Floating Shelf Layout

I have always been drawn to the "Micro-Layouts" presented on Carl Arendt website, and the "theater-style" design often seen on European layouts. With that in mind, when I saw that Mike over at Budget Model Railways was sponsoring a little challenge, I figured what better time than now to try my hand at a "theater style micro layout"!

The Challenge

The challenge is to build a layout on a floating shelf.

The shelf should be no longer than 60cm (23.6in) long
The design must have at least 1 turnout (point)
And have at least 2 building/structures
A separate/removable fiddle yard is allowed, but must not exceed 60cm or be more than 2 roads.

The full details of the challenge can be reviewed on the BMW website Challenge page, or on the Youtube video where Mike introduced the challenge.

My Entry

The first thing I needed to do was find a floating shelf! Of course, I am in the US so finding a 60cm long shelf was a little difficult :-). While I was not able to find a 60cm x 23.5cm (i.e a 23.6 x 9.25 in) shelf, I was able to find one that was close. Just a little bigger. My shelf is 24in x 10.25in, so approximately half-inch longer, and 1 inch deeper. (technically, it is 27.7 in² bigger than the 'official rules'. )

Since mine was a full inch deeper, I thought I would try a design that did NOT include a separate fiddle yard. And that instantly made me think of a layout design that I have always really liked, Stubbier Yard. Bonus with this, is I have wanted to try my hand at building a traverser/transfer table. So I figured why not challenge myself for this challenge!

Stubbier Yard

(Quoted from the website: https://www.carendt.com/micro-layout-design-gallery )

Jeff Hatcher revealed the plan of his “almost pointless” N scale shelf switcher, “Stubby Yard,” in Issue Number 38 of Model Trains International. It’s a very compact industrial shunting layout, using a traverser (transfer table). And it has all the earmarks of a micro layout, but is somewhat too large to fit the category (Jeff wasn’t looking to design a micro, just a good small layout!).

Enter Stubbier Yard, a “squozed down” version of “Stubby Yard” that fits in 36″x12″ — very much a micro-sized layout. In HO, it’s designed to use 40-foot cars and a relatively small four-wheeled switch engine. There are five destinations for cars to shunt .

Start with three cars on the backstage storage track, randomly select (from a hat?) destinations for all three, and proceed to distribute the cars, collecting any empties that may already be in place at each destination. You’ll find it a challenging exercise from almost the first move! Note that runarounds can be accomplished in a number of ways, all involving use of the transfer table.

Jeff Hatcher is in the process of building Stubby Yard in N scale. Who will be the first to construct Stubbier Yard in HO? (Please send photos!)

My Journey to Stubbier Yard

I figured I would use this page to document the overall process. I am also going to try and keep some form of regular updates (semi-regular??) on my Youtube channel.

Cost Summary

Shelf - $17.11 after taxes/out the door - from Hobby Lobby
Turnout - $9.41 from ebay
Brass for Transverser - $9.98 + $4.00 This is the first "must purchase new". The square tube was $8, but I only need half. The strip is $4.99, and I needed two of them.
Assorted lumber/wood/etc -($0) Needed for the transfer table & to lift the whole thing up. Using what I have already from building my T-TRAK modules. Like the track, I am trying to use as much of my 'off cuts' as possible.
Two knobs - ($0) I have some old plastic drawer pull knobs I plan to use (pulled them from some old discarded cabinet YEARS ago. )
Track - ($0) As of now, I have a mix of used Atlas set track, and some new Kato flex track. The Kato track was purchased for a different project, so as of now I am trying to use only the off-cuts from that project. Considering it "free" at the time being.
Building & Structures - ($0) I will be using Scalescene building and/or textures. While not exactly "second hand" - they are very low cost, can be printed and reprinted and re-used any number of times, etc. So far, I have not purchased any kits or textures specifically for this project, so considering it "free" at the time being.

So right now, I am up to $40.50 spent "new" for this project.

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