and season's greeting, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This will be my last post this year. I am off on holiday and I won't be able to work on my layout (nor do more blog updates) until the start of next year.

I have been working on a more detailed drawing to illustrate my plan. It has been a useful exercise, because:
1. It clears up how the plan will fit together, it has been rather fuzzy so far.
2. It brings up new ideas which I can explore on paper.

Note to my self: this plan is rather optimistic ambitious, but at least I have a goal which I will attempt to achieve ;)

So, here it is, the full 2D, full colour plan:



Edit: Fixed typos, and changed words. This is what happens when you try and write an entry whilst being half asleep :)

Posted by Andy at 12:21 AM , 2 comments  

Perhaps "because it is there" is not sufficient reason for climbing a mountain ...

My order direct from Japan has arrived. I ordered the 4 car add-on set for the N700 from Kato. This makes my N700 an 8-car set train. That is already snaking long, imagine how long the full 16-car set will be!

I also ordered a light-rail train, the Enoshima Railway type 1000, by Modemo. This beauty will run on the 'tram' line which is currently a proposed point-to-point line running under the mainlines.



Now that I have a clearer picture (in my head) of how the sceneries will work, time to put it in place. Firstly, I use 3mm foam core for the side-board and back-board. The large window openings are there because that section will be a tunnel area.

Next I cover the tunnel using more foam core. Once all area are covered as required, time to scrunch those newspapers and pile them up to form mountains. Secure them with masking tape (lots of masking tape) so they pretty much stay put.

Notice that I actually took the left most section away so I can work on it. Got good advice from the jnsforum to keep the layout sections separate, and it pays out already.

Once all newspaper scrunches are secured, I took the layout back to the main tables and run a final check to make sure all trains can run clear of all those newspaper bits. That's the last pic, next post will be the plestering process using plester cloths .....

Posted by Andy at 10:47 PM , 2 comments  

That's what my cats would say, if they can talk.

No pictures on this update, cause nothing has changed. Physically that is. However the picture of my layout in my head has fortunately have progressed.

I have the track layout planned, and it was inspired by the layout I mentioned in one of my earliest blogs. I wasn't going to follow the rest of the layout, like the buildings nor the scenery. The scale of things are all different in N scale, and of course it doesn't have a Japanese feel to it so it wouldn't have fit with the layout anyways.

However I haven't really thought about all the scenery whilst working on the track. Now that the track is complete, I needed time to process how the scenery will look out. Will it be urban/rural, where do the tunnels go, which parts are mountainous, how high are the hills, how deep the valleys ... well, you get the picture.

So I am just slowly letting it cook in my head. In the shower. On the treadmill. In the car. At work. On the way to work. At home, while watching my train going around the track.

It's a slow process, but I am starting to get a clearer picture of how the landscape will be. I will try to put it in a drawing. One of the main thing is a tram track, point-to-point, with the tracks going on and off the road. Maybe one or two Modemo trams, with an auto-reverse system. Now I just need a tram to test the radius and the incline...

Posted by Andy at 10:10 PM , 0 comments