Wrightsville Port: N Scale Model Train Exhibit

N scale in general means 1:160. The British and Japanese versions of this scale are 1:148 and 1:150 respectively, but the actual difference in dimensions between the varieties are very subtle. Model Trains made in all these scales run on 9 mm gauge tracks that depict 'Standard Gauge' in this scale. An average human in N Scale is just about 10 mm tall!

A term coined by its creator, imitating a more popular term in model train world called scratch-building which means building a model from scratch without taking help of model kits. This particular term means building a model out of scrap materials. All custom models in Wrightsville are made out of cardboard, wires, toothpicks, reject parts of toys and puzzles, matchstick, or even the cardboard core of toilet paper roll - things that generally find their way to the trashcan even before you know it. All the locomotives, rolling stock, tracks, vehicles and humans are of course purchased off the shelf and in most cases in 'ready to run' state.

After Sirius, came the first cranes. Following the designs of cranes from the 1950's and '60's these cranes were built out of cardboard, electrical wire and aluminium foil. Yes, those intricate jibs are thin cardboard too, with truss support of 28 gauge copper wire. The ladders are made out of the same grade of electric wires.

2010 continued to see more individual items being made, though the plan of the layout was still taking shape. The bascule bridge is made out of remnant of wooden 3D puzzles - a deviation in material from the otherwise staple of cardboard. The tug boat is made using the 'conventional' materials - rejected cardboard stock, electrical wire, drinking straw etc.

Since the wooden structure of the display was to be done by a carpenter (in model railroading term, known as benchwork), a 1:15 scale model of the real thing was made for the carpenter for ease of visualisation. Naturally, the carpenter still had plenty of questions.

After completing the benchwork (base of the layout), it was time to lay those little railroad tracks. Track laying is hard work even in model form. Everything needs to align properly, you need to keep an eye out for smooth grades, proper flow and geometry of the track for reliable running of trains.

Here you see Mouli just starting to paint the backdrop in Wrightsville Port's 2nd home. Though there are a lot of colors in that box, eventually it would come down to just shades of blue to start with, and then a mix of green and fall colors for the backdrop hill.

The process of embedding the tracks in concrete was a time consuming work that continued till end of 2012. It required a degree of precision where a millimetre is either too high or too low! Concrete details were printed concrete patterns glued on the cardboard. The pieces between the rails are styrene (A type of  amendable plastic). The end result is definitely realistic.

In 2013 the layout started to look more and more like the plan drawn 3 years ago. More buildings and structures were coming up, and the scenes were getting busier every month.

Yes, sometimes bringing out those fine details in a scale as small as 1:160 takes some immense concentration!

A lot was happening in Wrightsville by 2013 - Lizzy, the attendant in the local small grocery store Ducketts is cleaning the floor. In the floor above, Mr. Shaw had his long time friend Simon Green visiting him for an evening drink and some serious discussion on books and arts - you can spot the fancy blue whiskey bottle and the glass on the table in front of Mr. Shaw. On the second floor, however, there is romance brewing! Local college student Dan Andrew had his new girlfriend visiting this evening and we expect the lights to go off very soon in that apartment! 

After moving to Hyderabad in it's 4th home, Wrightsville Port had its first operating railroad signal. Totally handmade, these were made out of aluminium tube, brass wire, cardboard and very small incandescent lamps (1.2 mm in diameter). The signals denote whether the block it is protecting is occupied or not.

2014-15 saw more finer details being added. Those tiny vehicles were installed with optic fibre headlights (even that 15 mm long motor bike!), the hotel had it's neon sign, Frosty's cold storage came up in the corner and you can spot more people on the road.

An unusual angle of the layout that is not very often filmed - the entry/exit of the trains is behind the tall hotel building.

New tall yard lights were installed in the port in 2015 that definitely brightened things up. These are actually HO scale street lights that served well as tall N Scale yard lights.

No port is complete without heavily rusted pile of junk and scrap. So, here is Wrightsville Port's collection of junk that includes a rusted old locomotive parts, machinery, pieces of odd corrugated sheets etc. One can spot the growth of long grass grown on the cracks of the less maintained concrete surface. By this time Wrightsville Port moved to its 2nd home in Hyderabad, and in its 5th home since 2010.

By the time Wrightsville Port moved to it's current home in 2018, the towering grain elevator and its elaborate conveyor belt structures were completed. The pneumatic un-loader and the step conveyor structure is based on real life equipment again, and for a change the material used for this model was mostly styrene.

The boat yard still requires completion - a project that is currently underway. However, most other details are complete and you can spot a variety of characters on the wharf.

Workers at the Wrightsville Port quay are busy in their daily chores around the large warehouse. However, as you can see here, they like their daily dose of gossip and chat amidst all the work.