Method In The Madness

The Melyn Valley was always intended to be a ‘grand plan’ style of layout filling the attic of our house, but has only progressed in fits and starts. The Abermelyn layout has reached the stage of being electrically complete, a first for me, but has stalled with the onset of scenic work. The stalling can be blamed partly on being busy doing non-model making activities, partly on having time but not the energy to work on the layout which often results in me reading various railway books leading me to ponder and consider changing the layout. Finally, I’ve very limited experience of the scenic work on a layout, being unsure how to make progress leads to a tendency to procrastinate. With that in mind, the 12ft long expanse of Abermelyn is quite daunting, all sorts of procrastination sets in and nothing gets done. Don’t think I’m alone in this. 

At the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association Convention at Burton in June, there was a small 4ft by 2ft layout that my daughter was totally captivated by and held her attention for far longer than we expected. She enjoyed the interaction with the operator and even started directing the shunting. 

This got me thinking and a discussion with my wife followed which suggested pausing the big plan and building something compact that I could progress quickly to learn the processes that I found daunting. It would allow me to gain experience of scenic methods in a compact space without fear of distraction or going off on a tangent. Aiming for quick progress as a learning exercise rather than perfection which can lead to me procrastinating. 

It would also give me a portable layout to take to our Trent Valley Modelling Days at Mickleover. At which point it was suggested and agreed that I should aim for next January, no harm in striking whilst the iron is hot! The intention being to have a layout that works electrically and with a start made on the buildings / scenic work, but complete. Hence the appearance of a Mickleover countdown clock on the blog. 

Four months has passed since then, summer has been spent enjoying trips out and away, a 16mm scale Skylark has been finished off and been distracted by the Corris carriages. But work has commenced and progressed in the background. Two Grainge and Hodder baseboard kits (intended to extend the attic layout) have been built, a cork top added to one and both have had two coats of primer painted underneath so are ready for track laying. This will give a 4ft by 2ft scenic area plus a 2ft 6in by 2ft cassette deck fiddle yard. 

A fascia and backscene will be fitted in due course. Whilst it’s still a straight and square flat top baseboard rather than anything fancier, it’s still progress rather than procrastination. 

I’d looked at making this layout part of the Melyn scheme but I really struggled to contain myself and not head off in expansionist daydreams. As a result, it will be a completely separate scheme to be contained within this cameo space. 

Shall go into more detail regarding what I’m building in the next post. Best get on and lay some track….