N•RAIL Layout Photo Tour

I was just on the MODEL RAIL RADIO podcast for show #150 and had another fantastic conversation with Tom Barbalet. (( If you have not listened to Model Rail Radio before, you really need to! The have a great Facebook Group as well! )) 

One of the things we talked about was all the small scenes on my layout and how I like to wedge a lot of detail into the space I have. I thought I'd give a little photo tour of my layout and some of the scenes.

I have a Instagram presence as well for those interested: https://www.instagram.com/malcojojo/

This is the third revision of my layout in this space. I have everything documented on the blog. You can see my bonkers track planning process here if you're interested in seeing how my "artist brain" works! heheheh .  https://n-rail.blogspot.com/2017/07/nrail-layout-rev-03-overview.html



May layout is broken into three fiction cities: Shizuka, Soyokaze, and Kiwamura. 



SHIZUKA - the larger city section of the layout. You can see how this all started back on this older blog post of mine from 2011.

Shizuka is mostly made up of Kato Unitram plates, but I switched up the squareness of it with the use of foamcore so I could switch up the building angles a bit more. 

I have a blend of Kato and Tomytec plastic buildings on the layout along with card stock buildings from Sankei. I've also kitbashed some buildings out of styrene and even an old Pringles container.

Styrene scratch built parking garage. I could see paying $18 for a square tower! :)

Still playing around with cheap sidewalks. These look better from a distance. 

And, yes, there are trains as well. :::grin:::    When I first got this layout going, trains were a bit of an afterthought. I had a mail loop and a small point-to-point freight line that managed to make me sad every time I ran it. I did a lot of thinking about it and talking things through, then decided to tear things up and re-design the tracks so that my passenger and freight lines could run on the main loop and a side spur. I'm SO MUCH happier with the arrangement now!

I'm a big fan of details. One of the passions I have is detailing out the insides of some of the buildings with large window spaces to make them look more occupied.

I've also made spaces for many of my family members including The Indigo Hotel, Drake's Seafood, Talia's Toy Town, and Seneca's Sweet Shoppe. I also made a space for my Father who is no longer with us. It's a spot he would have loved with a rooftop lounge for train viewing and socializing.

KIWAMURA - The small dividing strip between Shizuka and Soyokaze with a more industrial focus.

The boundaries of some of the areas are a little vague. The Kiwamura Station is sometimes the Soyokaze Station. Some of the town buildings drift from Kiwamura to Soyokaze as well. For the sake of this posting, We'll take a look at Kiwamura Station. :::grin::::

 And lastly, the largest city section of the layout - SOYOKAZE. 

A far cry from it's humble beginnings!
https://n-rail.blogspot.com/2012/11/soyokaze-landscape-work.html

Soyokaze's focus is on an older style era. The lore behind it is that it's an older area where tourists like to come and visit. The can take the train in and a smaller tram loop could shuttle them over from Kiwamura. The tram loop was eventually changed into a small passenger loop.

A steep climb up to the little shopping and eating area. 

There's a bit of farming going on in Soyokaze as well. I used astroturf samples from Home Depot as my fields here. Worked out well!

One of the storylines on the layout are the mysterious groups of people in yellow. What are they up to? Yes, this is my horror and science fiction love showing. 

More horror and science fiction love with my military monster find. Is there a larger one lurking somewhere in Soyokaze?

I replaced the tram with a Kato unit and passenger car. NONE of the trams I had purchased ran well, sadly. Kato, Modemo, and Tomytec offerings just failed to please. This new arrangement is working really well.

The mainline loop passes through all three city areas.

Little interactions and details are what I really love. This small meeting on the bridge is just one of the many little stories I tell on the layout.

Soyokaze Temple is another spot that had a place on my old layout. It's the highest point of the layout.

Soyokaze Harbor is one of the oldest sections that I ported over from my original first layout in my small, San Francisco apartment dresser top. It is near and dear to my heart.

The original was so much fun to work on!
https://n-rail.blogspot.com/2012/11/soyokaze-harbor-outside-shots.html

 The idea behind the area is that fishing is a major part of the Soyokaze economy. They ship out fish to the surrounding area and offer fine dining in the lovely, small restaurants of the area.

The main fishing area is lower with a higher shipping area above. It even has a large elevator system that is used to haul freight cars up and down. This sort of whimsical offering is far from realistic, but is close enough to real world offerings that it doesn't take me too far out of the bounds of reality.

I had to work with the new track arrangement when it came to the harbor. I made the mainline loops much higher than they were before, so I had to add this little loading area that sits up about the main harbor section. 

The hustle and bustle aspect of a busy fishing area was a must for me. It's a major part of the Soyokaze lore. People come from all over to eat the delicious, whale friendly fishing bounty! :)

This third round of water really turned out the way I was hoping. The very first round was great, but had really high waves. Not bad for a first effort.

The old water.
https://n-rail.blogspot.com/2012/07/soyokaze-harbor-water-painting-02.html


The second round of water in this new location ended up cracking on me for some reason. It was a constant eyesore for me. The third round had all the elements I was hoping for.

 And there you have it. The major sections of the layout. It's been great having the blog so I can go back and review where I was back years ago to compare them to where I am now. It's a fantastic time capsule!

I have a new video in the works that should be out the week of January 7th, 2019.

Thanks for reading! Comments welcome!