Well after a lot of hard work the long delayed extension module for Shasta finally debuted at Macclesfield this weekend. After the damage caused by the leaking cold water pipe in the layout shed the board ended up being scrapped and as much stuff as possible salvaged to resurrect the concept. The show was not without some problems though, principally that despite measuring it and designing it carefully it would not all fit into the X-Trail! Don't know where I went wrong but I was looking at having to put one of the boards in its flight case onto the roofbars, not a good idea with British weather. Fortunately I had a job to do at our Rail depot at Crewe so was able to use on of the call out vans after that to get to the show. Setting up was O.K with a couple of rail joints slightly out on the baseboard joints and track 9 in Dunsmuir yard was dead but everything else fitted together and lined up The fireproof curtain had to be repositioned with the Z-Bend track display board hiding the framework at one end. The display board describing the Shasta division in real life now sits at the other corner. Sadly, because of the length of span I have had to add an intermediate support to the lighting rig but it is not too obtrusive and because I have used the same light fitting on the extension to the rig the lighting is nice and even full length of the layout. The control panels have remained at the Cantara Loop end. The plan is to display the layout at Manchester Model Railway exhibition in December with the public allowed to access both sides of the layout at the Shasta Springs end so that they can see the fully detailed rear of the layout normally hidden.
It does however have down sides. Firstly there is a lot more track to clean and it takes longer to put out, and take off the stock. There is a lot more walking from one end to the other, I know it is only four foot but it adds up over a weekend. I need to put a couple of mirrors on the rig uprights so I can see how the trains are running round the front. But.. the sight of 10 foot long trains gliding around the layout was a revelation to many of the show visitors and other exhibitors as well. They are unaware of the huge developments in RTR Z seen over the last few years thanks to MTL, AZL, Full Throttle, Tenshodo etc and also the rise of the cottage industries that have sprung up with the more specialised products think Robert Ray, Stonysmith, Showcase miniatures and all of the others. As a result I have already started to get a lot of enquiries to take the layout to shows in 2017 and 2018. Video can be found at cheers Kev
I like your overhead lighting setup and the rail map with the photo references up front. Good idea. Yeah, long trains Its amazing how many know about Z scale but still think märklin is the only manufacturer. They get all excited to see 'all this new stuff!"
Most of the military vehicles are made by Z-Panzer and are fantastically detailed. I was unsure about the 'Leopard' tanks until I found out the Canadian Army had bough a load. The MTL modern tank, which I think is an Abrams, is really heavy though and I think a train loaded with a lot of these would weigh a ton! Kev
Kev, if you're interested in seeing the Canadian Leopards on NA rails look here: http:/www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiveThumbs.aspx?id=20443
Kev, I really like your layout setup with the lighting and such. Being a California boy, I can really appreciate the details of the modules, very representative of the Dunsmuir area, although your layout seems a bit too tidy. After looking at all these images and those in ZTrack I have one question: where is Shasta? I expected to see something like: or both images from the UP line just north of Dunsmuir.
My plan is to paint a big backdrop with Mt Shasta on it at some stage. I finally picked up a copy of John Signor's Shasta Division book published by Signature Press at Macclesfield show which is a fabulous reference source for the line. I had no idea just how industrialised and exploited the area was back in the day and how much environmental damage was done by logging, copper smelting etc but Mt Shasta sticks out like a beacon in nearly every picture looking north so it will probably be put at the Cantara loop end of the layout. I've never done much painting but the fact that top is always snow covered should make life easier (fingers crossed!) Kev
Kev, I empathize regarding the painting. My best work is done with a protractor and straightedge. Something I've thought of is the photo to poster service offer by some of the remaining camera/video/photo shops. I must say I find your views on the Shasta area interesting. For me that area is one of the most untouched in California. The last "wild Indian" , Ishi, came from that region. Because it's so far from civilization, it didn't suffer from the mining and logging ravages seen farther south. Mark
