22 replies to this topic

[simonwillems]

Hello All,

I hereby present my most recent town.

I have been a little less active lately on EB, but I was either busy studying or building this layout, and I think it has turned out pretty well.
This is my first time to include 9 volt/4,5 volt trains in a layout and I had great fun constructing the tunnel with lots of technic beams and other pieces I do not use very frequently such as batteryboxes and even a  4,5 v batterytender, just to gain some height for the trains to fit underneath. The roadplates forming the roof of the tunnel can hold quite some weight, and I built some heavy houses on top of them, including Market Street. All with an Amsterdam-feeling.
With all the harborplates I bought recently I made the cargo-area for the freighttrains to 'dock' and deliver their goods.
My intention was to create 'two different worlds' in one layout, one of a busy looking townstreet and one with a more industrial feeling, separated by a height difference.

In most of the houses I made 9 volt lights, powered by an extra speed regulator as you can see in one picture: showing many wires... I will take some midnight pictures soon to display this feature.  

Comments are very welcome of course!





The entire Brickshelf Gallery

Edited by simonwillems, 19 November 2007 - 07:26 PM.

[highlandcattle]

I absolutely adore it :)

I love the way it all kinda fits together. Especially the industrial part I've been working on soemthing like this aswell but mor 1920 but it absolutly doesn't look as coherent.

[Lt. Col. Thok]

Very nice!  It has a nice pre-World War I feel to it.

[alex54]

What a nice layout!
The fact that it's on different level is really nice! I would like to make some levels in my layout, but I don't ahev all that rockwalls... Anyway.
The cargo section is nice, like the townstreet.
The use of those roadplates is nice in the townsteet section, making some parc cars with trees, great!
With all the details everywhere (roadsigns, a lot of minifigs,...), everything is full of live.
So congrats for your layout Mr Simonwillems!

[Asuka]

What a wonderful work, and very clever indeed! Just lovely! *wub*

[TheBrickster]

Reminds me of a visit to Germany.  Very nice city/town with a real European design.  Excellent job.

[Bonaparte]

I enjoyed watching the pictures of this town display. The idea of the 2 worlds works well.
My 2 favorite pictures are the ones of the big tunnel and the train transporting all those bikes.
Do you have plans to expand this display in the future?
And what have you been studying?

[Commander Red Hat]

Wow, very awesome Simon, it does look a bit like our beloved city! *wub*

I love the tunnels and the fact everything connects!
It looks very lively with all the figs and vehicles!

I didn't see your great firetrucks however, maybe a firestation would be a nice addition?


City life on!

Edited by Captain green hair, 11 November 2007 - 09:41 PM.

[simonwillems]

Thanks for all the kind words, really appreciated  :-$

Bonaparte, on Nov 3 2007, 09:05 PM, said:

Do you have plans to expand this display in the future?
And what have you been studying?

I think I have reached the limit of my rockpieces, grey, green and black bricks... So there will be little expanding, maybe I'll adjust some of the houses in the future.

As to studying, I have been quite occupied studying Criminology lately as I have to take some tests the upcoming week. It's a tough study, but worth the effort.

Captain green hair, on Nov 3 2007, 11:09 PM, said:

I didn't see your great firetrucks however, maybe a firestation would be a nice addition?

My firetruck had to part with some grey/bley tiles for the sake of my street and the railway crossings, so it stands abused on a shelf somewhere...  :-/
The reason I didn't include a firestation is the limited room at the side of the road on the rocks: there is only the sidewalks and an 8 wide strip to build on. It is not visible in the pictures, but Marketstreet actually sticks out quite a bit on the backside of the layout. That's because I bought this set when I had finished building the rocks.
So any firecar would stick out to much when in the garage.... Some other time perhaps.

[zeki]

this is nicely done simon! I love the design and the 2 level idea...Modular city on top and industr down below...it makes it real.

[Lasse D]

It brings back good memories of my childhood towns. Some buildings, a lot of vehicles and trains  *wub*

I like how you have expanded on the Café Corner techniques. Will you have lights in the houses as well? There is nothing like paying with the trains at night when there is light in other models as well  *sweet*

[casewindu]

What a classic town it's great! I  *wub*  the trees I need to make some like this. I wish I had that many grey road bases!  :'-)

[Wout]

Like the architecture  *y*   *wub*

very cosy :-)

[jedikermit]

Simply stunning...I spent a few years in Germany, and I love the Northern European feel you've captured here.  Very colorful, very busy, but still intimate.  Man.  I've gotta build something.

[simonwillems]

As promised here are some pictures taken 'at night' showing all 9 volt lights I have built in this layout.
I used a total of eight lightunits, three with single and five with twin lights, most of them covered with this reflection piece.
For power I used a second speed regulator next to the one powering the trains

Some pictures worked out better then other ones, but is very hard to take some not-blurry pictures when holding the camera. Better result can be achieved when letting the camera rest on (in this case) the street.
The first two pictures in the folder are made with flash in night-modus (no photoshop!) the rest in plain darkness.

Enjoy!

The complete nocturnal Brickshelf gallery

(click on small pictures to enlarge)

[casewindu]

Fantastic I love the night life scene! I have really wanted to put lights into my layouts but have never found the time!  :-( These pics are just stunning can i come and stay in your town!  ;-)

[simonwillems]

casewindu, on Nov 19 2007, 06:19 PM, said:

Fantastic I love the night life scene! I have really wanted to put lights into my layouts but have never found the time!  :-( These pics are just stunning can i come and stay in your town!  ;-)

You are most welcome, make sure to bring a torch though....  X-D

[alex54]

Just with few lights in the dark, and a layout has a totally different feeling! The atmosphere is so diferent! It brings a magic touch, which goes with this chistmas time coming...

[AzMean]

*wub* i just love your layout man... its one of the great examples around.. building a town with limited space and making use of 2 levels! maybe someday i would want to build a town like this..

thanks for the inspiration!   :-D

[VBBN]

Ooo, very nice! *y*
I like the red building on the corner, it is so clean and detailed.
Its size is just the same as mine!  :-D
Keep up the good work!

Edit: Almost forgot, that night pic is amazing! So realistic!

Edited by ~VBBN~, 21 November 2007 - 02:39 AM.

[PaulC]

Your town is absolutely fantastic Simon. There's so many details about that I love: The multi-level layout, the road and rail tunnels, your wonderful trees...  *wub*

It has a classic town feel, and at the same time a very European feel too. Plus, the night lighting gives it even more atmosphere. Well done on such a detailed and character-filled layout in such a small space.

[simonwillems]

Thanks for all the nice remarks.

The night scene really was a first experiment, I'm still improving the technique....
I'll try to photograph some moving trains with lights on, last time I tried I ended up with two long stripes of light going through a bend.... I guess the trains move faster than my shutter in the dark  :-)

[ExoBuilder]

What a lovely town! *wub*

I'm trying to make a nice town as well.

*y*