1/16 Diorama - Backyard Hospital Supply Railway (inspired by Lainz)

[mad gerald]

Whoa ... hey ...  .. this (first pic) is waaaaay cool!

Would fit like a glove regarding my diorama, even this seems to be no hospital but a mining museum (?) ... plunges me also deep in despair, as I'm simply not making any progress regarding arrangement of buildings and tracks ... even more giving me this additional input ...

Marc,
I tried to figure out where this place is located, but I did not manage to find out. Germany I suppose? And could that be Nick doing some brickspotting? 

Cheers 

[marc_reusser]

Gerald,

I think it is in Sweden, as I got the image from an industrial narrow gauge page on facebook that focuses largely on Sweden.

The moment I saw it, I thought of your project.

[Gordon Ferguson]

The picture Marc posted is from the Victorian era part of Hurst Castle in Hampshire , narrow gauge line was used to ferry supplies and shells for these

[Ray Dunakin]

Now that's a home security system!

[marc_reusser]

These looked interesting and maybe give you more to think about

[marc_reusser]

.......

[mad gerald]

... food for thought again ...   

Thanks, guys

[mad gerald]

G'day all,

Still in doubt, if the base area would offer enough space, I'm also still thinking about how to arrange tracks and buildings ... even more when you guys come up with additional input - especially like the scene located at Hurst Castle mentioned by Marc:
http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=2260.msg46229#msg46229.

   

IIRC when building a diorama it is recommended to avoid parallel arragement of tracks/streets and buildings in relation to edges of diorama (variation 1) ... but considering the forementioned scene at Hurst Castle, rectangular arrangement (variation 2) seems not to appear THAT strange/out of touch with reality ... comments/suggestions ...  

1 = Building (corner), 2 story

2 = Building (half relief-like), 2 story

3 = Annex/shed with green door, 1 story

4 = Annex/storage depot with roller shutter gate, 1 1/2 story

5 = Building (relief-like) with fake escape similar to Marc's suggestion, 1 1/2 story

[peterh]

About parallel arrangement of tracks, buildings, edges: I think you need to consider the effect you want. If a diorama of a panzer, broken stone wall and dead bird is all parallel to itself and the edges then it looks a bit like a parking lot; and is not right. However buildings tend to be parallel to each other and to fences and tracks because land is expensive. Would you trust your body to a hospital that set out it's buildings at quirky angles? And most of the urban dioramas I like have lots of parallels: Alan Wolfson, nk, Ace radium.

However, I don't think it should all be parallel; you could introduce diagonals by having a few walls at 45 degrees to the rest, which would hug the track a bit.

I would delete building 2 and have the track visible there; more interesting. There could be a loading bay with a canopy over the track. You said you wanted the track to be out of sight, but it still is out of sight there if you are looking from the yard side. And vise versa.

Are you actually planning to operate this? If so, the bit of straight track at the back left could lead to a cassette, which you could scenic a bit and have a long view from the front down the cassette  ... I realise that operation isn't a high priority here.

[finescalerr]

Here is Variation 2 without buildings parallel to the edge of the base. Best of both worlds? -- Russ

[marc_reusser]

I think on your latest version, you could get a bit more of a visual block/stop, by placing an industrial overhead gangway/bridge (enclosed or open) between structures 1&2...or it could just be bunches of large overhead pipes running between the structures....something like this would also be useful to hide the top/edge of a backdrop, if you were planning on using one.


Not the best examples...but I think it explains the idea....(and I used to live in the buildings in the first image....walked across that may times.)

[mad gerald]

... thanks for your remarks/suggestions, guys ...

@Peter
You're right - operation hasn't got high priority, but it would be nice to have a semi-automatic or continuous operation ...

@Russ
Did not even think about that before you came up with it - could be a real alternative ... I'm only beginning to dislike the fake escape on the left ...  

I think on your latest version, you could get a bit more of a visual block/stop, by placing an industrial overhead gangway/bridge (enclosed or open) between structures 1&2...or it could just be bunches of large overhead pipes running between the structures....something like this would also be useful to hide the top/edge of a backdrop, if you were planning on using one.

Marc: good point - taking a closer look at the Lainz pics I discovered, that there are actually ventilation shafts and pipes between some buildings ... !

Detail of pic linked from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Feldbahn_Geriatriezentrum_Am_Wienerwald Author and owner of Copyright: User NVO

[Hydrostat]

Maybe you can reduce the impression of a track running in a circle this way and add more depth and possibilities for taking pics from different angles to the scene:



The hatched parts are overhead gangways, leading to higher buildings. They are cut through at the layout's edges.



Cheers,
Volker

[mad gerald]

Volker,

Maybe you can reduce the impression of a track running in a circle this way and add more depth and possibilities for taking pics from different angles to the scene ...

... I really like your idea/sketch and think this variation already shows the final arrangement of tracks and buildings ... thank you very much ideed for your effort - very much appreciated!

Cheers

[finescalerr]

I especially like the idea of hiding the circle. Can you make a little more room to add straight sections where the track disappears into the building? Whatever the composition, it is the modeling and those overheads that will "sell" this diorama. -- Russ