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Climbing toward Everest (on your
micro!)
I couldn't resist. One of the world's best-loved
narrow gauge railways is the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in northeast India,
near Nepal. This little two-foot gauge line climbs 7,000 feet from Siliguri at sea
level to Darjeeling, within sight of Mt Everest. It's one of the most irresistible
prototypes in existence. Click here
to visit the DHR website.
The challenge, of course, was to work an operating bit of the DHR into a micro-sized
layout, in four square feet. It's obviously an impossible task, so here it is. The
behind-the-scenes trick that makes it work is a hidden helix with a six-inch radius
-- a steep and tough climb, but feasible for light OO9/HOn30 rolling stock.
The line starts at the lower terminus, where the tall passenger station blocks the
viewer's line of sight and allows us to fiddle train consists from the side, hidden
from the front view. If you can manage an extension to the right, an early priority
would be to add a proper fiddle yard, and save wear and tear on your fingers and
tweezers! The line departs the terminal, with a train of ramshackle coaches pulled
by a blue Class B 0-4-0 chuffing mightily along. The train soon disappears in the
tropical rain forest, where in years past passengers could lean from the coaches
and pick orchids from the trackside trees.
 Once
out of sight, the train enters a hidden tunnel (that shouldn't be there on the tunnel-less
DHR) and climbs a steeply inclined helix inside the mountain. The number of turns
depends on how high you want to make the upper terminus, but notice that the final
turn is offset to the right and is out in the open, representing one of the spectacular
50-foot-radius loops that the DHR uses to gain altitude fast. One helix turn plus
the exposed loop should get you to about a 6" elevation (15 cm).
The upper terminus is completely visible, with a turntable completing the runaround
loop. The train is reversed, and eventually heads back down the mountain. There's
some freight switching to do as well, which will be challenging in the crowded little
yard up there. And all this activity is performed in front of a majestic photographic
background depicting the breathtaking Himalayan mountains.
You can name the stations anything you wish and move the line to Colorado or Switzerland,
if that suits your modeling fancy. Or you can name them Siliguri and Darjeeling,
if you're feeling particularly expansive. A number of English firms make DHR carriages
and locomotive kits, so populating an Indian version of the line should not be difficult.
Although it's very small, this pint-sized Darjeeling Himalayan layout can offer some
realistic operation, and can reproduce a small simulation of the struggle to climb
the Himalayas that has made the DHR one of the world's most popular railway lines.
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A Tramway in the Channel Islands
From the experienced hands of Giles Barnabe comes
this traditional fiddle-yard-to-terminus layout with a twist... Les Tramways de
Sarreau is a narrow-gauge line in the Channel Islands! It's based on the 60 cm
lines once common in France. This one is set on the imaginary Channel Island of Sarreau,
near Jersey and Guernsey just off the coast of Normandy.
As always with a Barnabe design, this little micro layout offers not only excellent
operating patterns but also some marvelous scenic opportunities. Giles describes
the line this way:
"The setting is Port St. Pierre, where the line enters the town running through
a medieval stone gateway, crosses the main square before swinging round in a semi-circle,
passing the combined goods and passenger station, and vanishing between some house
backs into a second staging track. The staging is hidden behind the line's workshops
and locomotive sheds. There is a coal merchant's siding at the front of the layout,
which acts as a partial view block, and another siding enters a warehouse on the
edge of the square.
"Small shops and cottages around the square will give a busy feel, while the
turntable provides visual and operational interest at the other end of the layout.
Trackwork is Peco N gauge, with 9 inch radius turnouts and a crossing from the same
firm's Setrack range."
Rolling stock is readily available from a number of European firms. What an opportunity
this tiny layout provides, to model the busy terminus of a narrow-gauge tramway --
and part of an historic medieval port city as well!
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A Railroad in the Basement
 It all started when David Smith, who lives in Long Island,
New York, wrote an e-mail to Ian Holmes in response to Ian's new website.
David wrote that he wished there were some extra-narrow
gauge railways where he lives! And he added:
"Then I remembered hearing about one of the 'Gold Coast' estates on the north
shore of Long Island. I'm told there are tracks in the basement floor that were used
to take coal from the delivery spot on one side of the mansion to the furnace on
the other side.
"I'm thinking that it might be a neat idea to model a basement scene (complete
with rafters overhead and foundation walls with cellar windows as a backdrop) and
have a small electric or steam engine running on compressed air taking coal from
a pile near the delivery chute to the furnace...
"What do you think, is such a layout possible?"
Well, not only is it possible, Ian believes, but he's designed one! The Basement
Railway is designed as a Gn15 layout (1/2" to the foot running on 16.5mm
tracks), but it could easily be built as an On18/O9, or even an HOn30/OO9 railway.
It uses tight curves and a steep gradient, typical of small estate lines of this
type.
On top is the ground floor, and the lower level represents the basement. The gradient
is concealed behind a backdrop. David continued envisioning his imaginary line this
way:
"Taking this even further, perhaps the engine could run through separate 'rooms'.
For instance the coal pile would be a dirty board-planked room with a pile of coal,
delivery chute and perhaps a cat to catch the basement mice. Then the track might
proceed into a repair/workshop where there would be workbenches, 1/2" scale
tools, vis', anvil, etc. Then perhaps through a storage room (old doll carriages,
kids sleighs, bottles of wine, shelves of 'preserves" and all those out-of-
scale detail parts that we buy and never use. Finally to the furnace where one could
even put a flickering orange/red light inside the boiler to represent a fire."
 And
so it is! Ian also added an outdoor loading and unloading area for variety, and a
garage where a delightful 1:24 classic auto model could be housed (though it might
have to be cut in half and modeled in "low relief"). In Gn15 scale the
grade would be about 10%--easily negotiable by the little sefl-tipping railcars that
Ian pictures operating on the line. One Gn15 example is Sidelines Models 'Midge,'
shown at left, a battery-powered railcar with an integral coal hopper or flatbed
for other cargo. To serve these little locos, Ian also suggests modeling a battery-charging
station in the Workshop scene on the lower level of the layout. Photo and modeling
by Terry Allen.
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Scenery That Flies Away!
Stage set designers have a technique that can help
us double or triple the amount of scenery we can enjoy on a micro layout.. The idea
is called "flying sets," and it's used to create three different desitnations
around the same set of tracks on this little layout, The Midnight Flyer.
The basic theatrical idea is pretty simple -- to change a stage setting very quickly,
attach some ropes and pulleys and haul it away up into a hidden loft area (called
the "flies" in a theatre) when you don't need it onstage. With careful
design, any number of sets (or portions of sets) can be "flown" this way,
making set changes easy and very quick. The Midnight Flyer has three complete settings
stored away in its attic, representing three entirely different destinations for
the company's trains.
The cutaway drawing at the left shows how the idea works, and the right-hand drawing
shows roughly what the "audience" sees.
 
Each setting consists of a backdrop decorated to
represent a specific location, with the shell of a building or set of buildiings
at the left to hide the fiddle track, which is open at the rear. The three settings
are constructed to nestle together comfortably when they're unhooked from the upper
storage area and dropped down to the stage below. The backdrops can be modeled in
very low relief, or even just painted on. The fiddle-track-concealing buildings must
be carefully planned to fit, one within the other, leaving the track accessible from
the back. The box in front of the loft area contains lighting for the layout ...
probably fluorescent tubes.
In the example shown, the operating session might start with Set 1, which
represents an urban switching district. The road's diesel switch engine hustles about,
collecting cars and distributing others, and then exits to the fiddle track. The
lights are dimmed or extinguished, and Set 1 is "flown" to the rafters,
revealing Set 2 -- a rural industrial park. The switcher again appears, distributes
and collects cars, and then again retires to the fiddle track. Lights out signals
the next act -- Set 2 is "flown" to reveal Set 3 -- a bustling
port town, complete with cranes and docks. After the switcher completes its chores
at the port, it again retires to the fiddle track, and the sequence is reversed to
return to the big city via the rural industrial park.
You can build as many sets as you'd like, and they can represent anything you can
imagine! The mechanism for flying them can be as elaborate as you wish -- we've shown
the simplest arrangement -- swiveling hooks at each end that fit over a rod, much
as hanging folders fit in a desk drawer. To manipulate the set, just lift it by the
hooks, swivel them out of the way, and move the set to the lower rods where it can
be rehung. This is a device often used in puppet theatres to accomplish quick changes
of scene.
All in all, using this simple trick will give you miles and miles of operating fun
using just inches of track!
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U.S. Modern-Day Micro
Ian Holmes, an Englishman now living in Minnesota,
has created Watching the Trains to satisfy his urge to run large, modern U.S.
rolling stock (mainline diesel locos and 50-foot freight cars) on a micro-sized layout.
The result combines some "out of the box" thinking with a solid switching
pattern. Ian describes his thought process thusly:
"Watching the Trains was brought on by the desire to have a micro for
my large American HO diesels and wagons [freight cars], as most other micro designs
have used space-saving small diesels and 40-foot wagons.
"Another consideration in the design was that I already had all the trackwork
and the main factory building (City Classics' Smallman warehouse) -- so this layout
could be my much-sought-after 'Micro to Go'. The trackplan is an Inglenook/Foggy
Bottom hybrid that enables me to play switching games in the peace of my own home.
But should the layout be invited to a train show, I would add the optional cassette
track at the right hand end, to simulate through running.
"The layout has been designed with exhibition in mind. The viewing height would
be at about 42 inches to allow using wagons to hide the right-hand exit offstage.
What I am really excited about is the use of a three-story Parking Garage at the
left. I can't wait to peep through all those concrete pillars to get a glimpse of
the train as it appears from the traverser [transfer table]. I hope that the sketch
below the plan puts this idea across."
Ian has used some creative thought here. The traverser provides a runaround capability
to facilitate switching maneuvers. It also has an unusual feature -- notice that
half a crossover is located on the traverser! This optional feature allows even more
flexibility in switching, although the layout can function well without it. And the
sidings are arranged in the classic Inglenook switching pattern -- with capacitites of 5, 3, and 3 cars each (and those
are modern, 50-foot cars!).
Ingeniously, Ian has also devised not one but two view blocks that are off the beaten
track... the end of a string of cars (at the right) hides the run-through exit, while
a semi-open parking garage shell at the left both acts as a view block and provides
wonderful, tantalizing glimpses of the trains coming off the traverser.
All in all, for a fan of contemporary U.S. trains, this layout has a lot to offer.
To see some of the prototype scenes and stock that have inspired Ian's design, check
out his website (under "Railfanning").
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