Cloudman's layout

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The layout has developed a bit, from this...
   

To this...
   

There's a continuous circuit so I can watch the trains go round and round – pity it's not longer. Plus branches in both directions up to a high level terminus over on the right there, giving trains somewhere to start from and terminate. I'd intended to screw or stick everything down once I'd finalised the plan, but I've found it all runs ok as it is, and even the grass mat (Woodland Scenics) lies happily flat, so that's how it's going to be. Which will mean I can change things about further in the future.

The high level terminus:
   

The right hand platforms are served by the carriage sidings, which enable me to swap trains in and out of service while other trains are running round the circuit. (Actually making some platforms is now a high priority!)

The carriage sidings:
   

There's another branch at low level, which adds to the operating options. One track for the passenger terminus, the other for freight (the container train.) When I'm running the Shinkansens the freight track becomes a base for the Doctor Yellow.

How it all fits together:
   

Lots to do on scenery now but I'm not planning anything elaborate. Realism is overrated.
[-] The following 11 users Like Cloudman's post:
  • , ActionChugger, Chrizzly, DalaGStanator, fred16850, mod thana, MuddyPoppins, Off The Rails, PopGoesOldOllie, Super, ThomasBlue
Quite an amazing layout! What do you use for the scenery, such as grass and trees?
When we push him down the well...Pop goes Old Ollie!
Very nice!
Evan Almighty and His Train Collection
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Awesome, what is the black bridge from HO? And what is the tall office/apartment building on the far right?
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@AC
Thank you.

@Pop
Thank you.
Grass is Woodland Scenics grass mat. It comes in different colours – mine is called summer grass and is less brightly coloured than the others.
Trees are various out of my tree box, collected over the years, including some Heki, some Faller and probably a few others.
The hedges, including the big ones I've used to tone down the impact of the blue plastic inclines, are unbranded but available in various model railway shops in the UK. They're not cheap though, but I take a deep breath now and then and buy one or two more.

@Super
Thank you.
All the buildings are Kato N scale. The 'industrial building' at rear left is a snap together kit and the others come complete, including the tall building which is a rather odd design of retail store.
The girder bridge is also Kato N scale, and in fact has a pair of N gauge tracks incorporated in the base. I just laid the Plarail track over the top.
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  • PopGoesOldOllie, Super, ThomasBlue
I had a phone call on Sunday evening asking if I'd like to take a layout to our local gathering of the Hornby Railway collectors on Wednesday. I normally take a small vintage Hornby Dublo 3 rail shelf layout of some kind but my latest was packed away. It occurred to me though that I had a small baseboard (2ft 5ins x 3ft 10ins) and a spare roll of grass mat, so it should be possible to put together a basic Plarail Advance layout. I wondered what people would make of it, in among the vintage O and OO gauge but it being Christmas I reckoned they'd probably tolerate it. So starting at 10pm Tuesday I put this (pretty basic) effort together:

   

I was surprised at what a positive response it got. Only one person recognised it as Advance (and was a bit sniffy about it), and a few others recognised the blue Tomy track. But all were intrigued, impressed by the detail of the trains and interested to know about them. The simple layout proved fun to operate for a few hours too. It turned out to be a popular exhibit and a successful outing.
[-] The following 6 users Like Cloudman's post:
  • ActionChugger, MuddyPoppins, Off The Rails, sunhuntin, Super, ThomasBlue
Thats a great Layout put together in a short amount of time. To bad for those intrigued about the Advance trains that they are discontinued. Nice work and thanks for sharing with us.
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  • ThomasBlue
Very nice!
Play nice & have fun!!Smile



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