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QUANTUM CITY |
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QUANTUM CITY |
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My N-scale empire occupies a spare
bedroom in my apartment. The room size is 8 foot by 11
foot and the layout forms a ‘U’ shape within
the room. The track layout is basically a dogbone with
four concealed passing sidings underneath. The main
station, Quantum City, occupies the longest side of the
room. This gives me scope for a long yard, 11 foot from
throat to throat, an engine terminal, turntable, and a
busy goods yard with some industries. The short middle of
the layout contains the village of Tref and has a long
passing loop. Branching off one end of the main yard is a
short branch line to a coal mine. A lot of action in a
limited space. The aisle still allows three (slender)
people to fit in and there is enough operational interest
to keep three people busy. (See pic 8). Having the town
on one side and the branch on the other gives a
surprisingly effective separation. The branch is suitably
remote (See pic 13). A 24 inch curve in the main line
allows for excellent shots of even the longest rolling
stock (See pic 12). It is not demountable. If and when I
move the layout will be terminated.
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| The theme of the layout is western American with an emphasis on Santa Fe locos and rolling stock. Locos are mainly diesel outline but there is some steam. The period is vaguely 1980s but older rolling stock and practices survive in this universe. My choice of American outline as opposed to UK, European or Australian was mainly dictated by circumstances and the availability of Kadee (now Micro-Trains) wheelsets and couplers. I have a strong interest in shunting and wanted to exploit these features. Combine this with the reliable running of the Kato and Atlas diesels, powered turnouts and remote uncoupling and you have train heaven. | ||||||||
Initial construction took about one
year. This got the framework (see pic 5) erected. The
track laid and ballasted and much of the scenery done.
The next eight years have seen various buildings, roads,
trees and target type signals added and ‘upgraded’
as well as some changes made to the basic layout. There
is still a yard or so of scenery to finish but my excuse
is that I leave the unfinished section as an example to
visitors (See pic 1 which shows how the scenery is built
up from the base board). Initially there was not a good
range of American style buildings available. Much of it
was rebadged or reworked Heljan kits. This explains the
most un-American station and platform and coal mine (See
pic 2 and pic 7). The story is that the initial line was
built by European interests at the turn of the Century to
exploit the high grade coal in ‘The Pits’. (Hence
the Faller coal mine which I love. It is surrounded by a
Ratio engine shed, an American industrial building and
bit and pieces from whereever). As the years rolled by it
became integrated into the American system and is now a
busy secondary through route linking East and West. (Trains
in America run East West or West East even, sometimes,
when they go North and South)! There is no Up or Down.
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So, of what interest is all this to,
say, a UK modeller. Well I would reply as follows. The
track and turnouts are all Peco (Electrofrog). Ballast is
ballast. Scenery is scenery and the supporting towns and
roads serve the same function. The objective is to
construct a model that fairly represents the location and
era that pleases you. Hobby shops now supply enough
detail parts, accessories and buildings to replicate
almost any Nation. Where I have used American prototypes
you could use UK. I have done little scratch building.
All I have done is detail kits. If you do the same for
your choice you will be well rewarded. (See pic 9 You
will notice a lot of detail has been added to the basic
scene).
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The structure consists of three L
girder modules with braced legs and cross pieces to which
is attached 1/4 ply. The whole contraption is glued and
wood screwed together. (I built it before electric
screwdrivers arrived. If they had of been available the
job would have been faster and easier). In an attempt to
keep noise down I glued sheet cork to much of the ply.
The track was laid on the cork directly or, on cork strip.
Ballast was secured with diluted white glue. The visible
sides of the rails were painted with various brands of
track colours. (Humbrol, Cherry Paints and Floquil) I
strongly recommend this. Appearance is much approved and
it is not all that time consuming. I just used an artists
brush. (See pic 1).
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The hills and rocks are a mixture of
methods. I started with lumps of styrene covered with
masking tape and then covered with paper towels dipped in
plaster of paris. This works but it is messy to do and no
matter how careful you are ‘runny’ bits survive
leaving the rock faces looking like they were formed by a
volcano. A material called ‘Sculptamould’
became available and this was much better to work with.
It seems to be a fibre with a plaster of paris like
powder to hold it together. It mixes easily and is very
plastic for up to 30 minutes. It can be worked with a
spatula and takes paints very well. It can be modified
with a saw or chisel without the mess of plaster of paris.
The best outcome for me is that I have used it for
embankments (see pic 10) and to seamlessly join plaster
of paris rock castings, of which I have used dozens,
together. This combination has allowed me to reasonably
replicate sedimentary and igneous rocks (see pic 3). The
resultant rock faces have been painted with various
blends of artists acrylics. Paynes Grey, Ochre, Burnt
Sienna, Sienna and Black being the most used. A thin wash
of black brings rock castings alive like magic. The
Sculptamould also makes excellent roads. It trowels on
well and can be worked to a very smooth finish. Paint it
with Tamiya Film Grey and, when dry, rub in some black
powdered chalk. Use a mapping pen to place road lines on
and Bingo. (see pic 4 or pic 11). Another trick I have
just learnt is using artists acrylic to tint plaster of
paris as it is mixed. This has the amazing property of
making the plaster mix go semi-solid and extends the
working life considerably and avoids the ‘dribble’
effect mentioned above. Try it.
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Ground cover is straight out of the
text books. Woodland Scenics materials figure prominently.
Acrylic earth colours are used followed by successive
layers of the desired finish. Again I used diluted White
Glue. I tried a Latex based glue but later found that
when I tried to drill a hole through it half the
surrounding scenery attached itself to the twist drill.
One of the advantages of a western American theme is that
there is a lot of rock and not much grass. Even so it has
taken many nights to get where I am. Trees are a mixture.
Some are from the Model Shop in London Road. Others are
metal and plastic armatures with foliage glued upon. I
put in some two hundred and there still are trees to
plant! It is the same with the little people, accessories
and vehicles. The layout absorbs a surprising number but
looks the better for it. (Observe pic 6).
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If you have roads on your layout dress
them up with the appropriate traffic signs and lines. Try
to get the colours right for your locale and period. Put
in a few parking meters and fire hydrants. Don’t
forget the footpaths. Look around at the amount of
clutter that exists. A back alley or two adds a little
colour. Shopping trolleys, pedestrians, workmen all add
that little extra zing. (See pic 4). Power and telephone
poles are a must but I wouldn’t string wires on them.
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| As my skills improved I found that buildings were much improved if I painted them first, inserted curtains and shop displays and placed suitable signage on them. Observe what other modellers do at exhibitions. Roof clutter is also important (at least on American buildings). Fire escapes also add to the realism. | ||
| Weathering adds an enormous character to any layout. No matter what the climate there is dust. It is pervasive and adds a patina to everything. If your scene is industrial then weathered black is your man. This also applies to rolling stock (I can’t bring myself to weather the Diesels)! I paint all bogies weathered black and then dry brush them with rust to bring out the details. The knuckle couplers are painted with rust. These two simple steps make quite a difference. Most rolling stock gets a light coating of dust, rust and grime with the occasional one really dirtied. Where wooden surfaces are moulded in , say on a flat car, I strip the factory paint off, repaint with light grey primer and then weather with an Indian ink wash and various chalks. The final efect is secured with a whiff of Testors Dull Coat. When wagons are assembled in a train the overall effect is of a slightly shop worn but well maintained fleet. Eliminate reflective surfaces where possible. |
| Electrics. Well it is a big layout and there is a large bundle of wires underneath. All follow very standard practice as described in most hobby books. I used insulated joiners in both running rails and took two wires from each section to a simple three position switch. Centre off. Controller A to the left and controller B to the right. The branch can be run separately. I used a red wire for the inside rail and a black wire for the outside rail. I also CAREFULLY NUMBERED ALL THE TERMINALS AND MADE DRAWINGS. Much the same applied for the wiring to the point motors. I use a home made capacitor discharge device. Cost me about five pounds for the bits. The controllers are simple ones using a power transistor. They happily power double headed trains. All wiring is ‘hook-up’ multi stranded wire. All under layout terminals are screw connections. All soldering is done on top of the layout. I am a engineer by trade so the electrics come naturally. If you have a problem I strongly urge you to join a Club. They have experts in everything. There is a bit of electronics in the hidden sidings. This is merely some infrared detecors that tell me where the concealed trains are. Otherwise it is all SIMPLE. Apart from a couple of wires coming loose I have had no trouble. |
| Signals. These all came later after I got complaints. Not enough lights visitors said. They are operative and mostly use Bi-Colour LEDS. These are sourced from Sunrise Industries in California. Pricey but excellent. They are not functional in the sense that there is no interlocking. Next layout maybe. They certainly add to the layout though and I am sorry I did not include them from the start. The signals, being low power are wired up with ribbon cable and ‘displacement’ type connectors. No under layout soldering thank you. Another afterthought was building and street illumination. This also adds to the effect but be advised if you add it later it is a pain. Apart from anything else light leaks out everywhere and much fiddling is required to correct it. I have a few buildings done but the effect is still half and half. Ah well. |
| Maintenance. A bit of a chore. Track cleaning is a chore and I don’t believe there is a magic solution. Likewise wheel cleaning. It all adds though to good running. Derailments are now rare. If anything falls off it is removed until the cause is found and fixed. A fair proportion of the fleet now has semi-scale metal wheels which sound terrific, and add a little weight low on the vehicle. The Peco turnouts all had a ten thou. shim inserted in the guard rails and this is necessary for good running of all modern wheelsets. If you do this flanges will no longer ‘pick the frog’. If your wheel sets won’t run through the modified points then get rid of them. My biggest mistake was not making the hidden sidings more accessible. If you use them make sure you can see into them and reach all parts for cleaning. I use a small computer type vacuum cleaner and religiously run over the layout every month. Dust you see. Gets in everywhere. The other limiting problem is the minimum radius. It is about 13 inches and long coaches and articulated locos really like 18 inches or even more. At least the worst one is concealed and doesn’t offend the eye too much. |
| Operations. The prototypes move goods and people in accordance with a purpose and a plan. Unless you have built a diorama or a’module’ your layout should also have an operational purpose. Except for small terminii we can’t duplicate the prototype exactly but you should be able to devise a suite of train movements. Some modellers carry operations to considerable lenghts, following prototype rules. I can’t do that but is fun on a big layout and demonstrates the endless scope the hobby offers. I have scheduled long distance passenger trains. They emerge and return to the hidden sidings. Likewise there are regular trains representing intermodal and goods traffic. There is a total of 13 industries as well as two ‘team tracks’ (Goods from truck to train) and three goods sheds. The small intermodal yard replaced a stock yard and has given DPM-TOWN a new lease of life. Busy, busy, busy. Budd diesel rail cars or older ‘doodlebugs’ (this nickname predates WWII) provide for the limited, but re-emerging, local passenger traffic (tourists are becoming an important source of traffic). The branch line has regular coal loads and empties in and out. Remember that engine depots and coal mines are customers for coal, sand, ashes liquid fuels, and assorted stores. On Sundays the historical society, which has an interesting collection of ‘foreign’ steam locos and coaches, runs specials to the coal mine and the intermediate passing station Tref. The main station, goods yards and intermodal depot are deliberately made difficult to work. This gives operators a challenge and provides interest. At other times it is fun to let ’em run. Visitors bring all sorts of interesting trains to run and I have had UK, TGVs and Bullet trains etc. They all seem to fit in. Model Railroading is fun. |
Our thanks to Roger John Henry for this write up and the pictures.
