Hi!
This is my first post here, so I present myself. I’m Ivan Furlanis, I come from Padova (Italy, about 40 km from Venezia/Venice) and I’m always interested in rail transport as well in American model railroading since I saw Hoosac Valley in GMR 1996. I’ve not done nothing in model railroading, yet, but some day ago I bought a HO Spectrum B&M Doodlebug from eBay so now I want a model railroad that can house this railcar and other future rolling stock.
Inspired by the beautiful site www.carendt.us, I designed a small micro layout that depicts a compact shortline terminal in Camden, Maine using just two turnouts and some off-stage extension. In the real life, Camden was once linked with Rockland by a small street railway. In my imagination, in the '40s the fictional company Atlantic Electric converted this street railway to more railroad standards to provide better freight services. In that occasion wires went down, so the passenger service was reduced to a minimum using a leased B&M Doodlebug.
The size of the layout is just 29" × 10", without the cassette and the fiddle area, this features a turntable to connect the two tracks leading out of the layout to close the runaround track throught the carbarn and to turn the single-ended Doodlebug. Operation includes both passenger and freight service, this represented by the daily Rockland – Camden local, thanks to the fact in my layout there are three points where it is possible to spot 40-foot cars (but one of them is actually on a cassette).
At present I’m at the mock-up stage. In the next days I’ll buy the two turnouts and tracks so construcion works will soon begin. In the meantime you can see the plan of my layout. Let me know what do you think!
Ciao, Ivan
First let me say,
[#welcome]Welcome to the forum![#welcome]
I’ve always liked those micro layouts on that site (or any others). It amazes me at what can be done in such a confined area. Your plan looks pretty good, and the history sounds plausable. A doodlebug is a pretty big loco for such a small area though. You will either find it to be a challenge or a headache, depending on your outlook. You might want to concider a small Plymouth switcher for your freights and let the doodlebug do the passenger duties. Then you just swap them out in your off-stage area. That would give you lots of action for a very small area.
I like it!
Welcome Ivan,
I had the pleasure of visiting North East Italy some years ago, you live in a beautiful area.
It is always a pleasure to see a layout built for a very small space. As you will see on the forum, so many of us are building room size layouts. Your Micro layout will no doubt give you great pleasure to construct. Given the small size you will be able to really detail the layout and make it realistic. It admirably demonstrates that MRR can be enjoyed in a small space with a limited budget. Anyway, it is a refreshing change and I very much look forward to seeing your progress.
Salve Ivan!
I love Italian food! I just got back from Alcomo’s Italian market with a .5kg of Reggiano. Should be enough for a weeks time.
I am working on a HOn30 micro layout. It will fit into a corner of my full size layout.
The track plan is a continous multi level from the Micro Layout Gallery named "Into the Hills. Instead of a mining layout, it will be a timber layout with a Mark Rollins Class-A Climax Locomotive with logging buggies.
In bocca al lupo e divertiti!
Thank you all.
Philip, I’ll use the Doodlebug just for passenger services, as a matter of fact I’m looking for a diesel switcher but it isn’t so easy to find it in Italy. I saw that an Italian on-line shop has an Atlas Alco S-2, item #8288 (with Southern colors). Is it a valid model? The photo shows the switcher has horn-hook coupler, rather the knukle ones like the latest Atlas products. I’d like to know if this model is DCC ready, too.
Simon, I’m happy you like North-East Italy. I post an image of a North-East Italian shortline, the Sistemi Territoriali, that runs from Adria to Venezia Mestre and then on FS tracks to Venezia Santa Lucia.
Gary, I can kill for a piece of Reggiano [dinner].
Ciao, Ivan
Ivan,
I don’t know about that particular loco & DCC. I model in N scale so my knowledge of HO is limited. I’m sure someone here can help though. What you are really looking for is a four axle switcher, like the S2 you mentioned or the Plymouth I talked about. It also needs to fit the era (like the S2 & the Plymouth). I suggested the Plymouth because it fit’s the era, was found virtually everywhere, and it’s a very compact design, which is right up your alley. I know that the newest S2’s have the accumate couplers, so I’d be suspicious that the one you were looking at was an older one. In any event, if you did get it you can change out the couplers on most anything and go with Kadee’s. They’re the best in most peoples opinion anyways.
Hey, check out this web site if you want to see some of the current offerings. They do ship internationally too ($100.00 minimum), but I’m not sure of the cost.
http://www.discounttrainsonline.com/ho-scale-model-trains.html
You have lots of choices open to you and a fine plan to work from. With the help of all these people from around here it’ll be hard NOT to succeed!