One of the best scenery railroad video

[Smike]

Finally found time to watch it, love it, Sand Patch! I was just there the other week and the locations I visited are fresh on my mind, and I have to say he did a stand up job in depicting them. Very true to prototype. Even modeled the run off on the east end of the tunnel that got mud up to my knees..

I'm always draw to layouts that generally focus on one area and do not try to slam in everything and the kitchen sink.

Yes, post some pics! They would be a great add to TRW.

[OldEastRR]

The landform scenery is the killer scene here. Unlike most layouts where it's either steep sides or dead flat areas with the track sitting on it, here the land looks like it was there before the tracks -- the steep cuts on one side are matched by lower cuts on the other, showing the original grade before the railroad sliced a narrow slot through. The exposed rock layers also follow the slope of the land in general -- because in reality the rock was there first, tilted whichever way, and the weather eroded the slopes and ground off the soil that sits on top of it, so the ground surface slope it matches the tilt of the rocks underneath. There are fills, where only the area under the track is filled in  and flat, with the rest of the ravine still there - not just a big flat space between rock cliffs.
Drainage ... this one  shows where the land runs on a slope you either see water or the sign of water having flowed there. Very few layouts I see have any provision for drainage -- the worst-looking to me  are the steep canyons with the track at the very bottom, no creek, no drainage ditches -- so when the next rain comes (probably a cloudburst) there goes the track, ballast, lineside structures, signals, plus any trains in the canyon at the time.
This track also has sections where it follows watercourses. And the roads leading to the crossings go up and down at their own peculiar slopes and directions -- not dead flat roads running straight off to each side.
And this was not spectacular scenic vistas. This was plain regular most-runs-look-like-this scenery, yet the attention to the reality of landforms makes it strikingly attractive. Even without the roads and trackside buildings (which were also well-placed) it STILL would be fantastic scenery ... because it looks REAL. And you can't say it's because the builder was just matching the prototype scenes -- it was much more than that.
I guess I'd make a terrible engineer, because I was too busy ogling the scenery to even notice signals, so obviously I'd be rear-ending other trains a lot.

[VirginaCSX]

Great scenery!! Mostly rural.  I was waiting to see an industrial area or downtown.  None the less very nice job, liked the water!

[jimmo]

The landform scenery is the killer scene here. Unlike most layouts where it's either steep sides or dead flat areas with the track sitting on it, here the land looks like it was there before the tracks -- the steep cuts on one side are matched by lower cuts on the other, showing the original grade before the railroad sliced a narrow slot through. The exposed rock layers also follow the slope of the land in general -- because in reality the rock was there first, tilted whichever way, and the weather eroded the slopes and ground off the soil that sits on top of it, so the ground surface slope it matches the tilt of the rocks underneath. There are fills, where only the area under the track is filled in  and flat, with the rest of the ravine still there - not just a big flat space between rock cliffs.
Drainage ... this one  shows where the land runs on a slope you either see water or the sign of water having flowed there. Very few layouts I see have any provision for drainage -- the worst-looking to me  are the steep canyons with the track at the very bottom, no creek, no drainage ditches -- so when the next rain comes (probably a cloudburst) there goes the track, ballast, lineside structures, signals, plus any trains in the canyon at the time.
This track also has sections where it follows watercourses. And the roads leading to the crossings go up and down at their own peculiar slopes and directions -- not dead flat roads running straight off to each side.
And this was not spectacular scenic vistas. This was plain regular most-runs-look-like-this scenery, yet the attention to the reality of landforms makes it strikingly attractive. Even without the roads and trackside buildings (which were also well-placed) it STILL would be fantastic scenery ... because it looks REAL. And you can't say it's because the builder was just matching the prototype scenes -- it was much more than that.
I guess I'd make a terrible engineer, because I was too busy ogling the scenery to even notice signals, so obviously I'd be rear-ending other trains a lot.

+1

[Bfagan]

I have to find out how he makes his roads.  They help make the scenery "Pop"

[bfagan777]

Need to know how the water is done too.  :Love the scenery.

[Csxmtsub]

I have posted pics in layout engineering called csx keystone subdivision.

[Specter3]

I too finally got to watch it and was amazed like everyone else. The nails did catch my attention as did the dark signals, although I thought one was lit(or painted) close to the end before a bridge IIRC. The scenery was totally believable and I will just echo the others in how he has elements that many modelers forget that combined make your jaw hang open. I guess my largest pieve was how nice the layout was and then there is a wall or the unfinished ceiling or just the operators walking by. We make our layouts to be viewed from an aisle and in the pics posted of this layout show how well done it is beyond what we see on the video. I still think the next leap will be cameras in locos and remote engineers operating over internet connections with radios and a couple onsite brakemen. I figure you would need real n scale dragging equipment detectors then as well. Maybe the next great layouts will be set up to be viewed from the loco rather than the aisle. (Paging mr Smith....Mr David Smith)

[DKS]

Maybe the next great layouts will be set up to be viewed from the loco rather than the aisle. (Paging mr Smith....Mr David Smith)

Not me, sorry. As much of a tech-tinkerer as I am, and even though I dabble with train cams, running a locomotive from a simulated cab with an onboard camera is in the same class of gimmickry as locomotive sound: it holds exactly zero interest for me. And I need to be actively interested in something in order to consider developing it commercially. Not to mention that viewing layouts solely from aboard a train prohibits visitors from taking in the layout as a whole, and I think that would be a terrible loss. May as well just play a video game instead.

Back when the first wireless micro cams came out, I built a couple of disguised cameras (one was in a rotary snowplow), but it wasn't for my use on a layout; it was just for the fun of it. My attention focuses on obtaining the highest-quality image possible without spending a fortune, regardless of whether it's wireless or onboard recording. The Looxcie was one of the more intriguing developments of late; I've even performed side-by-side comparisons of various cameras (Not a valid vimeo URL).

My interest in the technology is rooted solely in the desire to produce high-quality layout tours, having train POV sequences intercut with normal views of a layout. In order to add interest to these videos, I've experimented with other techniques, exploiting the technology to get more interesting shots by placing the camera into layout scenes. For example, I might place the camera on a downtown street to catch the train at a grade crossing, locate it on a passenger platform as a train pulls in, or prop it up in a stream bed to view a train crossing the bridge almost directly overhead. In addition, I've towed the camera backwards directly ahead of a moving train to get movie-style action shots, followed the same train to watch the caboose, and turned the camera sideways while running to capture the view a passenger might see (this can be extraordinarily effective, BTW). Another interesting one is a twist on the "helicopter" shot, holding the camera over a moving train and following it. The technology is at a point now where one can simulate just about any camera angle and position that's done in the real world.

I've not published anything yet because a) I'm still experimenting, and b) I'm not done shooting the layout I've been documenting (Rick Spano's S&U). In fact, I could be at this for months to come before I'll have anything done, because once the challenge of shooting is over, then there's the Herculean task of editing it into a cohesive video tour, and that's potentially even harder (from an aesthetic standpoint as opposed to a technical one), because it also includes quite a lot of sound design--synchronizing effects to various shots, and mixing in music and narration.

All of this is to say that I do actively keep up with the technology, but not for the same reasons as most everyone else. It will be up to someone else to address the whole "onboard engineer" application.

[Specter3]

Well, sounds like we have yet one more thing to patiently wait on until it comes to light...

[TrainCat2]

I still think the next leap will be cameras in locos and remote engineers operating over internet connections with radios and a couple onsite brakemen. I figure you would need real n scale dragging equipment detectors then as well. Maybe the next great layouts will be set up to be viewed from the loco rather than the aisle.

You could always get MSTS and Mr. Wallet would not have to provide for Loco's, Cars, Layouts, Scenery, etc. Sorry, just sounds  . . . . . .  wrong.

Loved the video, the images even more than the video. The layout is properly executed (minus nail heads) and a great addition to TRW.

[peteski]

I still think the next leap will be cameras in locos and remote engineers operating over internet connections with radios and a couple onsite brakemen.

We have done sort of a remote operating session few years ago.  I brought my locomotive-mounted camera to my friends layout. He runs DCC using radio throttles.  We went up to his living room (upstairs from the layout room).  We hooked up the camera receiver to his large-screen TV.  We then sat on the couch seeing the engineer's fiew on that TV while controlling the train using a radio throttle. It wouldn't be all that more difficult to do this totally remotely, over the Internet.  I seem to recall reading that it has been done before.