In the British small-layout scene, boxfile layouts are extremely popular. Outside the UK, this kind of small layouts is almost unknown. This might be due to the fact that the real boxfile seems to be a pure British product that is hardly sold outside the UK. However, since I like that concept very much, I was seaching for an alternative solution. I finally found it with the German made organizer boxes of the brand Semikolon. I took a rather small box of the size 33 cm x 25 cm (13" x 10"). For my needs, I modified the original boxfile concept. For a traditional boxfile layout, the box forms the layout body and the cover forms the background. In my concept, the cover is used as the baseboard, while the box stands upright allowing me to design a three-dimensional background scene into it. This will also increase the footprint of the layout by about 25 %. Tracks ending at the edges of the layout can be easily connected to temporary fiddle tracks. For this, I use the TT scale version of Kato Unitrack, which is exclusively made for and sold by German TT scale manufacturer Tillig. By this, simple operation is possible even on a very small boxfile layout. When not used, the layout can simply be shut and stored like a folder on a bookshelf.

 

 

Like my other US layout , (see blog entry https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/tt-scale-us-layout-12197634) the scene on display is a fictitious industrial area in the Chicago region in the early 1960s. The background picture shows the blurred skyline of Chicago as it looked at the time. The freight house in the foreground is one of the very few TT scale lasercut kits offered by B.T.S. Originally, it's a model of a rural supply store, but it also goes for a freight house.

For more pictures on this diorama, visit the Flickr album at https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpachl/sets/72157646040111076/