Design of a micro layout sized Havelock Yard in HO-16.5

Unscenicked Havelock Yard micro layout on our living room coffee table

For two weeks last July I was obsessed with building the Havelock Yard in HO scale. The idea just popped into my head one day and wouldn't go away. I ran with it. This is the story of what went into designing that obsession into reality.

Track arrangement

Looking at the track arrangement you might be tempted to say, "an Inglenook on the left with some unconnected pieces off to the right, so what." It turns out, when the design dust had settled I more-or-less said that too, but there was a lot of head scratching before I got to that point.

There are a few considerations that went into the design I should talk about. I'd like to say there was some sort of A leads to B leads to C leads to ... order to the so-called design process, but there wasn't. There were simply a few things that had to be juggled and mixed and tried until I arrived at an object I thought would be interesting. I'll discuss those things, those considerations, here, but you'll have to imagine the juggling et. al. for yourself.

Size

Havelock yard is a big place. It's not the biggest yard out there, but it's still way too big to build it exactly as-is in my house. To make the problem manageable I arbitrarily decided the miniature yard would have a 1'x4' footprint - maximum size for a micro layout - and be modelled in HO scale. Clearly I was insane. Well, no, what I was really interested in was trying to capture a feeling, a sense, a taste, of those aspects of the place that brought back fond memories of 50 years or so of dropping by. It was to be a madeleine, a friendly miniature time machine, an abstraction of sights and sounds and feelings. It was never going to be a model railway in the conventional sense, but it might be a pleasant, entertaining object with a story.

Track arrangement

I should really use the term track plan, but, contrary to this post's title, this isn't really a model railway layout, so it doesn't have a track plan. There was however thinking about how the track should be arranged. I reviewed the Full Observation entry in the Non-existent Dictionary to help out with this job.

Parallel lines of track seen at eye level

When I'm visiting the yard I'm standing on the ground between the parking lot and the yard boundary. I see whatever it is I see at eye level. I don't have a drone's eye view.

And what I always see are many parallel lines of track extending from the edge of the parking lot to the tree line at the back of the yard. Lines and lines and lines. Lots of straight lines.

More parallel lines of track

Regardless of which direction you look it appears to look like parallel lines of track.

Parallel lines of track even in the 1970s

All those lines of track aren't a new thing. Even in the '70s it was the same scene, and likely so going back further in time.

Ok, so how does the layout do on the parallel lines at eye level score?

Eye level view into the right side of the yard.

Not too bad on the right.

Eye level view into the left side of the yard.

And not too bad on the left.

If all I wanted was a base for taking photographs (which is one thing I'll use the layout for) I could have stopped at this stage in the design and just laid down a densely packed set of parallel tracks. However, I wanted this object to also have a little bit of play value to heighten its attractiveness as a conversation piece.  

Looks a bit like an Inglenook

I thought, well, I could put a switching game in there, that might make things fun.

At first I tried variations on John Allen's Timesaver - which is what I did with the original 30Squares layout that got this blog started. I couldn't make it reminiscent of Havelock Yard, and I didn't want the track to be too hard to play with, so I rejected the Timesaver.

Looking around for alternatives on the internet I was reminded of the Inglenook. As you can see in the above photo, there are some Inglenook-like track sections in the yard. Well, ok, there are Inglenook-like track sections in many, many yards. 

Same Inglenook, different year.

You can see in the photos the real Havelock Inglenook uses left-hand switches and I've used rights. That's because I adopted the philosophy with this layout that I'd use only leftover materials stashed away in the workshop as much as I could. The best pair of switches I had on hand were righties, and brass ones to boot.

In fact, all the track on this layout comes from my box of leftover and scrapped track. There's a lot of old brass track in there, some dating from layouts I built in the '70s. I think it's quite fitting that that track is getting a second life on this object. I think it adds to the story. Ok, brass track is a little finicky in that cleanliness is extra important, but the layout isn't that big, so keeping it in good condition isn't a huge job.

Construction

In a word: foam.

Waiting for the glue between the foam sheets to dry

I admit this method of base construction is idiosyncratic, but I like it. It produces a lightweight and rigid base. Now, I don't use powered switches or any sort of signalling, so this method would be a problem the more electrical accessories are added. Incorporating those would likely mean I'd have to shift to some sort of built-up or honeycombed core instead of the solid slab I normally build. I've used this method on the Loonar Module, the LOL II, and the Centennial Experimental Farm layouts. So far, so good.

Base stack after the glue has dried

I had some coarse foam sheets left over from the LOL II and Centennial Experimental Farm projects so I decided to use them here. They're items from Home Depot, and the package they came in says they measure 48" x 14.5" x 1.5". I glued 3 together with white glue, and when the stack was dry, cut the width down to 12". I should note that the sheets are actually something like 47-3/4" long straight out of the package.

I should also note the use of a thick base is more for aesthetic reasons than structural. A foam base can be rather thin and still be plenty rigid, but I like the substantial look of a thick base regardless of what it's made from. To me it provides some visual balance to the things it supports, especially if there are tall items on top.

Piecing together the track

The next part was piecing together the track plan from the old, leftover sections in my stash. This took sometime as I had to make sure there was sufficient clearance to move cars around without them blocking or scraping each other, or falling off the end!

My Inglenook is only suitable for older style cars that are around a scale 40' in length. Well, any car around 40' will do ok.

Once I had the track puzzle figured out all the sections were stuck down with 3M transfer tape.

Hole for power leads

Wiring power to the Inglenook section is pretty simple: it's provided by a pair of wires soldered to the bottoms of the Inglenook rails on the right hand end. To plumb the wires through the foam I used a bit-and-brace to drill a hole halfway down through the slab and another through the slab from the front to meet the first hole at ninety degrees. 

Connecting the power leads to the jack

The wires were then soldered to a jack that had been inserted into a square piece of styrene. The styrene assembly was then glued to the front of the slab.

Installation of switch controls completed

The switches are operated with old fashioned wire-in-tube homemade push rods.

Trenches were carved into the foam and styrene tubes containing the actuating wires were inserted into them after the wires were connected to the switch throwbars. The little balls on the wire ends are plastic items from the scrap box drilled and epoxied to the wires. 

Uncoupling magnets installed

The only components I had to buy were 3  Kadee under track uncoupling magnets so I wouldn't have to do manual uncoupling in the yard. I have some in-track uncoupling magnets in my stash, but when I placed them I thought they looked unsightly. So, I broke down and bought under track versions because I think the alternative of manual uncoupling would degrade play value.

Parking strip on the right; picnic shelter adjacent

In the photo showing the uncoupling magnets you can see on the right a strip of styrene sheet that has been glued to the foam slab. That is going to represent the long parking area that parallels more or less the length of the entire yard.

Between the parking strip and the yard is a grassy picnic area. On my layout that will be significantly compressed once I start to do scenicking. 

One last parking thought. On my rendition you can see the parking lot takes up considerable space, and one might be inclined to ask why? Memories, that's why. Every visit began and ended in that lot, with our car parked perpendicular to the tracks. I feel that aspect needs to be modelled even though it contributes nothing to the play value of the thing.

Civility and Conviviality

Since the layout is lightweight and readily moveable I wanted it to look sort of neat and clean so it could be played with in the living or family room without appearing too out of place. Painting the slab black and trying to give it a uniform appearance was one step in that direction.

1" thick foam added to the bottom for 'locking' into coffee table side rails

Another was to add some 1" thick foam pieces to the bottom so the slab would sit easily on the side rails of the living room coffee table.

Back of the coffee table

You can see the slightly protruding legs of the coffee table act to prevent the layout from sliding off - basically, the layout is locked in. The 1" thick addition to the slab's bottom lets the layout rest easy on the table's top and doesn't scratch it.

Layout overhangs a little

You can also see that the layout overhangs a little. I hummed and hawed about that during slab preparation, but in the end decided it was okay. The Inglenook was already quite short and I didn't want to shorten it even more. I don't think the overhang is unsightly.

Hanging out with the gang

When not in use the layout hangs on the studio wall. I pinned and glued some picture hangers to its back and it resides next to the modules from the old Alta Vista TC, which are now used as photo bases.

So, there you have it. Hopefully during the winter I'll catch another 2 week obsession to scenic this thing :-)