Brazilian Micro Switching / Shunting / Switchback Layout

A left over piece of MDF produced the idea for this layout. My youngest daughter recently acquired a new bunk bed for her room, and wanted a place to do some painting without painting on the walls of her room. My wife purchase a large piece of MDF for that purpose, and had it cut to size at the hardware store, and a 1200 x 240mm piece of MDF and a few extra pieces 1200m wide and about 70mm deep, were left over. My wife specifically said to me “can you use these for a model railway”. Of course I can, I thought!


Brazilian Micro Layout Rock / landslip feature

Track Plan, Theme and Era

But how to use it? I perused the various eBooks by the late Carl Arendt until I settled on an expanded and customised track plan based on the “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan in the “Creating Micro Layouts” eBook. That track plan is only about 600mm x 300mm, whereas the track plan I will be using will cover 1200 x 240mm.


Sugar Mill spur with a hopper awaiting pickup by the local freight. train

The next thing to do was to decide on a prototype / theme. I had thought of a tram / streetcar layout like that suggested for the “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan in the eBook, with the possibility of a Melbourne Tram layout. But in the end I settled on a Brazilian themed layout.


Track plan

The reason for this is that I have a limited budget, and the Melbourne Tram model was over $250 (Australian) – a huge chunk out of my model railway budget. I had previously come across the Frateschi HO scale models, made in Brazil. So I did some research about them and from what I read they seem like reasonable models, and very reasonably priced. I went onto ebay, and found a model of a Brazilian G22 Bo-Bo diesel electric locomotive with an RFFSA (Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima) paint scheme which is about 6 inches long, for $99. And so I purchased it. This allows me some space to also have some freight cars to move through the layout attached to the locomotive.

Because the RFFSA only operated between 1957 and 1999, and the layout will be run with an EMD G22 diesel rather than steam motive power, the era is fairly well defined to between 1967 (when the G22 was introduced) and 1999. This era is about the same as the other model layouts I have, and is purposely broad to allow for the use of more types of rollingstock.


Foliage on the layout.

Innovation and Operation

Not only is this the first Brazilian themed layout I have built but it is also the first one where I employed multi-use foam board (called XPS insulation board) which is very similar to extruded foam board used in the USA.


RFFSA loco shunting the yard.

Rather than the layout being a passenger switch-back between multiple tram stops like the original “Tramways de Chamies-Les Thurs” track plan, this layout is a freight switching layout, with a small 2 track yard, the switch back, and various industries on the different legs of the switch back. This gives a fair amount of operational interest in a micro layout space.


Shunting a reefer into the cold storage spur.

An innovation (for me) for this layout was the inclusion of a chain switching system, after watching a YouTube video of chain switching on a micro layout.


Chain switching guides and chains.

Scenery

The scenery on the layout includes palm trees, lots of grass, small bushes, Agave plants (at least that’s what I think they look like), a rock face that slopes away at the front of the layout, and a bamboo plantation, and some small hills that help break up the layout into small scenes and hide the train (or part of it) for a while. The scenery has the feel of an almost tropical area with verdant greenery.


Using the capstan / chain shunting system to move a car into the Sugar Mill spur.

The XPS foam allowed me to have some features below and above the level of the track, which I think has given the layout a more realistic look than if it had been built straight onto a baseboard.

This layout was quite interesting to build, and I have had a number of operating sessions on the layout, the chain and capstan system adding a level of interest and complexity that can keep the train crew busy for 20 to 30 minutes.

 

Hi Gary.

They are metal, or at least metal coated - they occasionally short out the track if I'm not careful!

Regards, James

 

Hi Tony.

I am pretty impressed with the Frateschi loco and cars I have purchased. The loco runs nice and smoothly, and the cars are well weighted and have metal wheels to roll freely (although that's not always desirable when chain shunting). I was tossing up whether to model a New Zealand scene, using Frateschi equipment, but in the end I decided to try a Brazilian theme instead.

Regards, James

 

A video I made a while ago of the layout with some photos during construction and operating the layout



Unfortunately the resolution quality isn't great as it was shot using a small stills camera's video feature, but it gives an idea how the layout is operated.

Regards, James

 

I'm published!

A few weeks ago, I read a post on here RM Web about a new Model Railway magazine / ezine called “The Micro Model Railway Dispatch“. Unlike most model railroad magazines / ezines, this new publication is dedicated to micro model railways, which are model railroad layouts that are 4 square feet or less in size as defined by the late Carl Arendt.

I read that if anyone had a micro layout that they would like to see published in the magazine / ezine to send the editor an email. Over the course of a week or so I indicated to the editor that I would be willing to submit an article for the magazine, received a reply and wrote an article which was published not long after in the 2nd issue.

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I used to be the editor for a regional model railway club many years ago, and wrote an article for the NMRA Australia magazine some years ago, but this is the first time I have been published in a magazine / ezine for the general model railway community. The model railroad layout of mine that was featured was my HO scale switchback Brazilian Micro layout, but reading about every layout in the magazine was interesting and thought provoking as micro model railroad layouts often are.

The excuse “I don’t have room for a model railway layout” doesn’t stand up against the plethora of micro model railway layouts in magazines / ezines like The Micro Model Railway Dispatch and Carl Arendt’s website and others with like-minded content. If you are interested in micro model railway layouts, regardless of scale, it’s worth having a look at The Micro Model Railway Dispatch.

 

Thanks Gary.

I used to think micro layouts were too small to be interesting enough operationally (for many years now my main interest has been switching and industrial branch lines), until I actually built one and started operating it! Then I was so impressed with the potential fun possible with micro layouts I built 5 more.

Regards, James