Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Another layout on the horizon!

 



N•RAIL may soon have a layout number....four? Five? Lost count. :::grin:::

Play it loud! :) 


So, I have a little bit of space, a little wood left over from the layout, and a LOT of N scale. I can't do another large layout, but I can do a small, well detailed layout that I can have some fun with. So, the plan is to do a smaller...MUCH smaller....layout that I can get some hobby time in on. 

I've been thinking about it and I think I want to avoid using my KATO Uniplates. I liked the city setup I had - Shizuka was a love of mine, but I think I want the focus to be a little smaller and "sweeter" with a small town feel. So I and going to dust off some of the Soyokaze items and do something small with some switching action and a focus on the town, people, and vehicles. 

Almost leaning in towards my original layout. Looking back at the photos from it makes me think that it's TOTALLY the way I'll go. 







If I'm smart about the design, I can get a lot of fun items in and really work on my detailing, which is one of my major joys anyway. And with a smaller amount of track, maybe my trams will run better, so I can really do some tight radius work with track running close to the structures. I've always loved that look. 


MAYBE it even warrants the purchase of a few special items, but I doubt it. I have BOXES and BOXES of N scale items and the mere thought of buying more right now fills me with more dread than joy! hehehehe

First things first - I need to do a bit more cleaning in the garage and a few more round of organizing before setting anything into motion. After that, I'll have to look through all my items and make some selections. WHEW!

It's a lot of fun to think about and I'm rather excited by the prospect of having trains running again and my beloved hobby back in my life. 

<><>

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Layout: jyoukeimokeishi / natsu



https://www.instagram.com/jyoukeimokeishi/

自称情景模型師natsu


情景メインでNゲージ鉄道模型を造り楽しんでいます。
他の趣味も載せます。
よろしくお願いします(^-^)




Self-proclaimed scene modeler natsu
I am enjoying making N-gauge railway models mainly in the scene.
Other hobbies are included.

Thank you (^-^)



__________________________

This amazing, super detailed layout has a ton of really dense scenery and I love it. With a rather small footprint overall, Natsu just went for it and really got some fantastic Japanese flavor in the layout. TONS of people and signage and action makes this one of my favorite rich scenery layouts I've seen. 






Now, I know this style is not for everyone, but it makes me super happy. I'd love to just sit and stare at it for a while as I took photos. I'm sure there's a ton of things to see in the space.

https://www.instagram.com/jyoukeimokeishi/



And, it's really not all that wild or wacky. It's pretty much super prototypical save the helicopters and monsters scattered about. :::grin:::  So much to see!

Magnet by Shibuya 109






I love all the signs and people




This was the look I was going to go for in my SHIZUKA city section of my layout. Rich, dense, and packed with people and signage.









These little detail areas make me happy! :)





Fantastic work!!! Looking forward to seeing more shots in the future! 

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Yukari model train layout






SHIN-YUKARI 
https://shin-yukari.weebly.com/

Marc over at the Shin-Yukari blog is doing some fantastic work! The level of detail is amazing. So much layout in a relatively small footprint makes super-detailing this this more possible.




As far as goals for a future layout goes, Marc's layout ticks a LOT of buttons for me. The track work is a lot of fun here.




There is so much action to be had. It's really well thought out.





The details are stunning and I love his use of lighting and electrics - another goal for my layout when I get it up and going again.





Fantastic details.




Goals. So many goals met here. If I didn't know better, I would have thought the image below to be a real photo. Really grand work!




And to see items that I own taken up to grand levels like this is really exciting for me. I have this truck depot, but the lighting and internal detail additions really take it above and beyond.


Lastly, I would really like some complex switch areas like this on my layout. It's a fun section.




All in all, seeing work like this fills me with excitement. I hope to find a space where I can get my layout going again, but really plan and plot before starting in on building. I was going to start now, but without knowing how much space I'll have it seems like it wouldn't be a good use of time. For now, I'll continue these fact finding missions and see what ideas I can farm for the future.

<><>

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Dave Stanley's Morada Belt Layout

Dave Stanley was nice enough to open his Morada Belt layout for the Narrow Gauge Convention and I ventured out to see it with Tom Barbalet of MODEL RAIL RADIO.  It was a fantastic trip that started out with a meet up for BBQ, then making the trek down to see the layout. 

Fantastic setup! Operations galore in this well thought out and wonderfully crafted layout!

Thanks to Pat Davis as well!






















Very cool switch panel setup!