My layout now oozes a sense of history in its New South Wales North Coast line setting, thanks to some custom-made stick-on vinyl lettering that has dressed-up the layout fascia with some classic train names from the 1980’s.
Much like I did when I decorated the front of my layout module back when it existed in its industrial inner-Melbourne guise, I carefully selected some appropriate lettering using various fonts to give my shelf layout a bigger sense of occasion than its simple 3.3 metre long appearance otherwise suggests. And as you can see on the end of the layout module, the Philden St. motif still stands as a reminder to this layout’s origins. It is after all, still the name for the overpass that straddles the railway tracks at the fictitious location of Philden Beach.
As I wanted to steep my layout in the rich railway history of the New South Wales North Coast line, I chose the names of my favourite former passenger trains that I remembered watching ply the rails through my childhood hometown of Gosford, NSW, some of which I used to sneak out of the house late at night to watch as they passed through in the dark of night.
The ghost trains I chose to decorate the front fascia of my layout with are;
- NORTH COAST MAIL
- NORTH COAST OVERNIGHT EXPRESS
- GOLD COAST MOTORAIL
- BRISBANE LIMITED
- NORTH COAST DAYLIGHT EXPRESS
- HOLIDAY COAST XPT
There were of course other trains from the past that I could have chosen, such as the Brisbane Express, Expo Express, Murwillumbah XPT and the Grafton Express, but they wouldn’t have all fitted on the 3.3 metre long timber fascia of my layout module and staging shelf.
 |
| The stick-on lettering came printed on double-sided tape… |
 |
| …which could then have the backing paper peeled off and positioned, before the front paper is peeled safely away. |
 |
| I gave each train name a different font that I though summed up its spirit… |
 |
| …and spaced them out to lend my layout a certain museum-like quality. |
The names lend a whimsical sense of time and place to the layout, even when operating my full roster of 2010’s era locos and rollingstock. But they also will accompany my even smaller roster of 1980’s models for when I chose to run an earlier time period. This is purely for me to enjoy photographing some before and after timeline scenes on my layout to create a false sense of history and a fictional story for my layout.
As you can see in the photo above, the small OO9 Welsh Highlands layout is still waiting for a large chunk of time to finally appear before I can get stuck into modelling it. While on the staging shelf, I have a drop-in art piece slowly taking shape. But the lettering on my layout fascia nicely complements my row of exhibitor plaques from previous model train shows that I once attended.
 |
| Here a shortened version of a North Coast train stands at the future (or is that past?) site of Philden Beach Station. |
Keeping some modelling interest on the layout reserved for the future, the above photo shows where I plan to build a short platform which will be the site of the former Philden Beach Station, immediately to the north of the real Coffs Harbour Station. I’ll have to do something about covering up that graffiti for when I roll the timeline back to 1984, and when the timeline returns to the 2010’s it can be revealed again.
 |
| Going forward, I want to use my layout for some visual storytelling. |
With the layout effectively finished, from this point on I want to use it for some visual storytelling to falsify a sense of local history on what is purely a fictitious layout. To that extent, I’m going to try to lean heavily on models that can span a 30-year period where possible, like these louvered vans above. If I can keep some of the 4-digit ID board letters out of view when photographing, it is going to save me a lot of money compared to the cost of having duplicate rollingstock. Obviously there will be distinct modern and obsolete rollingstock that will differentiate the two time periods, such as locomotives, container wagons and long-gone passenger coaching stock. But for now, I’ve made a start.
An 80’s era locomotive hauling an Auscision Models 2 car RUB passenger set and a soon to arrive PHA power van will have to suffice for a shortened version of the Brisbane Limited, Gold Coast Motorail, North Coast Overnight or North Coast Daylight Express. I can only fit so much train in the frame for a photograph on a short shelf layout anyway, and I can’t afford for this idea to become an expensive one. So, the XPT is going to be confined to passing through Philden Beach under the cover of darkness. It’s just too long, and too expensive to ever be seen on this layout.
Instead, I can add something like the SDS Models FG passenger cars when they are released, which along with their LHO brake van and KP mail van might be enough to represent the North Coast Mail. As any layout additions from this point on are going to have to be funded solely out of what excess items I have for sale on eBay, I’m hoping I might be able to add one item at a time over the rest of the year. Fingers crossed for either a candy LHO or KP van to come next.
For now anyway, all those cool former 80’s trains exist in name on the fascia of my layout.