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Ever since I rode the 3ft. gauge line from Durango to Silverton in 1974 (when it was still operated by the D&RGW), I have a love affair with North American narrow gauge railroading. For many years, building a HOn3 layout was out of question, as those brass imports were out of reach in my neck of the woods - just too expensive. When Blackstone announced their new range of HOn3 locos and cars, the interest was rekindled. What a shock it was when I saw the street price in my home country. gain, those grapes were beyond reach, and I was about to shed my ideas of building a US prototype narrow gauge layout. Rescue came from Bachmann with their line of On30 equipment, which does not really resemble Colorado narrow gauge railroads, but is closer to tose two ft. lines in Maine. A change of locale seemed to be the only way for me to build this much wanted layout, so I buried my dream of a line in Colorado´s high country and moved eastward. OK, folks On30 is not On2, but for me, this is not so important. 1. The Dream Reseraching the web, I came across three truly superb layouts. <ul> <li>Troels Kirk´s Coast Line RR in Sweden</li> <li>Martin Welberg´s Cardigan Bay Coastal RR in The Netherlands and</li> <li>Geoff Knott & Michael Flack´s Smuggler´s Cove in Australia.</li> </ul> These highly detailed, atmospheric layouts were inspiration and driving force at the same time for me, to finally come up with an own layout idea. But what a challenge! All of these layouts are fairly large, and in no way I cut have my Quartermaster General allocate this much room to me for a layout and my Chancellor of the Exchequer generously provide the necessary funds for it. Looking at my assets in terms of space and available funds, I was just about to give in. How to squeeze an On30 layout, which captures the atmosphere of the Maine coastal region and is interesting to operate into a space of a mere 10"6´by 6"6´ while leaving sufficient room for all the other activities that have to take place in "my" train room"? Rescue came from The Upper Canada & Algonquin web site, where I found a layout idea, which could be adapted to my givens - the Keg Harbour Rlwy. & Navigation Company. A lot of squeezing, fiddling and iterations had to take place to extract what I could incorporate into the space I have - the beginning of the "Plan" part of the Dream-Plan-Build trilogy. 2. The Plan Taking the aforementioned as a master, I fired up my old track planning program and drew a track plan. Now, a track plan is only one side of the medal. A layout´s atmosphere is influenced more by the scenery and the setting, than by the track plan. For this reason, I always sketch up "scenic plans", to tickle my imagination and to get an idea on the atmosphere of the layout. After a series of trial and error, finally this plan evolved: <img src="http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv185/SirMadig/KegHarbor_zpsc88d8a10.jpg" alt=" " /> This plan, once approved by my aforementioned superiors, formed the basis for the subsequent layout plans. Yes, a layout plan is much more than just a track plan. You need a plan for: ... your benchwork. <img src="http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv185/SirMadig/KEGHARBOR-Schema_zps782bd5c9.jpg" alt=" " /> ... the wiring of your layout: <img src="http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv185/SirMadig/KEGHARBOR-Verdrahtung_neu3_zpsa0210625.jpg" alt=" " /> ... your scenic features and structures (if you plan on scratchbuilding them): <img src="http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv185/SirMadig/DECK1_zps49fd9b27.jpg" alt=" " /> <img src="http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv185/SirMadig/HarborViewHotel_zpsccf5d331.jpg" alt=" " /> and, last but certainly not least, your operation. I still have to do this one and the plans for quite a lot of the buildings on my layout. 3. The Building of a layout. Construction of a layout usually starts with the benchwork, although I know a number of people who have started to work on the structures prior to building the benchwork. A week ago, I started to build the benchwork, using the open-frame-method. The benchwork is built in 4 segments, two of them will be permanently fixed to a wall, while the others need to be removable - to safeguard household peace! The three main segments have been built and await being attached to the wall. I will post pictures as soon as they are hung up. Next steps <ul> <li>Finish the benchwork</li> <li>Continue drawing the plans for the structures</li> <li>Start laying track!</li> </ul> Stay tuned for more, but be patient - progress will be slow.
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