It Begins

   So....it begins.

    If asked to describe my layout, and the theme chosen for it, I would have to sum it up as a "Lady and the Tramp Model Railroad." 

It's been a solid 7 years since I've had a permanent model railroad. My life has sorta evened out to where I can start doing something again and with the new year, I decided that it was time to pull the trigger on my "dream" layout and build something for myself. I've built several layouts since I tore down the last one I've owned. The largest of which currently resides at a railroad museum. It was time to build my own vision, for myself.

Disney created meany classic films. Both fantastical, and endearing in their storytelling abilities. Some of which will find homages and nods within my world and the rails that spread across it.

But one stood out to me on a personal level. I have always been endeared to Lady and the Tramp since I was a small child.I had always been a fan of the Victorian and Edwardian era. Their familiar world and loving family first drawing me in as an innocent escape from reality. A love story that is both beautiful and complex set against a looking glass of nostalgia into a period of American history that is no more. Had they been non-fictional, Lady and Tramp themselves would have long since passed into history. Along with their world. 

This is an attempt to put a little history into that world. I have pulled myself back from 1909, the original time frame of the franchise, to set it among my 19th century railroad vision. ( As well as other alterations in order to tell the story I wish to tell.) But otherwise, the style, color pallet, and general atmosphere is intended to replicate the classic Disney film in model form.

Planning began around summer of last year, and I started working on collecting the material and coming up with a budget to start. The first module, titled "Marceline Shops" will be a 4x1 1/2 shelf style layout, and feature a roundhouse, back-shop, locomotive servicing facility, and a few small sidings. It's set in the 1890s on the Western & Atlantic in Marceline, home of Lady and the Tramp. The style, color pallet, and general atmosphere is intended to replicate the classic Disney film in model form.
While L&TT might be the hinge-pin that the theme revolves around, other films and inspirations will likewise also find their way home.

Bench-work started at the very end of 2018, and as of this writing, is finished to a foam tabletop. I plan to build my layout as a modeler set up, and build outward as time, money, and space allows. My goal is to have a railroad that I will never need to tare down, only modify and bring with me as my life grows.

Hopefully, this blend of modelling, fanart, and alternative history will entertain you as much as it's going to entertain me.

At this point, all I can say is....It Begins