Planning for a compact Hankyu B-train shorty layout.

[Oxbox]

Hi all, I had mentioned in my intro that I was planning on building a compact point-to-point layout for my Hankyu 6000 series shorties so I figured I'd go ahead and start a thread. After getting a compact oval to test how they ran and look on the smaller radius turns it gave me more inspiration to continue with planning. Here is where I am currently:

 

 

This iteration (about number 5 or 6 at this point) is based on a 1m by 25cm board but that can change as needed. the measurement notations are just as reference for the over-all 3-car train length and the distance in mm from the end of the coupler on either of the driving cars to the axel centreline on the power car to trip the automatic pause and return on the shuttle circuit. At this time I am planning to use all Kato Unitrack with the curves being R150s. The buildings and platforms are just rough stand-ins to help visualize how I'm going to set everything up, the trees will be a mix of sakura and smaller shrubs and bushes. The spur going off on the top left is to suggest continuation to join up with the mainline (possibly via a future T-track module) as the Hankyu Koyo line does at Shukugawa station. Regarding the inspiration for this layout it is primarily the previously mentioned Koyo Line, I stumbled on some videos on YouTube ages ago and it continues to intrigue me. Naturally in this format it is massively shortened and completely omits the middle station but I'm still hoping to capture some of the charm and atmosphere surrounding it. Here are a couple of those YouTube videos to give you an idea of what I'm aiming for:

 

 

 

 

The location of the bridge: https://maps.app.goo.gl/iCjR6KrVD7Ya4T2QA

 

Thanks for looking, I'll be sure to update as I make more progress!

[MeTheSwede]

This looks very promising with quite a bit of interesting things going on in a well-thought-out and manageable sized layout. I'm looking forward to se how the build turns out.

 

Have you considered planing for the eventuality that you might at some point want to build another layout (module) of simular size and connect them by converting one of the stations into a through station?

 

It could be as easy as just making sure a bumper piece is easy to remove and replace. My first thought was that having the track end in the corners would be awkward, but having the corner cut out of a possible future module could solve that problem:

[Oxbox]

Thats where I was thinking of it connecting at a 90 from a module roughly emulating the layout of Shukugawa station, naturally would need to make sure it is all square with the edges but here is a quick mockup:

 

 

 

[Oxbox]

So I finally got around to printing out a 1:1 plan to get a better idea how it is shaping up, I'm pretty happy with how it is looking and I think once there is three dimensional scenery it will be pretty decent. The sight lines should be fairly good with the trees and buildings breaking things up, it should allow for nice views from all angles. I guess next I'll go ahead and get more track to play around with and see if I like how it runs, definitely inching closer but it will still be a little while until I can commit to the build...

 

 

[cteno4]

Excellent oxbox! Good thing to do and look at it with the eye. If you have the time cut up some cheap cardboard to make the platforms and boxes for structures and toss around some slumps of lichen or even crumpled up green tissue paper for bushes and trees. Will really help finish popping things into 3D with your eyes.

 

jeff

[kami_illy]

On 1/30/2024 at 7:12 PM, cteno4 said:

Excellent oxbox! Good thing to do and look at it with the eye. If you have the time cut up some cheap cardboard to make the platforms and boxes for structures and toss around some slumps of lichen or even crumpled up green tissue paper for bushes and trees. Will really help finish popping things into 3D with your eyes.

 

jeff

 

Do that! 

Did exactly the same for my shorty layout. It helped me a lot with positioning, spacing, coming-up-with-ideas,... and is also pretty rewarding. You can play while building 👍

 

And in the end I found out that for me it works well to build bigger parts of the layout from cardboard with printed surfaces.

[Oxbox]

That’s the plan, eventually. We are potentially moving in a couple months though so I’ll wait until we know what our situation is to start something that isn’t easily packed up. I’m also planning to go ahead and order some building kits (the Green Max three house/shop sets specifically) to use for templates and also to have ready for when I do start construction for real.

Edited February 19 by Oxbox

[babidi]

It would be pretty interesting to see the final outcome.