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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
USA
7515 Posts |
 Posted - 04/16/2008 : 8:57:11 PM
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Welcome!
We will be starting our International Shoebox Challenge on April 19th and it will run until January 1st, 2009. The guidelines for the challenge are few and simple:
1- You must use a shoebox that when in the closed position does not exceed 13 inches long by 9 inches wide by 5 inches deep.
2- It has to be a layout not a diorama. Meaning you have to be able run laps or switch a car to a track different than the one the loco is on.
3- The layout has to fit in the box with the lid closed.
There are some exceptions to make your life a little easier:
If you are using turnouts/turntables/traversers that are manually controlled this means you probably will have a handle or lever that sticks
out past the edge of the layout. This is O.K. as long as the handle or lever is removable so the layout will fit in the box. The handle or lever doesn't have to be in the box with the layout.
Transformers/power supllies, locos and rolling stock do not have to fit in the box with the layout.
Any tall objects like a tree or tower that can be preventing the lid from being closed can be made removable so they can be laid down. But there has to be room for them to still be in the box with the lid closed.
The layout can be any scale or gauge from Zn15 to G
It can be steam, diesel, traction, rural, urban, any time frame, any place.
This post will be made a sticky and all entries should be posted here.
If you have any other questions there is a seperate Q & A thread please post them there.
Thanks
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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
USA
7515 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2008 : 08:06:05 AM
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Just a reminder that the Great International Shoebox Challenge is now open for business!
[:-jumprefect] [:-jumprefect] [:-jumprefect] |
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acousticco
Fireman
Canada
1077 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2008 : 12:15:45 PM
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Excellent!
So far I've cut a block of plywood to fit into my shoe box, which is one inch below regulation size on all sides (12 x 8 x 4). Then I started poking through the junk heaps for materials, as I'd prefer not to have to purchase any new material for this project, and found a good bit of N and HOn3 track, so I'll try and use up some of that. I haven't rally yet decided on a theme or local, but I'm thinking I'd like to be able to run some of my engines and rolling stock that I already have built. But the a challenge like this really begs for something new and unusual (for me anyway).
But at any rate I'm started! Pictures will start showing up once there's something to show!
-Cody |
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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
USA
7515 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2008 : 12:33:24 PM
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| Great Cody! We will be looking forward to the progress pics. A project like this is a good way to use odds and ends one has laying around. |
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TrainClown
Fireman
Canada
1511 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2008 : 4:54:26 PM
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Well, we are off and running. I know I'm excited about this project. I have been designing plans and I will be glad to share my first ideas and flesh out where I want to go with this.
Personally, I am not a big fan of "point to point" layouts, so the big stumbling block for me was to find an idea that would allow me a continuous "loop" type of a plan. Plus the fact I wanted to stick to my favorite scale of HO.
Then I had an idea that I think will combine lots of my favorite things and now I can't stop thinking about it.
As I read the rules, my project could be any scale or any type of track mounted conveyance. With that in mind I came up with;
The Haunted House Amusement Park Ride
My plan is to make my own cars and hand lay the track. Basically N scale track or HOn24. The cars will be towed up a lift hill by a magnet and chain and gravity will do the rest (at least this is my first idea. experiments needed!).
I hope to incorporate animated scary type displays among the twists and turns of the ride.
Here is my first track plan I like. If you can imagine a rickety house facade with 2 balconies the train pops out front on, that cuts across the bottom of the plan on the 2" grid line (the grid is in inches)
This first 3D view is an over all one. The black line box represents the size of my shoebox.
This is a view from the lift hill end. The mechanism will be below the lift hill.
The last view is from the other side and better shows the elevation and drops of the track.
The tricky thing is to design the plan so it is open and you can see all areas from above.
When I was a kid I always wanted to design a ride like this. This should be some scary fun.
Christopher [:-clown] |
Clowning around with trains.
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Edited by - TrainClown on 04/22/2008 02:18:22 AM |
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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
USA
7515 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2008 : 7:25:20 PM
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Christopher I was very glad when you said you wanted to participate in the challenge and this is exactly why. After what you did with the Peanut Butter Lid challenge I thought you could go wild with something is big (by comparision to a PB lid  ) is a shoebox, and it looks like you will. Really looking forward to this T.C.! |
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acousticco
Fireman
Canada
1077 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2008 : 10:46:17 PM
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Well Folks,
Here's a first view of my entry for The Great International Shoebox Challenge 2008!
It's 12 x 8 inches, built on a chunk of 5/8" plywood which just fits into my shoebox. The plan is simple, but fun to operate. A train pulls out from the fiddle yard in the back, around a really tight curve, then clears the switch. Once the switch is thrown, you back the train onto the spur, which will have some kind of loading platform next to it. Then just take the train 'off stage' and repeat.
The fiddle yard in the back will be covered by a hillside and a small office or sheds or something...
I plan to use Roco and Nigel Lawton's tipper wagons and some kind of tiny diesel locomotive. Grandt Line's boxcab & endcabs have no problem with the curve, nor do any of my diesels built on Kato pocket mechanisms, but I'll have to do some tinkering with couplings if I want to be able to pull any cars.
More soon,
-Cody
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ddavidv
Engine Wiper
USA
149 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 07:45:45 AM
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Cody, what scale track is that? Looks like HO.
I've got the box and a foam base so far. I thought this would be fairly easy (I'm doing mine in N) but it's not! Studying the work of others on the Carendt site I'm finding that applying track plans to my box doesn't work very well with 40' cars. Those European dudes with their little wagons really have an advantage. [:-glasses] So I continue to ponder...
As I may use this as a display for our N-Trak club setups to show people you can build a layout in any space, I am debating using a continuous run so it can just be left 'on'. Won't offer much in the way of operational interest, but that may not be what this challenge is all about. This sure has my brain working...didn't do squat yesterday but look through books and web sites for ideas. [:-propeller] |
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Bbags
Administrator
USA
12561 Posts |
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Ray46
Engine Wiper
USA
177 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 5:00:22 PM
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I feel a little like Charlie Brown. He, Lucy and Linus were lying on a little hill looking up at the clouds. Lucy said, "That cloud looks like Abraham Lincoln signing the Emmancipation Proclaimation." Linus said, "That cloud looks like Socrates giving a great oration in Athens."
They asked Charlie Brown, "What do you see?" He said, "I was going to say I see a duckey and a horsie."
After seeing the beginnings of the first couple of entries, I feel like my idea is a duckey and a horsie. But I've never done anything like this and it sounds like it will be a good time had by all, so I'm going to give it a shot.
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Edited by - Ray46 on 04/21/2008 5:00:58 PM |
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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
USA
7515 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2008 : 5:53:54 PM
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Glad to see you jumping right in there Cody, lots of room for scenery with that plan.
Dwight I don't think it is possible in the space of a shoebox to have very much operational interest , but that is O.K., we are just trying to make ourselves exercise the ol' grey matter!
Ray one man's Socrates is another man's duckie, don't sweat it just jump in and have fun! |
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TrainClown
Fireman
Canada
1511 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2008 : 02:15:24 AM
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Cody, You got a good start there. If I may make an observation. I think you could fit another switch on your fiddle track and scoot it under your mountain. Then you can have 2 cars to switch out.
Dwight, I saw a neat little layout that was a point to point with an auto reverse setup. It was a mine train. The train would come out of a tunnel, along a short way on a mountain side, over a small trestle and terminated at the top of a mine building/stamp house. Then it returned to the mine for more. I even think the guy had it set up so the hopper car dumped at the end of the line when it was over the building. Something like this sort of idea might suit your plans.
Ray, don't be intimidated by more experienced modelers. The whole point of this is to have fun. It's a challenge and not a competition. Some of the best modeling I have seen has been done on the simplest of track plans. I hope you and others who might be sitting on the fence, decide to join in the game. All are welcome.
Christopher [:-clown] |
Clowning around with trains.
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ddavidv
Engine Wiper
USA
149 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2008 : 9:57:42 PM
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| Christopher, how on earth do you plan on getting all that track in there? I picked up a piece of N flex track tonight to use on mine and the radius is so tight I'm not sure my Bachmann Plymouth will even make it around. I'm wondering if I need to cut some ties out of it or how exactly to get a nice radius and keep the track in place while I attach it. I was going to use silicone or glue caulk. I'm using half inch foamboard for the base. |
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acousticco
Fireman
Canada
1077 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2008 : 01:28:41 AM
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Greetings Folks,
I managed a little work on my still un-named micro over the last day or so. I built up the basic hillside shape with cardboard and plastercloth, incorporating into the hill the foundation and terrace for the office, which is a Downtown Deco kit. The roof will be modified from the kit version to have a more English look to it. From the top of the hill I hope to build some kind of gravity-fed flue that will load the skip wagons on the spur at the bottom. But I'm not sure yet what the railroad will be hauling though...
The office roof almost exactly at 4.5 inches high, so I'll have to make it removable to be able to close my shoebox. Any building or structure on the top of the hill more than an inch or so tall will have to be removable too.
Overall view:
I'm not sure if I'll keep the shed at the top of the hill. I might move it to the bottom right, on the outside of the curve... The top left area, above the tunnel portal will also be thickened a bit as it looks a little thin to me. I'll probably also try and come up with something to block the view behind the layout from the tunnel portal.
A close up of the office:
The foundation is actually a loading dock that came with the kit, with the ramp section hidden inside the hill. I had patched the seams with plaster and carved some new stones to blend the corners, but then broke it into four pieces by holding onto it too hard while I was working on it. It glued back together well, but you can still see some cracks. I painted the windows and doors today (green) and will hopefully have time to install them tomorrow, and maybe get started on the roof.
I also ordered an OO9 (4mm scale, 9mm gauge) Orenstein & Koppel RL1c Montania locomotive kit from Nigel Lawton today, which I think will be a challenge in itself (the locomotive is 32 x 17 x 20 millimeters!), but will provide small enough power to handle the sharp curves and short lead track for the spur. If I can get it to run...
Christopher,
I had considered adding another track to the fiddle yard, but I wanted to keep things simple, and use up leftover materials I had on hand. Plus, since it's a fiddle yard, i have no problem moving stuff around by hand...
Dwight,
It's Peco OO9/HOn30 track, 9mm gauge.
Ray,
I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with, I suspect the crowd is friendly.
More soon,
-Cody |
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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
USA
7515 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2008 : 08:15:36 AM
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| Looks good Cody! As far as the top of the tunnel looking thin, vegetation would also help to thicken it up. |
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Bbags
Administrator
USA
12561 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2008 : 08:59:32 AM
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Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some very interesting little layouts being produced and talked about in this thread.
While I will just be a spectator for this Challenge I will be an interested spectator as I watch people cram everything except a pair of shoes into a box.
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John Bagley
Modeling the Alaska Railroad in HO in Wildwood Georgia. |
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The Great International Shoebox Challenge
