Back To My Low-Relief Pabco Paper Building

Back in 2021, I posted on my efforts to make something work with a low-relief, reduced scale, selectively-compressed representation of the enromous Pabco Paper facility in Vernon, CA:

The effort in that post was my second; I had originally intended it to go against a backdrop on my HO layout, but I wound up not liking it there. Then I tried it on an N scale switching layout, thinking its reduced scale made it closer to N anyhow, but I didan't like it there, either. Eventually I deconstructed it into separate buildings, still not sure of where to do with it, and I was close to throwing everything out.

Then a few weeks ago, I discovered Kato mini diorama modules and the related and compatible pocket size modules, and after a little cogitation, I decided to turn the deconsctructed buildings into individual double-width pocket size modules, which are compatible with Kato mini diorama modules.

What I like about this approach, in addition to the reduced size, which seems closer to N scale, is that the length of the scene is adjustable, and the whole layout configuration that it goes with is also completely adjustable. The single track on the modules can be either a main line or a siding.

Also, one issue on which I had been stumped was how to incorporate the water tower that's between the two buildings on the prototype:

I didn't think a water tower cut in half was going to work as a background flat. But now I realized that I can simply build a 4-7/8" wide pocket size module that's deeper than usual and then just mount the wster tower on it and hook it up between the other buildings or not as I please.

A Few Mini Diorama Modules

I've started building some mini diorama modules to see how the idea works out. The first thing I needed to do was figure out how to add a power feed, because I have several different controllers, both DC and DCC. Because the concept is based on Kato architecture, most people seem to use Kato track feeders connected to the Kato power pack with standard Kato plugs. However, I don't have a Kato power pack and prefer to use standard terminal barrier blocks with spade terminal connectors that can be used with any conroller.

Here is a Klawndyke strtaight module modified to incorporate a 2-position terminal block.

The straight module in the photos below is this terminal module with scenery added.

Below is a curved module with scenery to represent an oil field. It uses inexpensive 3D printed details from eBay.

A commenter to last week's post said that modules that have scenery but leave the module base visible create a distraction. I did these modules before that comment, and my view is that it's just easier to put the clay all the way down to the base. I sort of like the hidden base better.

N Scale Mini Diorama Modules

Over the past couple of weeks, I discovered a new type of N scale module. These were originated by Kato and marketed as school classroom projects, but their appeal has extended into the model rail hobby. Here's an example of a finished module by Australian modeler Maureen Kathage from a post on the Mini Diorama Model Railroading Facebook group (her photo).

Although they're quite a bit smaller than T-TRAK modules, they're very similar in principle, since they're meant to be set up on tables and are dimensioned to use Kato N Unitrack, with Kato Unijoiners forming both the mechanical and electrical connection between modules.

At this point, these are sold as kits for straight or curved modules. The straights are meant for Kato 20-020 4-7/8" straight sections, while the curves are meant for Kato 20-172 7" curve sections. These are sharp -- the equivalent of less than 15" in HO -- but N scale GP style locos and 50-foot boxcars will run on them.

Module kits are available on eBay from US and Japan sources, as well as from Amazon, and apparently from a Kato US web site. However, they can be pretty expensive from some sources. The least expensive are US-made clones from Klawndyke's. I've found that these are robust, high-quality products, and he fills orders promptly.

Kato USA has a video on assembling their module kit:

And another one on adding scenery to a completed module kit:

There are other videos like this one that show how to use relatively inexpensive scenery materials from Michaels or Hobby Lobby to finish a basic module kit.

The use of materials like modeling clay makes these modules a somewhat "arty" project. Another is the shape of the modules, which encourages the artistic quality of asymmetry.

There's also the similarity of the N scale mini diorama modules to the bonsai hobby, in which a plant is kept in a dwarf form and pruned into an artistic shape. In modules as small as these, there's a need to evoke the sense of something larger with artistic techniques.

This strrikes me as a fascinating recent development in the hobby, which I want to follow up.