Ellesmere Town

Introduction

The first scene you see as you descend the stairs to the basement is the town of Ellesmere. The town will be built on an approximately 5′ x 5′ area in the corner of the room. The hidden track comes in from the left, and the tracks go out on the right to a bridge that will cross the window (or door). The mainline tracks, therefore, will cut across the board on the diagonal. This diagonal track makes planning for industries challenging. I tried to design the town with the Walthers Paper Mill as the town industry, but I really couldn’t make it fit without tight curves on the track.

The answer seems to be to not try and have one big industry, but just have an industrial park with tracks going between buildings, as that was one of my goals anyway. The town of Harrington will have much more space to have the papermill.

Design

I am going to place industries at the back of the layout. This gives the best chance to have wider more realistic curves. The town will be on the inside of the area and will include offices, commercial buildings, and some housing. Getting the mix right will be a challenge, as will getting the industry correct. There will need to be roads and streets on both sides and a few city blocks, fences, etc.

Industry Side

This will be a general industry area with small businesses serviced by rail. Look to the 58th/Washington area of Denver and others. Maybe smaller buildings from Walthers.

Commercial Side

Need some medium-density housing, apartment blocks, and shops, etc. Maybe too close to the station to have single-family homes.

Backdrop

Need a backdrop to make the town appear larger.

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