Dim byd - nothing to see here…
The Paxton Road concept was shrunk to its most distilled format in Penpont Dries, what would happen if it was considered in a larger scale?
Distilling Paxton Road in N to create Penpont showed the inherent success of a two track scheme, the minimum for some mindful shunting. The lack of a turnout allows your mind to imagine much longer sidings. Paxton Road was also a challenge to see if you could half the dimensions of a OO gauge cameo and still have a realistic scene. Would it work if you built a scenic OO pointless layout in the same footprint, about 50x25cm scenic area?
The short answer is, yes!
My homeless Class 25 and a few 16t minerals look at home in the space - showing that an 08 and some air braked Speedlink wagons would also suit.
More, the deliberate and bold way the track exits the scene in the plan has real impact. I’ve pondered how to model ‘into’ a picture before, and this open ended view suits intimate operating sessions, photography and exhibition alike.
The name, by the way, just because I’ve been learning Welsh! Until next time, more soon…
Support my work
I love writing and creating material for the blog. If you enjoy what you read and engage with I would be appreciative of any donation, large or small, to help me keep it advert and restriction free. Alternatively, feel free to buy me a coffee.
James since your build of Penpont dries in N gauge and now a 00 gauge DIM BYD this will inspire alot of people as it shows what can be achieved in such a small space. Im looking forward to seeing you build progresses.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kevin. There is no guarantee I’m building this, it is just a sketched out idea I had - sometimes drawing them is enough to leave the concept alone and refocus on existing plans! Either way, drawing and sharing them is a nice pastime too…
DeleteEither way James its nice to see what can actually be achieved no matter what the gauge.
ReplyDeleteThis looks great, James.
ReplyDeleteNear where I used to live in Hastings, there's an odd little piece of railway land that used to have a similar small C&W depot; I think it ceased to be used about 50 years ago. There were two parallel sidings, and a usefully sited hoarding at 90⁰ to the tracks at the "blunt"end which would work as a partial scenic break. The buildings were two wooden huts, one of which had been the upper floor of a signal box that became redundant in the 1930s. It's all very overgrown now, and one of the huts has been demolished to make way for a large concrete pad which is part of a track access point, but I can imagine a Crompton or ED (even an 09) and a few wagons and the odd parcels van shunting to and fro...
Thanks Simon.
DeleteIt’s interesting, when I look at photos of the railway in the 80s trains were seldom short, even Speedlink. Trip workings may have been a wagon or two, but mostly Railfreight was already block trains.
As modellers - especially in OO, a funny compromise really because it neither offers the mass of O or the ability to have longer trains (TT and N), in OO we seek small prototypes to fit our small houses and small spaces.
I've always loved that style of cameo box too, the curved but open on one side front edge. Neil Rushby's fault most likely.
ReplyDeleteI'm also in the planning stage of something small in this pointless style. Hopefully moving house soon, so this can still be worked on while not creating more (what my wife might call) mess.
I like Shell Island’s shape too, but by bringing the fiddle stick boldly to the front I’ve removed the tricky stage exit, enjoy your project - hopefully a tonic to the stresses of moving!
DeleteIn N this could work as a boxfile layout, or even a shoebox. But it could be scaled up so easily as well. Even in 7/8ths I think you could get away with a 2ft long box - I'm thinking an insert into an Ikea Kallax unit without the central divider as a display home, sliding it out to play.
ReplyDeleteBut looking up at my display cabinet, The Titfield Thuderbolt is looking rather excited...
Box files can’t be cameo layouts though… this is celebrating that format… agreed though, has potential in numerous scales and gauges, it is finding a prototype that suits the two sidings which is the fun part!
DeleteI suppose it depends how you define a boxfile layout, and how much boxfile you retain, If shaved an inch off my 009 micro it would fit in a boxfile. And I have a lot of empty boxfiles to play around with.
DeleteCameo layouts have a defined ‘viewing’ box that controls how we interact with them. Box files or box layouts are that, no better or worse, just not a cameo…
DeleteIt is a combination of the two I'm thimking about, insprired by a long lost panoramic postcard of the Talyllyn from about 1981. Think a letterbox viewpoint.
DeleteIntriguing discussion. I think James H is saying that a cameo layout offers a small part of an offstage whole and then isolates it with a surrounding backscene and proscenium arch to force a particular viewpoint on the audience. A boxfile layout is simply a layout built in a boxfile without a backscene or proscenium arch and viewable from any side or angle.
DeleteOf course, if you attach a backscene and build an arch over the top of the box file layout it becomes a cameo layout but then the boxfile is only a structural element rather than a defining characteristic of the layout.
Thanks Colin
DeletePenpont and now Dim byd eventually lead one to a logical conclusion that has been obvious for a long time, but which perhaps some of us did not dare to voice aloud: There is no need at all to worry about masking the transition to the backstage area or the backstage itself. So we don't need to be afraid or ashamed of turning a hidden fiddleyard into an acknowledged one. The methods described earlier for drawing attention to the scenic part of the layout, the action taking place there and the protagonists naturally remain valid and may even become more important; however, in many cases we can simply ignore the usual ways of hiding the actors involved in the action.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I think it was Mike Cougill who started me thinking about this - sadly a lot of his material is no longer available online. Happily I bought a few of his PDFs before they were taken down.
DeleteNice concept. Hereford PAD has inspired or been the subject of a micro/cameo in 4mm before. Featured on either RMWeb or the DEMU forum, I think. May have had a 3rd siding to make it an inglenook for shuffling wagons around.
ReplyDeleteI don’t enjoy an Inglenook but there is no reason why you couldn’t Alan.
DeleteWould fit nice into the IKEA knagligg box if you wanted an easy build baseboard & Locolift for the fiddlestick.
DeleteI absolutely love this concept James. I am looking to do something similar as a space, time, and money starved modeller! Paxton Road is wonderful, but seeing a 4mm scale version has really got me chomping at the bit.
DeleteYour explanation and repeated use of an 'open end' has completely transformed my thinking. No more need to shoehorn something to be an artificial (and unrealistic) scenic break. No silly overbridges or tunnels. Just embrace the openness!
Thank you for providing continued inspiration.
Thanks David - that's very kind - and good luck with your project. I wasn't sure if I'd build this myself, but I think it might form a joint project with a fellow North Wales based modeller. We'll see!
DeleteThat's great to hear James! If you do progress with that project, I cannot wait to see what you do.
Delete