Trackplanning a P:48 Micro (part 1)

With a convertable locomotive on its way. I thought it about time I turned my thoughts to the layout I’m going to build. It’s going to be small, as editor of the Micro Model Railway Dispatch, it could be nothing else. 

Over the years I’ve built many successful Micro layouts in a variety of scales. Nothing in O scale though. Certainly nothing in P:48 which is a whole different animal to regular O scale. Points and curvature of track work eats into valuable real estate.

There’s many trick and dodges that the clever Micro Layout designer uses to come up with a successful design, and working these into a layout concept are what makes this sphere of model railway design so rewarding to me.

I’ve built many successful micro’s over the years. So I have an idea what I’d like to incorporate. In no particular order.

1. Working features. An animated feature can help grab the viewers attention. I’ve found great success with a working wagon loading feature. Empty wagons go in full ones come out. That the viewer can see this happen brings a small layout to another level.

British Oak Working coal loader

2. Telling a story. Use the action on the railway to tell a story. On my Wingetts recycling layout, where the feature was a scrapyard. Condemned cars were hauled into the facility never to reappear. Once in a while a  gondola full of scrap or a flat car loaded with wheels would be hauled off the premises. Several times I saw people watching the layout for an extended time, and when they saw the cars loaded with scrap and wheels, a look of realization spread across their face. As a layout creator, that was a very neat feeling.

Wingett’s recycling

3. Distilling the essence of a location (or several) into one believable whole. My Purespring Watercress layout had that in bucket loads, so I was told. I get a good feeling when I know I’ve done the job right and despite its small size I knew I’d got it right with Purespring. Well, I knew I had it right with all three layouts. 

Purespring Watercress. 

In order to get that feel, I search the internet for pictures that inspire me, that may be suitable for a project. I then put these together with sketches on an “inspiration sheet”. It helps to  give me ideas on how to develop things.  Below is the first inspiration sheet for The P:48 Micro. 

Inspiration sheet number 1

It’s a rundown old warehouse district. There’s a low relief warehouse on the back scene perhaps with two spots for cars on it. On the left, the railway enters and leaves the scene through a narrow gap between structures.  Front right will be another small feature. Almost certainly a scrapyard. The purpose of the scrapyard, or whatever industry ends up there, would be to hide the sector plate that serves to save space to access the warehouse. 

First ideas rarely get adopted, I expect a lot of chopping and changing between now and when construction starts.

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