Keikyu

[Darren Jeffries]

This is the first post of what will be a saga of a blog….

The layout I am going to build is called Keikyu.

It is going to be (very) loosely based on the Keikyu line between Shinagawa and Narita international.

The layout will be U shaped and will be 21feet wide by 15 feet deep and a board width of 5 feet.

I will need (haven't decided how yet) a storage road area hidden away either underneath or behind the layout.

Section 1 will be the main station (modelled loosley after Shinagawa) this will have 7 commuter and express platforms and 2 Shinkansen platforms. Obviously this is not identical to the real Shinagawa as this contains 14 commuter and 4 Shinkansen. I also plan to elevate the Shinkansen platforms…

The station will be set into a present day city scene.

The opposite end will be Narita Airport and it's station…. I will try to model a small cut off section of airport terminal and aircraft as well.

I havent full decided on the middle area yet, but it will contain a very elevated viaduct for the Shinkansen  running between mountainous areas, whereas the commuter and express lines will wind their way through rural and a small town area.

I would love this to be greatly influenced by us, the JNS community, so any ideas on the above would be great.

[Bernard]

Darren,
The "U" shape your planning would be 21' x 15' with a depth of 5'? (Nice size layout!)
Why I ask is the 5' depth might be a problem when it comes to scenery of track laying in the middle. My layout has a depth of 4' and where it hasn't been a problem, any more would have been hard for me to access.

[Darren Jeffries]

I thought of this, the layout would be accessable from all sides. During the build of the scenery, the taller stuff will obviously be at the back. I effectively only need a reach of 2.5 feet to get to the middle from either side.

[Darren Jeffries]

Ok,

I am in my new house, and I have a problem....

The attic where the layout was to be built is NOT going to work... there are too many beams and other obstacles in the way.

Back to the drawing board. As I see it my options now are 1. A large shed for the layout 2. A garden layout.

The second would be interesting. I have a 150ft long garden and at the moment it is purely grass. I could make some really good long runs of bullet track and some small pockets of town and city scenery. However with British weather being what it is, how would i successfully weatherproof everything?

I am open to suggestions anybody?

[bill937ca]

A garden railway isn't likely to have Japanese rolling stock.  Got a basement?

[bill937ca]

Well there is one supplier of large scale Japanese trains.  These are five inch.  I do not believe they are set up for export.  It's a lot of money and there usually is no warranty on products sold outside Japan.

http://www.modelnics.com/


Here's an E2 Shinkansen for only 2,400,000 Yen!!

http://www.modelnics.com/E2h.htm

Here's a translated price list:

http://209.85.135.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=ja%7Cen&u=http://www.modelnics.com/businessprice.htm&prev=/language_tools

[Darren Jeffries]

No Basement Bill.... I was thinking of building N-Scale Layout in the garden.... that was my thought anyway.

Is there any serious pitfalls in doing this? HO/OO is done in Garden layouts quite commonly here in the UK.

[bill937ca]

Back to reality.  Do you have 900  x 3000 mm? Or 900 x 1800 mm?  This converts to 36 x 118 inches and 36 x 71 inches. 

The Tomix Layout Support Book has two layouts in the above sizes.

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10044642

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10044642a4/20/4

Plan 10 is 900 x 3000mm ( 36 x118 ") It has a 4 track yard, 6 stall roundhouse, 4 track elevated station and double track mainline.  The whole space is basically filled up with tracks except for one small corner inside the mainline and several of the outer corners.

Plan 11 is 900 x 1800 mm (36 x71) has a double track mainline that crosses over itself with two separate bridges, two long sidings and a double track engine house area.  This layout is shown with partial side walls and a full back wall.  Green tea fields fill up the back of the layout and the front has a small town or city.

Deciding what you can do in a new place is very tough.  My layout will only be 7 1/2 x 5 feet but with viaduct trackage you can double up your operation.  I have seen numerous examples of multi level trackage, especially around Tokyo.

[bill937ca]

No Basement Bill.... I was thinking of building N-Scale Layout in the garden.... that was my thought anyway.

Is there any serious pitfalls in doing this? HO/OO is done in Garden layouts quite commonly here in the UK.

I don't think I've ever seen N scale outside.  Is it insulated for outside operation?  LGB is popular outside because it is insulated.  If moisture gets in you could loose a train.

[Bernard]

Is there another room you can use part of or do you have a garage? You could do a multi-level layout as Bill has suggested with a helix. Is there an area in the attic you can use if you downscale the layout size?
I don't think "N scale" will hold up outside especially scenery, track, electric, etc. due to the climate in UK.

[bill937ca]

Is there another room you can use part of or do you have a garage? You could do a multi-level layout as Bill has suggested with a helix.

I wasn't suggesting a helix.  No.  Tracks on the ground and tracks on a viaduct.  Very common in Japan and very easy with snap track viaducts from Kato and Tomix.

[CaptOblivious]

Well, you could do like what I'm thinking about doing: A series of dioramas, connected. My plan is to build two or three small scenes (of which Akihabara Station is the first) on bookshelves to be hung on the wall. Between each scene, and on each end, will be enclosed cabinets. I'll lay bare track, electronics and general storage in the cabinets; the end cabinets will be long enough for the trains to switch to the other track for the return trip. Viola! Instant model railroad without a dedicated room. Perhaps you could do something similar in the attic? Model some individual scenes in the spaces between the posts?

[bill937ca]

Darren,

Hope you have made some progress on resolving your space issues.

When you are modeling a system far away some photos always come in handy.

http://209.85.135.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=ja%7Cen&u=http://suri.web.infoseek.co.jp/&prev=/language_tools

[Darren Jeffries]

Darren,

Hope you have made some progress on resolving your space issues.

When you are modeling a system far away some photos always come in handy.

http://209.85.135.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=ja%7Cen&u=http://suri.web.infoseek.co.jp/&prev=/language_tools

Well not much (actually nothing) has happened since my last post... I have been working on the house and garden and have had little time to pop my head up for breath!!!!

I hope to start thinking about things seriously in the summer.

In the meantime i am gratified to see so many new members to the board. Finally it is becoming what i envisaged!