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Adventures in T-trak: Planning scenery for an urban module - Draft 1

Tokyo.

That's the scenic subject of my T-trak module supplied by https://www.precisionmodelrailroad.com/.

It will be a representation, not a prototypical recreation. The scene needs to cover a 12-inch by 12-inch space. Actually, the street scene needs to fit into a smaller space. The tracks consume a three-inches by 12-inches. That leaves 108 square inches. Is this enough space for a plausible street scene?

Of course. People are doing far more in less space. 


My idea was to build a city street and buildings parallel the tracks. A cross street would dead end into the main road. At the intersection, we’d see an entrance to the Tokyo Metro. The intersection would have a traffic light.


Initially I thought the cross street could meet at a 90-degree angle to the main street. The concern is giving the viewer a straight view to the backdrop. That could decrease the scene's plausibility.


An alternative is that the cross street connects at a diagonal. Another possibility, the cross street meets at a 90 degree, but makes a quick turn to the right or the left. The backdrop would be a structure.


The challenge: the scene is shallow and there’s little space to convincingly execute either of those two options. 


Outland Models makes urban structures that could easily pass for buildings I’ve seen in Japan. I bought a few kits.


Turns out there’s enough depth for the cross street to make a 90 degree turn. I’ll have to do some tweaking to make it work. 


See what you think.   


Draft of the scenic plan. Sorry about the light pencil lines. 



Next time: continuing to hone the scene.

                                                                            -30-


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