Staff Show and Tell

George Dent explains the background to his new layout project – and why he hopes to learn from previous mistakes while revisiting a previous design.

The team show what they’ve been working on in the last month.

It’s a cliché to say that every layout

I builder is seldom satisfied, but there is a degree of truth in it. By their nature, layouts take time to plan and construct, and we all learn and develop as we go.

I haven’t met many modellers who, when a layout nears completion, don’t admit to wishing they’d done a few things differently. That’s where another cliché comes in: that a layout is never finished, as we always want to revisit certain areas and improve them.

Well, that’s how I felt about each of my previous layouts, especially those built primarily for the magazine, to tight deadlines and seldom in a way that I would’ve undertaken had they been purely for my own pleasure. I don’t want to sound like I’m moaning here, as I’ve always tried to tailor my work to the benefit of readers – that’s what I get paid for after all – rather than simply showing off what I’ve built each month.

However, because of the circumstances in which they were built, some of the layouts lacked a sense of coherence, in visual terms. Furthermore, a rushed approach to track laying and wiring seldom leads to reliable operation in the long term. That said, each project certainly served its purpose (several purposes in most instances), so who can complain?

Another negative factor has been the lack of a permanent home in which the layouts can reside. None had been built as portable layouts, yet they ended up being moved repeatedly between different homes, storage units and workshops leading, inevitably, to constant damage. Back in summer 2019, with another house move looming, I decided to be ruthless and scrap all six of my layouts.

While there was an element of sadness, my overriding emotion was one of relief, as it freed me of any sentimental attachments to layouts that were, if I was being honest, a little disappointing.

THE ONE I MISS THE MOST

The one layout that I was sorry about dismantling was ‘Lisburn Lane’. This micro layout was agonisingly close to being finished when the Grim Reaper came calling. Sure, there were aspects that really needed improving, especially the electrics, which never recovered from being converted from DC to DCC and back again. The other deciding factor, however, was more difficult to remedy – the baseboard itself.

Constructed largely from MDF, the board initially staged a diesel depot diorama that was built for display at an event at Barrow Hill. When that was no longer needed, the board was recycled to create ‘Lisburn Lane’. However, the MDF wasn’t resilient enough to cope with being moved around, so it was encased in a plywood outer frame. This would’ve been fine for a static layout, but the extra weight made it very difficult to transport single-handedly.

WHAT’S NEXT?

After salvaging as much as possible, including buildings, scenics and whatever else could be extracted in one piece, I vowed to have a second stab at ‘Lisburn Lane’. However, before I did, I decided to draw up a list of pros and cons of the original layout (see panel), with an eye on making improvements to the operation and scenic composition. This proved to be very useful, as there turned out to be more negative factors than I thought, so any new layout would have to address these shortcomings.

Indeed, after careful consideration, I’ve altered the trackplan to add operational interest and increase fiddleyard capacity. Greater scenic depth was also important, so the new baseboard will be a 8in wider, and slightly taller. The track will be elevated and there’ll also be an area where the landscape ‘drops’ slightly, to allow a stream or road to pass under the track.

With these resolutions in mind, I felt ready to order some new, professionally produced plywood baseboards from the Tim Horn range, including a pair of sector-plate fiddleyards, each capable of holding up to nine parallel tracks. At the time of writing, the boards are complete and the trackplan is undergoing some final tweaks before work on ‘Lisburn Lane 2’ gets under way in earnest. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months…

‘Lisburn Lane’, just before the axe fell. This is as far as I got with the original layout, with the scenic board virtually complete, plus one of the two fiddleyards.

The purpose of ‘Lisburn Lane’ was to portray a rural branch line that may be on the verge of closure, with overgrown track and neglected infrastructure.

I was especially pleased with the appearance of the various buildings, especially the abandoned station cabin. All of the structures have been salvaged for use on the second iteration of ‘Lisburn Lane’.

One of the major niggles was the lack of track elevation. This isn’t essential for all layouts but, if you need a setting in which to photograph model trains, it helps to be able to see the wheels!

The simple track plan featured a single three-way point, allowing the goods shed and siding to be shunted.

Although the layout was only 16in wide, the composition of the buildings and scenery did help to increase the sense of depth.

A demolition train is being shunted at ‘Lisburn Lane’. Only trains entering the layout from the left could shunt effectively – another shortcoming of the original plan.

My new baseboard, which is slightly bigger than the original, is ready for track laying to begin. Ronnie won’t be pleased when work gets under way…