A tour of the completed (well nearly) layout.

The layout was booked in to be exhibited in Geelong at the end of January 2019 so I had given myself a deadline to work to. I offered to exhibit in October and didn't want to leave things to the last minute, so I had to get a wriggle on. Luckily my daughter was planning a trip to Japan in November so final scenic details could be worked out and a shopping list was tucked into her travel papers. Her purchases allowed me to put the finishing touches together by early December.

A closer look at the layout:

·       Starting at the left end is a three road sector plate. This non-scenic area allows a place to store trains when not running through the scenic area. A sector plate is an economic and space saving way to provide a storage area. The sector plate is manually positioned to select which train will enter/exit.

     The station complex at the left end of the layout represents a rural location. Three platforms and sidings provide the ability to terminate and cross services, stable trains between runs, inspect and service equipment and provide limited freight facilities. This station is “Higashi-machi” meaning East town.

      

 

·       A look along the road leads into the small township. 

     Behind the station is a rice field that has just commenced harvesting. 

      At the west (right) end of the station is an orchard with green houses and mikan (mandarin) trees. 

 

      There is also a field in front of the line with farmers beginning to prepare for next season’s crop.

·        A river is soon crossed after leaving the station. Like many rivers in Japan, it is shallow with many stones and rocks in its bed, weirs further upstream divert some of its flow towards rice fields and orchards.  

      On the right hand bank of the river the railway encounters the mountains that fringe the edges of the river. The mountains are heavily forested which are starting to change colors as summer is fading into autumn. The mountains are interspersed with large boulders which only support limited greenery.

·       At the top of the mountain is a castle. The actual model is of Matsuyama Castle and is of a smaller scale than the trains. This is primarily due to space restrictions but also attempting to force perspective and so appear a little way off into the distance, (or providing depth to a narrow scene). Hopefully the attempt is convincing by having the castle at an elevated position.

·       After passing the castle, a junction is reached, trains taking the left hand branch disappear into a tunnel that emerges in a small two siding yard that provides another storage location for trains to run to and where rolling stock can be exchanged out of public view.

·      Trains that are routed via the right hand track soon arrive at the terminus of “Nishi Minato” meaning West port. 

      This station is equipped with two platforms and a very short siding for limited freight operation. A large car park provides a location for connecting bus service and bicycle storage for commuters. 

     The siding has a crane and loading platform. The city and its port can be seen in the background (the actual towns in the photos is Uwajima and Sukomo in Shikoku and Tawaramoto in Nara).