Hello, I'm new to the OO9 Society and Forum but not by a long chalk a railway modelling novice. Apart from a tiny tuning fork it is probably forty years since I last had a OO9 layout, and that was only a passing dalliance due to the abysmal running of cheap 9mm gauge mechanisms at the time.
Though primarily an On30 modeller I have recently taken a renewed interest in the smaller scale, due in no small measure to the quality of the Kato tram chassis and availability of reasonably priced 3D printed bodies to go on them.
oo9 forum 1.jpg
The OO9/HOe side-tracking came about because of the Kato Circus dioramas. Being retired I'm what might be described as careful when it comes to spending money though and I have built a number of Kato-inspired mini modules to be compatible with the official versions should the chance arise to connect with them.
oo9 forum 2.jpg
Well, you know how these things happen. You build one, then another, then go for a full circle, add a few straight sections and before you know where you're up to there's there's a dozen of them.
oo9 forum 3.jpg
And two single line termini, plus a pair of short fiddlesticks, for assembling end to end layouts as well as the circle or oval pattern.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/module-formations.jpg)
In addition to the modules I have just started work on a narrow gauge main line terminus, supposedly as part of the same Latin American railway I model in On30. I say "started" but that's perhaps a bit over enthusiastic. I've got some suitable off-cuts of wood for the baseboard, a station building (vintage Hornby Dublo) and the track to use with it, but little else to show... And it is far too cold to spend much time in the garage at present!
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/arroyo-dublo.jpg)
As with my On30 modelling I lean heavily towards diesel railcars.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/oonein-ferry.jpg)
I am old enough to remember steam on BR but always had a soft spot for DMUs s I was growing up.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/rosedale-junction-1.jpg)
Your posts on 'that other NG modelling place' hosted by people whose name sounds a bit like shivers :-) along with seeing the Kato mini modules at the 50th anniversary do, inspired me to buy a couple of modules. Mind you I haven't decided what to do with them yet. I think it might be Japanese inspired or at least vaguely oriental.
I like you idea of making your own and your many cameo modules are fascinating. Having different shape and size modules is a great idea too.
There is a lot in the Kato kits and they are are pretty good value for money if comparing to a laser cut building kit of similar size, but too costly for me for making a mini-module layout. However, having found the Japanese web site it looks as if they were not intended to be bought in bulk but rather as individual mini dioramas to be brought together in collaborative events.
Quote from: GraemeD on December 03, 2023, 19:08Your posts on 'that other NG modelling place' hosted by people whose name sounds a bit like shivers :-) along with seeing the Kato mini modules at the 50th anniversary do, inspired me to buy a couple of modules.
Even with just one or two you can assemble a miniature layout between a pair of fiddlesticks or make something else for them to connect to.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/fiddlesticks.jpg)
Quote from: GraemeD on December 03, 2023, 19:08Mind you I haven't decided what to do with them yet. I think it might be Japanese inspired or at least vaguely oriental.
Something like
this? (https://www.youtube.com/embed/eUBXNnchB0g)
In my opening post I mentioned having started work on a larger terminus. This project has its origins a way back in time when I attempted to build a city centre station as a OO scale micro layout. The idea was sound but it fell down when I tried, and failed, to create a convincing overall roof for the station.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/sutton1.jpg)
At the same time I also built an N scale version, with more success, though this was dismantled some years ago. Both stations were operated as if most of the train remained off stage beyond the bridge. This way a loco and one coach could be the front of an arriving eight or more coach train and two coaches would look as if they were the rear of a similar length departure. Two car DMUs were the only trains that completely entered the modelled area.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/tweedsmuir-street-002.jpg)
Enough of this standard gauge history. In theory Arroyo Dublo is the third station in San Fernandez de Los Andes, capital city of my fictional Latin American Marxist republican paradise. The other two stations, Veinte Veinte and Norte, already exist as part of my On30 collection (https://playingtrains.wordpress.com/pampas-and-fernandez-consolidated-railway/).
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/11/arroyo-dublo-plan-c.jpg)
You'd think that with one set of points it wouldn't need a lot of thought putting into it but the "Plan C" caption reveals otherwise! It's a Bitsa with the rest of the station complex, including a triangular junction, on the other side of the road bridge...
As is the rest of the world.
For this reason I have no problems with Bitsa style layouts, the cut off between what we model and what is beyond has to be somewhere. In real life such scenic breaks rarely present themselves neatly at the extreme end of a layout but, especially with urban prototypes, a convenient road bridge can often be found somewhere.
But I digress, the off stage wye means there's no need for a run round loop. What few loco hauled trains there may be, and the occasional single ended railcar, can be backed into the station after making a three point turn.
There may be no such thing in a driving test (it's officially "a turn in the road using forward and reverse gears") but colonial railways are not averse to backing up when their passenger trains are entering dead end stations.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/ad-4-12-23-side.jpg)
I made a start on the track laying yesterday, the three platform roads have been glued down and left to set, the siding will be soldered to the turnout then curved to shape and stuck down later today.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/ad-4-12-23-end-views.jpg)
The overhead view has the platforms photoshopped onto it to help envisage what I see in my mind's eye for the station.
(https://playingtrains.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/ad-4-12-23-overhead.jpg)
I have liking for diesel railcars, both in On30 and OO9, and the three coach loco hauled set at platform 2 is an exception to the rule, most passenger trains will be operated by single cars so the station will appear quite spacious despite the overall length of the layout, including fiddleyard, being little over a metre. In this respect Arroyo Dublo surpasses both Sutton Road (OO) and Tweedsmuir Street (N) with their cut off bridges being part way along the platforms.
It's always pleasing when the first trains move under their own power on a layout.
I'm currently away from home (in a land adjacent to SO, I think) and have not been here on the forum for over a week, and as a regular follower of life in SO in the other place it was a most pleasant surprise to see you here. A warm welcome to you, Bob, and I look forward to seeing how your modelling style expresses itself in 009!
David.
P.S. 'A liking for railcars' - must be the understatement of the year!