Introduction to the Low Quay Yard
Richard H
Western Thunderer
“THE LOW QUAY YARD”
“Low Quay Yard” is my attempt actually to finish a layout after decades of unfinished projects; if it doesn’t work I may have to relinquish all modelling ambitions, stop buying the magazines, and retire to a hermitage. I hope the ‘cameo’ approach will help me to bring a small layout to exhibition standard within the set time.
CONCEPT
Size of scenic area: 51” x 18” (nominal)
Overall size of layout: 51” x 18” x 18” high, plus dismountable fiddle yard extensions
Scale/gauge: 4mm / 00 gauge
Setting: LNER; mid-1930s; ex-NER Blyth & Tyne Rly area; urban/industrial setting; goods only
The track-plan is relatively conventional but very compressed, with a short loop to enable shunting and three main destinations for wagons, one siding being reversed in relation to the others to add ‘interest’ to operations. Trains will be short, but I want to be able to run two locomotives at any one time, and employ a variety of traffic.
The scenic board will be supplemented with three short, dismountable off-scene storage tracks, one at each end of the running track and one at the end of the long siding at the rear of the layout. It will also be possible to operate the layout in a limited way from the right-hand end only, if space is constrained.
The track-plan and scenery are justified by an “imagined history” rooted in the actual history of its location. The real history is well researched, but elements of the imagined history are undoubtedly whimsical and may require the occasional suspension of disbelief. Both histories will be explained in other postings.
It will be important (and sometimes challenging) to accept and manage the compromises necessary to meet the deadline; I shall use proprietary stock and kits where possible but build specifically local or defining items from scratch, adopting a theatre-like approach in which unseen parts of scenery are not modelled.
PLANNING
Planning is based on historical research. The initial concept for the model was explored using pencil, eraser and lots of scrap paper. That concept is being tested and refined on a sheet of foam-board the full size of the scenic baseboard, using track templates and paper/card representations of buildings. These are made from photocopies copies of my working drawings which are based mainly on old photographs.
This approach has helped me to grasp a sense of scale and the available space, and to work out how I might place the buildings in relation to ground levels and neighbouring structures. The small size of the layout makes this full size approach completely viable.
INSPIRATION
To conclude this introductory summary, here is a much enlarged section from a photograph showing the approximate site of my Low Quay Yard, as it was in 1958 - but little had actually changed here since 1913.
Richard H
“Low Quay Yard” is my attempt actually to finish a layout after decades of unfinished projects; if it doesn’t work I may have to relinquish all modelling ambitions, stop buying the magazines, and retire to a hermitage. I hope the ‘cameo’ approach will help me to bring a small layout to exhibition standard within the set time.
CONCEPT
Size of scenic area: 51” x 18” (nominal)
Overall size of layout: 51” x 18” x 18” high, plus dismountable fiddle yard extensions
Scale/gauge: 4mm / 00 gauge
Setting: LNER; mid-1930s; ex-NER Blyth & Tyne Rly area; urban/industrial setting; goods only
The track-plan is relatively conventional but very compressed, with a short loop to enable shunting and three main destinations for wagons, one siding being reversed in relation to the others to add ‘interest’ to operations. Trains will be short, but I want to be able to run two locomotives at any one time, and employ a variety of traffic.
The scenic board will be supplemented with three short, dismountable off-scene storage tracks, one at each end of the running track and one at the end of the long siding at the rear of the layout. It will also be possible to operate the layout in a limited way from the right-hand end only, if space is constrained.
The track-plan and scenery are justified by an “imagined history” rooted in the actual history of its location. The real history is well researched, but elements of the imagined history are undoubtedly whimsical and may require the occasional suspension of disbelief. Both histories will be explained in other postings.
It will be important (and sometimes challenging) to accept and manage the compromises necessary to meet the deadline; I shall use proprietary stock and kits where possible but build specifically local or defining items from scratch, adopting a theatre-like approach in which unseen parts of scenery are not modelled.
PLANNING
Planning is based on historical research. The initial concept for the model was explored using pencil, eraser and lots of scrap paper. That concept is being tested and refined on a sheet of foam-board the full size of the scenic baseboard, using track templates and paper/card representations of buildings. These are made from photocopies copies of my working drawings which are based mainly on old photographs.
This approach has helped me to grasp a sense of scale and the available space, and to work out how I might place the buildings in relation to ground levels and neighbouring structures. The small size of the layout makes this full size approach completely viable.
INSPIRATION
To conclude this introductory summary, here is a much enlarged section from a photograph showing the approximate site of my Low Quay Yard, as it was in 1958 - but little had actually changed here since 1913.
Richard H