The (fictional but quite plausible) History
Built at the turn of the 20th Century by the Highland Railway to serve the small fishing town of Dounreay (rather like the similar and actually built branch to Lybster on the Wick line), a single-track branch diverging off the mainline at Georgemas Junction and heading roughly west-north-west for the 10 miles or so to Dounreay via Halkirk, Forsie and Shebster.
The line was retained during WW2 to serve RAF Coastal Command’s Dounreay airfield, which was then taken over post-war by the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the MoD for a joint facility to develop and test experimental nuclear reactor technology for civilian and Naval use. This meant that traffic levels remained high enough through base staff transfers and construction materials, in addition to the existing local traffic, to retain the branch at least into the late-1960s and early-1970s, when the layout is set.
The Model
Dounreay is the third micro I've done using the Ikea Lack 110cm x 26cm shelf as a baseboard. By no means original (see the lovely work by that sheep bloke
) but they provide a cheap, rigid and lightish baseboard.
A 4mm ply display box (ends, back and window fascia) are glued and pinned to the Lack and incorporate integral lighting using LED strip.
Trackwork is Peco Code 75, laid onto black 2mm eva foam sheet (under a tenner for 50 A4 sheets on ebay) with simple wire-in-tube operation. No wiring on the scenic boards, it's all fed from the plug-in fiddlestick. Control is dc analogue from a Gaugemaster HH.
Platforms are 12mm square stripwood sides with 1mm card platform surface.
The walls of the station building are layers of 2mm greyboard and the roof structure is 5mm balsa strip. The overbridge is a cut-down girder from Heljan.
Extensive use is made of Slaters Dressed Stone embossed plasticard sheet for the platform facings, retaining wall, station building and bridge abutments. Sprayed light grey primer from a rattle can, then 'painted' using colour pencils.
The Highland Railway cabin and the yard bothy are scratchbuilt in plasticard. The rest is just detailing and weathering.
As with all my micros, portability is key. I don't drive, so exhibitions are done via public transport, requiring things like support stands to fold flat and a large duffel bag to keep the layout protected in transit. Stockboxes in a suitable bag, everything else in a small backpack.
All I need is a 6ft table, which most venues have, and a couple of chairs. Front operated, best viewed (and operated) seated. Why stand all day when you can sit
Built at the turn of the 20th Century by the Highland Railway to serve the small fishing town of Dounreay (rather like the similar and actually built branch to Lybster on the Wick line), a single-track branch diverging off the mainline at Georgemas Junction and heading roughly west-north-west for the 10 miles or so to Dounreay via Halkirk, Forsie and Shebster.
The line was retained during WW2 to serve RAF Coastal Command’s Dounreay airfield, which was then taken over post-war by the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the MoD for a joint facility to develop and test experimental nuclear reactor technology for civilian and Naval use. This meant that traffic levels remained high enough through base staff transfers and construction materials, in addition to the existing local traffic, to retain the branch at least into the late-1960s and early-1970s, when the layout is set.
The Model
Dounreay is the third micro I've done using the Ikea Lack 110cm x 26cm shelf as a baseboard. By no means original (see the lovely work by that sheep bloke
) but they provide a cheap, rigid and lightish baseboard.A 4mm ply display box (ends, back and window fascia) are glued and pinned to the Lack and incorporate integral lighting using LED strip.
Trackwork is Peco Code 75, laid onto black 2mm eva foam sheet (under a tenner for 50 A4 sheets on ebay) with simple wire-in-tube operation. No wiring on the scenic boards, it's all fed from the plug-in fiddlestick. Control is dc analogue from a Gaugemaster HH.
Platforms are 12mm square stripwood sides with 1mm card platform surface.
The walls of the station building are layers of 2mm greyboard and the roof structure is 5mm balsa strip. The overbridge is a cut-down girder from Heljan.
Extensive use is made of Slaters Dressed Stone embossed plasticard sheet for the platform facings, retaining wall, station building and bridge abutments. Sprayed light grey primer from a rattle can, then 'painted' using colour pencils.
The Highland Railway cabin and the yard bothy are scratchbuilt in plasticard. The rest is just detailing and weathering.
As with all my micros, portability is key. I don't drive, so exhibitions are done via public transport, requiring things like support stands to fold flat and a large duffel bag to keep the layout protected in transit. Stockboxes in a suitable bag, everything else in a small backpack.
All I need is a 6ft table, which most venues have, and a couple of chairs. Front operated, best viewed (and operated) seated. Why stand all day when you can sit
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