. A 'full' micro-layout has a scenic space of 4 sq.ft. The idea was pioneered by the late Carl Arendt in the US, who discovered just how many fascinating layouts could fit into such a small space. To keep up to date, @Ian Holmes is the person to connect with, and there's a link to his online magazine devoted to micro-layouts in this thread here on RMweb. If I scale my plan up to micro-layout size, there's room for this, the same H0e project in a bigger space: As a branch line, the same arrangement in the same space but in Standard Gauge might look like this: (Note: the shed kit is unfinished - it has no gutters or roof weathering). Admittedly It's basic, but it doesn't look cramped to me, which is the key point, and something I'll return to at the end of this post. There may not be room for a more mainline layout though - three coaches and a loco take up the whole 4': Of course, what that shows is that choice of prototype is key. As I've hopped around from one HO scale project idea to another, the space I might need has changed even when the scale hasn't. Some photos from my recent archives: 1. American HO v Continental H0: 2. American HO v Continental H0e: Note that the American 4-axle Geeps shown are not large locos by US standards (nor is the boxcar). Much as I continue to be tempted by American HO bargains, it does look like my last shift, towards Continental models, has been the right move. Whisper it quietly, but a few compact OO-scale items may even have started to appear again... ____________________________________________________________________________ What about structures - my favourite part of the hobby? Many micro and shelf layouts don't have any full-size 3-D buildings on them - everything is in low relief. Part of the problem with 3-D buildings is that I want to see space behind a full 3-D building as well as in front of it. I took these photos to illustrate: These have been set up as a 12" deep shelf layout, with the tape measure as the edge of the shelf - very cramped: In another Forum I belong to, it's been suggested that a building with a larger footprint, like the wooden rail-served store kit, may work better than smaller buildings, as the visual relationship between the structure and the trains looks better. It's a fair point when there's more space for a layout, but in the context of this discussion, using a pair of low-relief warehouses instead gives a far less cramped look to me, even after I halve the shelf width to just 6": (The right hand warehouse is under construction - I threw together the basic structure so I could try out these ideas). Perhaps one reason I couldn't quite settle on a plan for an American switching layout when I was looking at ideas last year is that I was trying to fit full-sized buildings (like the grain elevator) into a space better suited to shelf-layout thinking? It means the grain elevator (and possibly the store) may not make it onto the removal truck next month after all, even though they've not long been finished (but they were fun to build). What about the Neustadt Station kit I've bought, that is over three feet long by itself? Roof sections and platforms shown here for size: For this one, maybe I need to revisit the idea of a large station diorama I started some years ago with American HO? After all, as @Mikkel noted when I first showed this kit in a previous post, it could take me a year to make it, without a layout to go around it as well! Is that what I really want? Or perhaps my mainline ideas need to by approached as "modules" more than "dioramas," taking a longer view (just in case a spare room does become available at some point?). That's a another idea for me to think about. I make no claim of originality for any of the ideas in this post of course - what I'm sharing here is a process of translation, taking the trains and ideas I've been moving towards and re-imagining them for our new home. It's unlikely I'll do much more modelling until after we've moved now, so this post will also serve as a placeholder, probably for the next few months. ____________________________________________________________________________ A couple of closing thoughts, starting by returning to the first idea I set up - the Billy bookcase-sized H0e wayside station. Micro-layouts come in all shapes and sizes (just like every other type of layout). Some focus on operation, perhaps making no attempt to mask the intense compression that has been needed. I've designed such layouts myself in the past (eg: here). But there's another approach, which takes a tiny space and nevertheless makes it look like it's something much bigger, keeping things simple - almost taking more time over what to leave out that what to add in. A wonderful small layout that's recently appeared on the "Pilentum" YouTube channel is this model of a small slice of Ontario: I've already watched the video several times. It is a bit larger (scenic area 150cm x 45cm, which is just under 5' x 18"), and has been edited to show continuous running rather than a shuttle service, but I think it illustrates the concept wonderfully. In a sense, it's returning to the Art of Model Railroading that first inspired me (and still does) but seeing it differently - as art. I'm no artist, and never have been, but could I give it a go? That's my next question. Fortunately, help is at hand, and I'm delighted to say that I received copies of @James Hilton's books this past week, courtesy of Wild Swan and the Titfield Bookshop. James has already pointed me in the right direction several times, in this blog and elsewhere, even though we've never met, so what better resource for me to explore as the adventure continues...? Somehow I don't think I'm going to run out of ideas (there's another one in the header photo). Until then, thanks for reading, Keith.

Hope it goes well: definitely an exhibition I’d be interested in if I was still in the area. Many, many years ago now I did my School work experience placement at the Longbridge works - it was a very different world in those days, Keith.

I’ve ‘liked’ the picture, but not sure I’d like to have a train of 88 empty coal empties rattling past my bedroom window in the middle of the night though! Keith.

Wow! A jaw drop moment! Could be a good commercial move (I wouldn’t know one way or the other), but from a hobby where heritage and nostalgia play a big part, just the thought of the Kalmbach name splitting from Model Railroader is big one. Thanks to @John M Upton for highlighting this. Edit: Having now also read the version of the announcement on the Trains.com website, all may not be well - there is reference to it being difficult, despite the typically upbeat wording of the acquiring company’s press release. Wonder what will happen to the Milwaukee, Racine and Troy employee layout…? New livery and repaints, another fallen flag? Not the employees’ biggest concern right now. Thoughts with them of course. Keith.

Thanks James, appreciate the quick reply. It’s a lovely looking layout with excellent composition in particular (as explained in the videos), but I’m afraid I’m not in the market to buy a layout - I want to make my own, and in H0e / HOn30. I do have my own newly acquired early blue class 24, but in OO, sorry: Thanks, Keith.

Totally unrealistic for this kind of heavyweight line 🤣

Could I just ask a question about the ‘Pont Dulas’ video (the layout tour)? The video opens with a “Mindful Operation” title shot, but I’m not sure how the layout is operated, as it looks like the left hand end back scene curves round and blocks the exit track? Can it be opened up to allow a run through: cassette - layout - cassette (I can’t quite see if there’s an exit behind the crossing keeper’s cottage, but it looks like there might be one)? Just wondered - looking at ideas for small layouts all my favourites at the moments have a ‘run through’ format to give the impression of being part of something bigger, rather than being a terminus, hence my interest. Hope that’s OK to ask on this thread, Keith.

Nice coaches too, Keith.

Loved the video - agree about the firebox flicker (I’d assumed such things were only for DCC - nice to see them on an analogue British model). Could I ask, does the sound on DC work by responding to the voltage (and hence speed) of the locomotive? On some of the US models I’ve seen that are set to run on either DC or DCC there is sound on DC but not the full range of additional functions, so I just wondered. With regards to the couplings, with my European stock (where kinematic close coupling is normal) I think the little ‘tooth’ serves to stop the coupler from drooping (If I’m understanding what happened here correctly). A few of the coaches I’ve bought arrive with the coupler sagging as the tooth has popped out - easily fixed by popping it back into place. Does that help? Like the look of the layout - will follow with interest. Hadn’t realised at first but I read about it a while back, before the branch terminus became a through station (the poppy seed ballast was the clue), Keith.

Hmmm? Question for the team I guess: was consideration given to the unintended, but likely, ‘walletary’ consequences of incorporating Traction into BRM when the decision was made, particularly for readers in their 50s like me who grew up with BR blue…🤣: I’ve been happily dabbling in various Continental and North American projects (Narrow Gauge and Standard Gauge) for the last three years, so how has this happened…? Fun times as always, Keith.

The idea of the low relief factory looks to be spot on when the scene is viewed from the angle in the final photo (which I think is more like the regular viewing angle). Very suitable in my view, Keith

I just had the roof to do now. There is a base layer of laser cut balsa wood pieces to glue in place first. For the flat roof section, this is overlaid with strips of tar paper cut to size and laid in an overlapping fashion: It pays to read the instructions carefully before adding the outer layer of the main roofing sections: (I added additional strips of spare tar paper to the joins between the roof sections meet). Photos showed up two issues: firstly it showed that I’d omitted to paint the underside of the eaves, and secondly, after painting the roof with my usual Matt dark grey and adding a little bit of lighter grey for weathering it was far too shiny (I’m not quite sure what the peel and stick overlays were made of, to be honest): A conventional plastic church kit for another project had been painted in exactly the same way - but looked quite different: I address the eaves first - much easier to before a building is placed onto a layout: I then added a layer of light grey wash over the whole roof (with a few darker brown patches) - it dampened the glossiness, but made the roof much lighter: As my models have a lot of handling (and will soon be packed up for moving house), I’ve steered away from trying weathering powders, at least for now, so I simply used a graphite pencil to darken the roof again. This seems to have worked. Finished: What have I learned, and how does this compare with the more modern laser cut (mdf) Faller kits I’ve made? On the plus side, I’d say the peel and stick sash window frames and pre-scribed glazing panels in this kit were a real plus, and a feature of this particular kit: On the other hand, working with wood pieces that have been in the box for many years does require more care - with hindsight it would have been wise to open the box to check the key pieces were really flat a couple of weeks before starting the build (time to flatten any pieces needing attention). They absorb a lot of paint, but there’s no beating wood when modelling a building like this one! I have assumed the proprietors keep their store well painted - essential for weather-proofing too. My shop ‘interiors’ are a compromise. If I wasn’t thinking about moving house and needing to pack everything away soon, would probably have added some awnings - test showed they would hide the interiors well (photos of the prototype show them). Overall, bearing in mind I paid only a fraction of the price this kit should have cost when new, it’s been well worth it. The only problem now is the finished building has quite a large footprint: at approximately 8” square it’s the size of a complete cake box diorama on it’s own, but it’s an interesting and slightly different rail-served industry for boxcar deliveries. Until next time, thank you for reading, Keith.

Great to see the layout in action at the Macc show today - the custom decal work was the stand out aspect for me (as in, so good it could easily pass as a real RR name and stock). Apologies for taking up @Chris Gilbert1’s time asking exactly the same question I’d forgotten I asked here eighteen months ago, sorry (but found the explanation really helpful - headshunt for one loco and 50’ car, then two cars to the next switch, three cars and so on, so the switching has a well planned increasing complexity). Very smooth running of course. Excellent, Keith.

Agree with the above - very enjoyable and plenty to enjoy throughout the day. Always a well organised show. Was able to stay into the afternoon and it did get quieter from 3pm onwards. Thanks to @BigAndy - who I was able to chat with briefly on the way out - and the whole team (incl. exhibitors and caterers). Came home with just one new layout idea (and loco), which isn’t too bad. No idea if I bumped into @woodenhead as someone I often ‘see’ on here, but quite a few people it was good to see and catch up with when passing. For anyone free tomorrow, would happily recommend a visit, Keith.

Thank you @Peachy for sharing this here - in my view the Hornby team came across very well, and I found their candour when explaining the whys and wherefores of releases moving about particularly helpful. I can see why there is such interest in the HST - I wonder if it almost resonates for those of us now in our mid 50’s with the kind of excitement the prototype launch had in the 1970s? (exactly the kind of nostalgia for excitement that drew some of us towards the hobby in the first place, so we could relive happy memories in miniature). Seeing full length sets in motion will really demonstrate the advantages of TT. Perhaps, because it is double-ended, it will work in a way that a Pacific and a variable number of coaches doesn’t quite (however impressive that may be). All good stuff. Thanks, Keith.

Most of the rolling stock I’ve tried building looks quite like that…

Looking forwards to coming on Saturday - as has been noted, an another strong lineup making good use of the available space for the Show. Would just like to say thank you in advance to everyone involved - a huge amount of effort goes in, all voluntary, and it is appreciated, Keith.

Had a quick look through my subscribers' copy yesterday - looks to be another cracking issue, thanks to all. @AY Mod seems to be working overtime on the reviews in this issue! Much to enjoy, Keith.