Developing the idea

We left the last post with an arrangement that I was happy with, so the next thing I did was to do a quick sketch. 

First vision.

I was really quite taken with my first idea of a converted boxcar as a depot building since seeing an O. Winston Link photo of Creek Junction a while back when I was researching ideas for a possible Link inspired N&W micro. I'd seen a photo of the Grandt Line Silverton Ore Chute that attracted me. But that was in HO. I'm also not sure about how the scenery should develop on this little layout. To my mind chutes like that are often perched precariously on the sides of mountains and probably not a workable location for the micro.

Then a problem! I found a Weaver O scale boxcar that I could use to judge the space the depot would take up and it took up too much depth, leaving no room for a platform.

Clearance Fail!

Still, these things are sent to test us. Micro layout design is not the easiest thing. We're trying to distill the essence of a railroad scene in a ridiculously small area. I was also having a change of thought about the Ore chute because I discovered the Banta Modelworks Little Creek Mine model.
There was only one thing for it.

Full size mock up.

I guesstimated the size of the Mine area using the website photos and my Bachmann gondolas. The head frame might be a little tall to fit in the cabinet. Otherwise it fits in there well. I could use a pile of pit props and other mining detritus to hide the line exit to the storage sidings on the left hand side.
The right hand side is still a mystery though. At the moment I have the rearmost line appearing from behind a fence. In my mind that's a bit of a cop out. I need a narrow structure or a narrow one that gets wider. Not unlike the "Smallest shoe shop in England" in Woodhall Spa. Dear readers please feel free to suggest a structure if you know of one.

The smallest shoe shop in England. No more than 4' deep at its narrowest

Trees. Trees too are a bit of a cop out in my mind. But it kinda works. their height can play off agains the height of the mine head frame.  Perhaps a different sort of tree rather than my ubiquitous silver birches.

I'll leave the mock up for a few days and think about it.

As a whole, I'm really happy with the way the model feels. It just needs a little fine tuning on the right hand side. I'll go and think about it.