Build a ‘mirror micro’

A micro layout with automated locomotive action can provide the answer to space-starved modellers. Graham Goodchild reveals how he built this amazing shoebox‑size layout, using a mirror to add extra depth.

In the past, many of my models have been housed in display cabinets as an afterthought, which necessitated shopping around to find a suitable case. This time, however, I decided to reverse the scenario and start by choosing a display case first, then I would build the model to fit inside. In this instance, it would be a micro layout, tailor-made to fit inside a display case that’s roughly the size of a shoebox.

An array of card building kits and a retaining wall were chosen as the main scenic adornments, as they’d be easy to modify to fit within the case. Automated control, of a small locomotive shunting in and out of an engine shed, is by courtesy of an electronic shuttle module housed beneath a row of terraced houses on an elevated sub-structure at the back of the layout.

Working street and interior lights add extra atmosphere and, to give the illusion of greater depth, a mirror forms one end of the layout. This also fools the viewer’s eye into thinking that the shortened engine shed is actually of a prototypical length.

The use of a mirror greatly exaggerates the sense of depth, fooling the eye into believing that the houses and engine shed continue into the distance.