On the Theatrical Design Of Model Railways

http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/TheatricalLayoutDesign.html

An article well worth reading on how theatre techniques of set design are now routinely or unknowingly applied to model railway layouts, big and small.

“Stage tricks for small layouts” as Frank Ellison, American model railroader, called them.

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Brian Cameron, wargamer, railway modeller and reader of this Sidetracked blog, reminded me of the small challenges of micro layouts and the Inglenook Shunting Problem, solved by the late Allan Wright in 1979:

http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/sw-inglenook.html

With plenty more micro layouts back to the 1920s like Wakley’s 1926 layout:

http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/sw-inglenook.html

http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/

Image source: http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/pics/Walkley-ModelRailwayNews-1926.jpg

There, some more ideas put away for reference when I again don’t get around to building a model railway for gaming purposes (larger or more permanent than my instant battery trains in a tin – below).

https://sidetracked2017blog.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/deconstructing-trains-train-in-a-tin-vs-train-in-a-box/

“Good Grief” as Charlie Brown would say!

What next – the Pizza Box Railway?

The Rabbit Warren railway?

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Worth bookmarking for future reference Carl Arendt’s Inglenook small layout / pizza railway pages

https://www.carendt.com/small-layout-scrapbook/page-79a-november-2008/

A3 sized, anyone? https://www.carendt.com/micro-layout-design-gallery/a3-sized-layouts/

Blog post for reference purposes, 3 December 2023

Author: 26soldiersoftin

Hello I'm Mark Mr MIN, Man of TIN. Based in S.W. Britain, I'm a lifelong collector of "tiny men" and old toy soldiers, whether tin, lead or childhood vintage 1960s and 1970s plastic figures. I randomly collect all scales and periods and "imagi-nations" as well as lead civilians, farm and zoo animals. I enjoy the paint possibilities of cheap poundstore plastic figures as much as the patina of vintage metal figures. Befuddled by the maths of complex boardgames and wargames, I prefer the small scale skirmish simplicity of very early Donald Featherstone rules. To relax, I usually play solo games, often using hex boards. Gaming takes second place to making or convert my own gaming figures from polymer clay (Fimo), home-cast metal figures of many scales or plastic paint conversions. I also collect and game with vintage Peter Laing 15mm metal figures, wishing like many others that I had bought more in the 1980s ...

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