One more time ...

I’ve had a lot of good comments both on and off the blog about the E. L. Moore display design. They got me wondering if a layout is the way to go. I tried a design with a small loop of track because I didn’t want the display to appear dead, and thought maybe an injection of motion from trains was the thing to do. But, like all layouts, it raises questions about how will it be stored and displayed in the house. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that concept and footprint wasn’t going to be practical. 

Also, I see all these excellent small layouts in the pages of Voie Libre and think that’s the direction to go. They have both life and small, manageable footprints. I’ve got traditional layout thinking so ingrained in me, it’s hard to knock it loose. Ok, so I’ve started to give my brain-box a shake. You might want to stand back a bit from the screen because whatever comes out might be a little messy :-)

We’ve got a few Ikea cabinets and bookcases around the house, so the first thing was to find a typical shelf size for one of those things as I’ll likely use something from that company for display storage. After a brief survey with tape measure in hand, it looks like 9” x 27”, which is approximately 229mm x 686mm, gives about the largest base footprint that could be set on a shelf and still have room to get my fingers around inside edges for adjustments, and close the doors without problems. A typical Ikea cabinet could possibly house a few of these sorts of displays. There’re questions about lighting, but I’ll park those for a bit.

I drew a 9” x 27” rectangle on the layout table and started fiddling. As well, I reviewed E. L. Moore’s Turn Backward, O Time article for a few pointers on how to proceed now that the loop was out. I think the linear design will better reflect the original. If you look at the article you’ll see a jog in the track down by McGee’s that services the industries, some intriguing foreground details, a switch and an interesting switch stand, as well as trackside fencing by Ma’s house to name a few things that might be included. 

I need to get some coffee and stare at this thing awhile. More later.