Layout planning tool for layout 585 3 aka Taronna

The advanced layout planning tool has been created!

Now that the Mount Lowe layout is done I've been starting to think more seriously about the Taronna layout. About the only constant that has washed through my mind on this has been that I'd like it to fit on top of the family room coffee table. That little table has been the support for all the small layouts I've built recently - well, other than Mount Lowe - that I've thought of naming an new layout genre after it, MCM-7 :-)

The basic, unlayouted coffee table.

The Taronna layout will likely take up the coffee table's entire surface, and maybe even overhang a little. Since the area of the coffee table is a little under 7 sq. ft., it won't classify as a micro, but that doesn't concern me as the goal is to have a layout representation that reflects my Taronna memories, not to have an 'official' micro version of them.

Advanced tracing process for creating the advanced layout planning tool.

It's going to be a very tricky layout to design. So far I haven't even come close to capturing the look and feel I'm after by just doing drawings in my sketchbooks. Instead I'm going to try 3D design with actual track and buildings and what-not to see if I can make any progress.

Test fitting the wilderness retreat mockup layout for size.

While I had things pulled out for making the layout template I tried having a look at the mockup for the wilderness retreat layout I made last year when I was learning how to use my new rail-bender. That layout is a micro, but I'm not happy with its design either.

Dissatisfaction with layout ideas I've been kicking around awhile seems to be a theme for me as I start the new year. I have a lot of things on the go and will write about a few here, so for some time the blog will be a hodgepodge of notes until something gels. You've been warned :-)

MCM-7: A New Layout Genre?

Soon after taking pictures of the Le Grand DEFI dioramas on the family room coffee table I realized several of my layouts have been inadvertently sized to fit that piece of furniture. Maybe there's a new genre of layout in there somewhere?  

The 3 Le Grand DEFI dioramas

Ever since I stumbled across Bill Baron's mid-century modern coffee table layout proposal in the June 1966 issue of Model Railroader I've had thoughts of small, portable, and convivial family room layouts rattling around in my brain. I haven't explicitly set out to design one, but in a few cases it has worked out that way.

The Centennial Experimental Farm, aka the LOL III

The Micro-Layout category has an upper footprint limit of 3 to 4 square feet. My coffee table measures approximately 50" x 20", providing an area of a little under 7 sq. ft. for a layout. That's considerably bigger than the Micro-Layout maximum. 

Havelock Yard

Hence, maybe there's a new category in there for layouts that fit on a Mid-Century Modern coffee table of 7 sq. ft. or less: MCM-7 :-) And no overhanging, that's cheating :-)

Speaking of coffee, the family room is near the coffee machine and that's where I'm headed.