Sumiyama (炭山)

[Kiha66]

Hello all, I am once again embarking on a new project.  A small portable layout I'm entitling Kotayama (ボタ山) Sumiyama (炭山). This will be a rural coal mining themed layout, in about 3 by 6 feet roughly following on of the plans kato has published online.  Kotayama mean something like "spoil heap mountain" a very distinctive feature of the landscape around many coal mining operations in japan, many of which grew to enormous heights and still tower over the landscape today.  Sumiyama (炭山) literally means "coal mountain", or more figuratively a mountain in which coal mining takes place.  I hope to learn a lot from building this layout, I'm trying to keep this a learning layout so I expect to make many mistakes to learn from along the way.  This evening I got all the track together, and hopefully sometime this week I can start to cut the wood for the base of the layout.

 

The track plan for the layout:

http://www.katomodels.com/unitrackplan/plan/plan03-9.pdf

Edited July 23, 2018 by Kiha66
I cant words good

[Kiha66]

My progress so far, I have most of the track but I may need to get a few more pieces to properly align everything.  I also will need a few more workers houses and some industrial structures to make up the mining district.

[Kiha66]

Some examples of the spoil heaps that helped inspire the (previous, incorrect) name.
https://photo1.ganref.jp/photo/0/58d905540c212213377648e1e3003967/thumb5.jpg
https://kariud.exblog.jp/5873913/

https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/br1216er/33592284.html

Edited July 23, 2018 by Kiha66

[Bubule]

This is a very nice project. It's the type of layout i love. It's small so you can go fast  to different works on the layout : Carpenty, Track, Electricity, scenery. You did not have the time to be bored in a compartment of the hobby.

 

Like you said, it is also a great learning platform. There is volumes, crossovers, industry, nature, city ... a big variety that will be interesting to do.

 

The track plan type "John ALLEN" is very nice ! And  these layout is easy to move.

 

A friend of me have made a small N scale US layout on a pretty same track plan with a coal mine. He have great fun to build an go on exhibition with that layout :

 

 

 

I sit there and will follow your built with pleasure, have fun !

 

Jef

[gavino200]

I used to think that a layout had to be huge to look great. But you and Bubule have changed my mind. I see that small layout's can be very interesting. I'm going to follow this closely. Study it, even. I think I might try my hand at a little themed layout at some stage too. 

Edited July 22, 2018 by gavino200

[miyakoji]

Just fyi the first syllable in ボタ山 is bo, not ko.  Botayama.

[Kiha66]

47 minutes ago, miyakoji said:

Just fyi the first syllable in ボタ山 is bo, not ko.  Botayama.

 

I know, Google translate misread it the first few times but to be honest I like the sound of Ko better.  Not technically correct but I'll take the more pleasant sounding name in this case.  Kinda like how Toyoda changed their name to Toyota to sound nicer.

Edited July 23, 2018 by Kiha66

[Densha]

You cannot go pronouncing the katakana ボ as ko though. Katakana is a phonetic writing system, which does not support sound derivation as for example letters in the English language do. If you want to adapt something like Toyoda > Toyota, you will need to use kanji. Using kanji in place names is prevalent and thus recommended to make it look and sound realistic anyway. Bonus points if you can incorporate a proper meaning to the kanji you use.

[Kiha66]

Thanks, how about Sumiyama (炭山) then?  I like the sound and "coal mountain" seems appropriate with the theming of the layout. 

[Densha]

炭山 literally means a mountain where coal is extracted from. I have also found place names in Japan that are actually called like that. Not to forget that it sounds very Japanese. I'm in favour!

[railsquid]

If you like "Kotayama", it's easy enough to make up something which fits, like「古田山」or 「小多山」.

[Densha]

Yup, that's another possibility I forgot about!

[Kiha66]

Well too late to turn back now, benchwork in progress!  I ended up using the small workshop of the local model club, a few people there were able to help with the construction. 

[Fenway Park]

Looking forward to seeing this develop.

 

Malcolm

[Kiha66]

Benchwork all done other than the legs. Another very productive day!  Now on to more fun stuff like trackwork.

[Bubule]

Very neat wood working !

[Kiha66]

1 minute ago, Bubule said:

Very neat wood working !

 

Thank you!  Its not the most professional job (I discovered today I should have chosen a different kind of wood for the top layer), but I'm learning quite a lot from each attempt!

[gavino200]

3 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

 

Thank you!  Its not the most professional job (I discovered today I should have chosen a different kind of wood for the top layer), but I'm learning quite a lot from each attempt!

 

What wood did you use? What wood "should" you have used? 

 

Is it two long pieces, four short pieces, held together with screws? 

[Kiha66]

4 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

What wood did you use? What wood "should" you have used? 

 

Is it two long pieces, four short pieces, held together with screws? 

 

Yep!  two long with the rest short seems to be the best method, very rigid in the long direction and you only need to lengths of boards, which makes cutting and assembling them much easier.  For the top piece I should have used 1/4 ply, underlayment seems to be a very good choice (I've been using it for the modules) and is relatively affordable).  I accidentally got another type of wood which is much lighter but much softer, so while it will still work I feel it may not be as durable as the more sturdy choice would have been.  For the frames I use primed pine, it is very cheep and is quite strong and light, and is much better quality compared to the other dimensional lumber offered.  For the modules I use 1x3 inch primed pine as it makes the modules very close to the recommended height, while for the layout I went with 1x4 as I wanted much more rigidity due to the larger size. 

[Kiha66]

The method I use to secure the wood is to put a bead of wood glue on the board, then clamp it in place on the plywood.  I then drill and screw to secure the board while it dries and to add another layer of connection even afterwards.  I start with one of the long boards, then the two outer short boards, then the final long board.  I then cut the inner supports to slightly oversize then sand down the ends till they snugly fit inside the "box".  I am mostly learning as I go, but this seems to be working well so far.  Of course, at this point I almost want to redo the whole thing using the lessons learned from the first go!  Its all good fun.

[gavino200]

7 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

Of course, at this point I almost want to redo the whole thing using the lessons learned from the first go! 

 

LOL. That's ALWAYS the problem with DIY. Your learning curve is also your final product!

 

But it looks amazing!!

Edited August 4, 2018 by gavino200

[Kiha66]

Here we go again, finally back finishing the layout.  I'm starting with the town and station area, and leaving the coal mine section for later addition.  The town module will be called Sumiyama 炭山 (coal mountain or mountain corner) while the eventual mine section will be Kozan-eki 鉱山 (Mine station)  I apologize for the long absence.

 

Foam laid out for trimming

 

Foam cut to size

[Kiha66]

Now onto track.  Before I do anything I need to cut the river section out of the foam before securing it, so I'll lay out the track so I can mark where those cuts will be.

 

Trying to find all the pieces

 

Almost there, I just need a green s248 truss bridge and a kato s60R or L to complete it.  I dont suppose anyone has one spare they'd part with?

 

[Sheffie]

I have a ton of S60’s spare. I thought everyone did. You can have it for cost of postage—from the eastern USA 

[Kiha66]

1 minute ago, Sheffie said:

I have a ton of S60’s spare. I thought everyone did. You can have it for cost of postage—from the eastern USA 

 

Thanks!   I got a lot of my #4s second hand so they were missing all the accessories.  I'll shoot you a PM.