Canadian Project: More layout planning...

Big news! I 'think' I have a solution to the home of the Canadian layout, and it was right in front of me...

The creative journey on paper, literally, the app on my iPad allows me to digitally create and collate my layout thoughts and inspirations in one place.

...well in front and above! I was looking at my 009 layout, East Works, sitting above Pont-y-dulais, and looked along the wall over the bookshelf and on to the cupboards near the window and thought that looks like a good 9ft of length... it was... and I figured, if I could move East Works up to ceiling height for storage, then the space it gives could give an L shaped baseboard above my workbench. 

The Lakeside Industrial Park in Halifax, with tracks, some inferred, sketched in during design work.

My workshop is the only space in the house where a permeant layout can be built - it's my space, although also access to other rooms in the house, it's not a thoroughfare - and until the kids leave or we move, I'm unlikely to get a better location. I'd already begun to wonder if an industrial switching layout might suit more than a proper short line around the room, so I think this is my 5 year layout. In that time I will learn a lot, and create a lot of material that can be re-used on a later project, sold on, written about or just enjoyed.

I think it's worth trying to collect a scrap book of inspiration when working on a project, here are a few ideas from Youtube video watching, especially the very modellable Trillium Railway in St Catherines.

So the creative process has moved on a little since the earliest posts on this journey, yet become even more focused in some ways - I'm definitely building a layout based around Halifax in Nova Scotia. As well as my proposed Halifax and Southwestern spur, the Chester Sub, there are plenty of other spots of inspiration around the city and Dartmouth. The more reading I've done, apart from a few distractions (I got drawn into the Dominion Atlantic and Windsor and Hantsport - as well as the earlier history of the H&SW thanks to some lovely little books by the prolific photographer David Othern) I've narrowed down on the Lakeside Industrial Park.

Initial 'plank' layout, working out the minimum length of such a scheme.

My initial scribblings had gone from around the room U-shape schemes to planks, but the realisation that none of these had a home often just dumped my motivation down in the bin, and I'd go wandering off down another distraction or bury myself in commissions. However, the potential of a home for it has renewed enthusiasm and it's funny how those early thoughts actually seem to fit really neatly. I initially fell into the trap of trying to fit in all of my 'wants' and it felt too busy, with a loop, sidings, shed and workshop. However going back to something as simple as Lance Mindheim's LAJ I think I can use the same idea with the Chester Sub, as this project will now be called.

Distractions, the DAR, the wish for a complete 'short line' in miniature before more realistic thoughts and the realisation that a home may have been right in front of me...

The next step I feel, is to work up the industry types and cars they'll receive based on what was there in Lakeside - and bearing in mind some of Lance's concepts from his 'Designing a Switching Layout' book, i.e. car spots vs industries. It's not just this though, you need to think how the layout will then operate, and are sidings long enough to switch cars around, or do sidings need lengthening, shortening or re-locating. 

A half finished scrap book page, shows how revisiting Lance Mindheim's concept I'd drawn previously looked promising.

Once these questions are worked through then I can begin to flesh out the scenic details based on the Google Earth and Streetview inspiration, web trawls and photographs in books and Youtube videos of the Halifax area. 

Mocking up in full-size is an important step, it gives you a feel of the scale of a larger layout that you can't get from just track plans and day dreams.

I know that this journey is a personal one, but any reflections and experience from others is always welcome, so feel free to join in, comment, perhaps share ideas through comments or email. It's great to hear from you all. Thanks for reading this far, I hope you're as excited about the idea as I am. More soon...

Note: I’ve revisited all previous posts about my Canadian layout and inspiration and split them into ‘Canadian Project’which is about modelling, and present inspiration, and ‘Canadian Adventure’.