Ian Holmes

Roger: Thanks for the interest I'm sorry I missed your question yesterday. I've cut a piece of 18mm thick white expanded polystyrene foam to fit inside the base and then covered that with some 2mm thick cork. That still came up slightly short of the required depth to match up with the top of the pine frame. So tonight I've just added a second layer of 2mm cork cut to the shape of the track bed. This is pretty much a perfect match depth wise.

As you can see from the previous blog entries pictures. I am in the unenviable position of having enough track stock and structures to hand to build this little layout should I want to. The track I have is Code 83, Micro Engineering flex track and #6 switch as well as an Atlas #4 switch. The track will do fine. its all actually brand new. Stuff that didn't get used on previous projects. Though the two switches have different operating systems. The ME switch has a centre spring to lock the blades in place much like PECO products from the UK whereas on the Atlas one the blades have to to be locked in place by an external mechanism. I'm not a huge fan of the Atlas product myself. But I have the switch so I'll use it. I more than likely have an electric motor for it in my spares box too. I'm not going to use any of the structures used in the mock up on the layout at all. Making structures is one of my great passions so my first preference is to build them myself. Plus all I have to do I look out of my office window and see plenty of modern buildings suitable for this layout. Speaking of buildings, this morning, over breakfast, I downloaded the latest issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist which featured an article by Lance Mindheim detailing his method of using photographs to clad styrene shells to make quick highly detailed structures. Impressed as I am and as much as I'd like to use the method I'm not to sure that it would stand up well in the close confines of an APA box, what with the lighting mounted in the box lid being a few inches away. I'm sure the photographs would fade very quickly. Lance himself even cautions readers about this fact in the article. So it will be back to my standard method of foam core shells clad with styrene. These ubiquitous modern warehouse structures are pretty simple so they shouldn't take long to knock up. So there we are, everything sorted. Every modeller has a good supply of ground covers and scenic doodads so I don't think that my favourite local hobby shop will be getting much money out of me on this project. Oh and as this layout blog has been outed by Micro Model Railroad Cartel members on Twitter It looks as if my hand is forced and I'll have to build it. In that case you can see the layout at the Granite City Train Show in St. Cloud, MN in April. See you there!

Another year and I'm going to start off with the best of intentions of keeping a layout building blog going on RMWeb. I haven't done terribly well at that in the past. To set the scene, in the middle of last year I discovered the APA box from IKEA and presented it as a possible model railway baseboard structure. It's fair to say that many modellers have jumped on the product and are using it. So I thought it was about time I got in on the act. I was also recently asked to be a part of the Micro Model Railway Cartel blog project. Which has also fired up my enthusiasm for the APA project. So, when one member of the Cartel recently presented an APA box scheme. It immediately grabbed my attention as it reminded me of several schemes I'd got in my pile of sketchbooks from the past so I adapted it to incorporate some of those ideas. I was interested enough in the idea to reach into my spares box for old structures from previous layouts to verify if my 2D thoughts translated into 3D as well as I thought they would. This first mock up above was enough to convince me that I was very probably right. I could see that the structure on the left was too tall and too dominant . So I reached into the spares box for something lower... A big improvement on the overall effect I think you'll agree. Using half a car as a view block on the right is also going to work well I feel So that's where the project sits at this point in the day. As you can see I've cut some holes in the side walls of the box so I think there's really no going back now. My New Years resolution was to use RMWeb more I'm off to a good start...

That's a very clever conversion. It certainly passes as some kind of Hunslet style loco. Even better that it's a first attempt.

Excellent work! I'm not really a fan of "whimsical modelling" but you've pulled this one off really really well. I really like this. A lot. Ian

I could see myself creating one of these too... Perhaps inside one of the IKEA "APA" boxes I already have. I already have some Micro Engineering track and turnouts and a suitable low relief warehouse to get things started... Ian

Jack: Another well presented little gem from you. How many layouts do you actually have now? Hope the show goes well for you Ian

Far be it from me to blow my own trumpet but I have a fledgling blog about small model railway layout design for those of you who haven't seen it. Its here http://smallmodelrailwaylayouts.blogspot.com/ Ian

I'll order from wherever the price is right i.e cheapest, and I've never had a problem anywhere. I'd much rather shop in person though to that end I love hub hobby in Richfield, MN . If you're going to buy a loco you can't beat picking it off the shelf and see it running before you part with your hard earned cash. Then there is Bakers Hobby supply in St. Cloud, MN they don't have a huge range but when I need styrene and other bits and pieces they pretty much have what I want and they know me by name too. That reminds me the owner asked me about displaying my layouts there later in the year. I'd better get back to him on that...

Love the pictures Al, the whole layout is looking great. Ian

Too long. Almost 7 months since I made an entry on here. There was a time when I'd post all over the forum - daily. Not that I haven't been doing anything. Far from it. I've been working on projects that fire my imagination without making any concrete progress on a proper layout. To that end I'm currently working with Z scale . For what started out as a bit of fun to go with the T scale layout, I'm actually finding the scale quite rewarding. Which quite surprised me to be honest. This layout started out as nothing more than a fun display to go alongside the T scale to illustrate the difference in size between the two scales. But having watched the layout at a recent show I found that I was getting more from it than that. I think Z is stepping in to fill a modelling need I have. I like my HO scale shunty plank but it doesn't allow me to run long trains like I see on the main lines around here which as time goes on I find myself wanting to do. So I'm carrying on working with Z right now trying to find out if this is right for me. Flitting around all these scales may seem like a pointless exercise (and waste of money too perhaps) but when it comes right down to it model making is model making be it 1:450, 1:220 1:87 or whatever takes your fancy. So skills are skills. Skills that I had working in 4mm scale have been sharpened working in 1:450 and are starting to come together in 1:220. I don't doubt that at some point I'll want to slide back into 4mm scale British outline at some point like in the sketches I posted almost 7 months ago, but not right now.