Cairnglen Dioramas

Welcome to Cairnglen

Cairnglen is a fictional town in 1/76th scale (00) which could be set anywhere in Scotland or the UK for that matter.

What exactly is a Diorama?
A diorama is not unlike a theatrical set in miniature, used to display your models in an environment which shows them at their best.  To continue with the "theatrical" analogy, it contains a number of components such as scenery, props, extras (figures) and of course the main players (and stars of the show) your buses.  Like many, I do not have a lot of space and because of this I do not have a large layout, but have devised small dioramas to deal with specific themes and give me a good photographic platform. 

"Cairnglen" for example is made up of four dioramas; Cairnglen Main Street a one metre by 45 centimetre board (40 inches by 18 inches real money), Cairnglen Depot Maintenance and Cairnglen Bus station (both 45 cms by 30cms 18 inches by 12 inches) and last but by no means least Cairnglen Depot Back Yard. (60 centimetres by 45 centimetres 24 inches by 18 inches). 

Cairnglen Main Street
 As the name suggests is a diorama of a typical provincial Main Street with shops, a cinema, pubs, petrol station, garage, school, a Fire Station and the ubiquitous Cop Shop.

Cairnglen Depot Maintenance
 Displays what goes on behind the scenes, with an inside view if the Bus depot Maintenance area.  There are four pits, a tyre store and a number of other items of equipment and other facilities.

Cairnglen Bus Station
 Once again as the name indicates, this diorama displays Cairnglen Bus Station with all the hustle and bustle of any provincial Bus Station.  Local buses, cross country buses and Inter-City routes, all active at the one time. 

Cairnglen Depot - Back Yard
Running a bus depot is a 24 hour seven days a week business and the "Back Yard" diorama demonstrates what goes on during the night when the "fleet" is off the road for cleaning and re-fuelling.  The diorama displays the mechanical wash and fuel points which are active all night to get the fleet ready for the following day.

What material to use for the bases?

For the bases and Back Boards, I have found that 3 millimetre plywood (eighth of an inch) is sufficient to support everything along with a good stiff frame of 25mm x 18mm (inch by three quarters)  the frame will also allow you to run any wiring you may wish and keep it out of sight.

Bone of contention
As modellers and collectors we strive to build life-like dioramas to show our models at their best, but how many driverless buses without passengers do you see going up and down streets where you live?  I personally always wish that manufacturers would produce models which actually had a driver and carried passengers.  You can of course fit passengers and a driver yourself, but the risk of damaging your model in the process of doing so is high and when you weigh up the fact that some of these models are £30 or more It can be quite expensive.  Manufacturers PLEASE NOTE!

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