I had decided to attend the 2004, 24th Narrow Gauge Convention to be held in Santa Clara, California, and then was asked to present a clinic on techniques used in scratch building structures. So I decided that I had better build a structure to display and to enter in the model contest so attendees to my clinic could see first hand the results of the techniques I would be outlining.

For the notes from my clinic presentation CLICK HERE

These notes outline how this and many of my models have been designed and built

But the model had one severe limitation - the maximum size that I could carry onto the plane for the long flight. And seeing that the model was going to be built in ‘O’ scale (¼” to the foot), this was going to be a challenge.

The maximum dimensions of the box to hold the model that would fit into my airline sized carry on bag was 445 mm long, 270 mm wide and 150 mm high (1’5½” long by 10½” wide and 6” high) - not that big!

The model would have to have lots of impact for it to stand out amongst the many other models, some of them much larger, in the contest room.

An open structure on two sides with plenty of detail and lots of mini-scenes in and around the building would be the answer. It was also possible to have various pieces of the structure removable so they could be transported separately in the transporting box, seen opposite. This would allow me to design a much larger structure than the maximum size of the box that I could take on as 'carry on luggage'.