Over the last few months, I finally gave up and acquired a few 1:80 Japanese trains. Most of them of the late 1960s-early 1970s when steam was in its twilight. I could resist these fantastic videos showing double and triple steam headers pulling boxcars and cement cars during the construction boom. Kato has recently released a newly tooling D51 (their largest Mikado ever built domestically) and I was able to find an excellent deal for a pair from a shop in Kobe.
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| A D51 mikado visiting the QSSR |
As expected, a recent discussion with Chris Mears pushed us to explore what could be a railfanning layout based around that material. Something that is made to gaze from a given perspective and immerse you into a surrounding experience. The idea sprouted from observations made about Japanese railways which typically follow deep valleys, crossing several bridges and tunnels to find their ways. In these valleys, your line of sight is generally obstructed and you stand in what could be best described as an alcove. Truly, you are a spectator and following the train along would be, in most cases, very difficult. In some ways, this way to appreciate a layout is much closer to how Japanese modellers experiment it. Lack of space for intricate permanent layouts and their focus on passenger trains make their approach quite different from how Westerners and North American in particular, enjoy their trains.
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| Rural lines in Japan are often both dramatic and small scope |
Such an observation lend itself to a few interesting conclusions. The layout offers glimpses to capture and you are surrounded. These two facts make size almost irrelevant as long as your trains can use a comfortable minimum radius to not look silly. Hence our decision to explore the possibility to develop a scenic layout that would be nothing more than a circle! Yes, the little train circling around the Christmas tree.
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| Original idea about a scenic loop with a foldable side |
A recent video only posted by Rob Waller of the Bron Hebog layout kind of cemented our idea of a layout built only for the express purpose of railfanning and sure, the pencils started to draw designs around it! We originally started the process by exploring a foldable oval with a visible and scenic part. Not uninteresting but not that efficient at the end of the day.
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| A second iteration |
A second iteration was to make it a compact circle and implement a curved staging that could provide some variety while running the trains. Not a bad idea, but once again, the effective surface of scenicked layout was rather limited. It was a classic scene between two tunnels and maybe a curved bridge.
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| The classic 1970s Life-Like foam runaround layout |
Then it dawn on us how close this design was to the classic Life-Like foam layout baseboards of the 1970s. I use to have a similar custom built layout and I recall that from a railfanning perspective, it had some fascinating potential, albeit generally not exploited correctly! What could be done from such a shape? We at least had the grade to replicate the steamers fighting the grade to pull their heavy load over the mountains. That was an excellent start!
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| Chris' final concept |
That's where the magic of Chris Mears struck with this lovely circular layout implementing two scenes. One outside the loop that provides a mainline run along a river valley and an immersive inner loop where you can look at trains fighting the grade. Both scenes are seen from a different perspective, offering both the outside and inside the curve perspective. In such a design, you never really can see where the train originates and goes. Not that it is concealed, but rather that it simply fades away out of your field of vision. It's all about perception. Note that the descending grade is on the outside radius, providing a gentler slope and limiting the runaway effect. Also, it is where the radius is the largest, which is aesthetically more pleasing when looking at cars from the outside. Inside the loop, the grade and radius are tighter where we want to see a real struggle from the train. The tighter radius is mitigated by the fact model trains look better when seen from inside the curve. All in all, this is a very pleasing concept.
As you can see, Chris also modulated the foreground scenes according to the point of view. Where viewblocks or deep perspectives are warranted, the layout expand organically to achieve the desired experience. You will see more of that on other designs to be published in the following days.
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| Built using Kato R=22.5" and R=28,75" track |
More to come about the ATSF and Quebec & Gosford layout ideas evolved from the lesson learned from that JNR experiment!
