Proposed NASG
Display Layout
Display Layout
I have to admit at first I was almost at odds with your proposed size of layout...and its associated structure...but after looking over your sketches I understood the genius of them. neat...really...good concept.
Then the dilemma ...what the %$@#* can you fit in that area...the bastard's crazy...you might still be crazy...( i can get you cheap membership)....but I decided to use the very limitations imposed as "THE SELLING POINT" ...yeah we didn't have much space, and things are a little tighter than we might do it normally...but hey guys ...look what we fit into this tiny space...you could too!!
There are four sections and I've created four scene themes:
1)Urban
2)Industrial
3)Rural
4)Logging
There were a number of considerations taken into account..... it is designed to be automatic.. let the operator chat to the public... its more of a moving picture as opposed to a true model railroad. I've incorporated a PC... an old junk box 486 running 95 could muster sufficient grunt to run the trains!!
Ah yes Trains... I see 3..maybe four....A logging "train" ..well really just a geared loco and a caboose maybe... doing three pointers around the wye... I had in mind a converted MDC Shay... shows possibilities in this scale!!
One, maybe two running around main loop...in syn, so only one is in each scene at a time...keeps the public intersted.....small local freight (GP9 and some freight cars and a caboose) and maybe small local pass behing Steamer.
Fourth one is industrial switcher..SW9 and boxcar taking turns going into each of the industrial spurs.
Each scene is separated by visual divider i.e..Urban/Industrial by Buildings.track goes through to Industrial Park!! Industrial Park/ Rural..trains pass under road bridge, scenery divider at edge of building co-incides with tunnel entrance for narrow guage, trees on edge of scenery divider at as co-existing elements in both vignettes. Rural/Logging/Urban "separated" by increase and decrease of vegetation.
So what do we have here...plenty of movement..lots of colour, busy scenes to capture the eye and lead it to specific mini scenes.
Alright its really cramming all this in...but it might just work...its an "example" layout!! ...to show possibilities....I'm almost tempted to build one myself!!! The very crowded nature might actually work in the positive. I've tried resizing out of curiosity..if you could stretch the width to say..7ft instead of six it might work even better...any reason for choosing 6 ?? [The standard booth size is 10' x 10' - wanted this to fit in a booth with 2' on each side. Bill]
Anyhow, this is one of hopefully a few ideas we might get (then again it mightbe a bit like waking the dead eh??) I hope to work up the elevations as well. An article tracing the conceptualising , building and exhibiting the layout could prove of interest to the big mags!! and if I built one for here...you could call it " a scale in two cities"...
I'll go now...>:~))
Richard
