Montana Rail Link 2nd and 3rd Subs - "The Divide"

[trainzluvr]

I designed my layout so the average scene is at a level appropriate to my height.  I have a couple of sturdy 1-foot-wide platforms which can be positioned in front of the major scenes, to accommodate short individuals such as my wife.  Since your benchwork seems to already be constructed, making your layout higher probably isn't an option for you.  If your aisles are wide enough, you perhaps could view your layout from a sturdy, adjustable-height, wheeled stool...

I thought about going higher with the benchwork to meet my height, but ultimately decided against it. Because benchwork is so skinny, it probably would not have been stable going any higher. Also the backdrop height would've been shorter, too, and I wanted the backdrop to tower over everything else.

Another gotcha is that me being height challenged (or blessed, depends how you look at it) at over 6 ft., the ceiling height is at 6'5" to 6'7" (the room slopes 2" over 22' end to end - old house). I literally have couple of fingers space in some locations, between top of my head and the celing.

That's why I ended up painting the ceiling black so it disappears out of view. Albeit, I still have that (homey) dungeon feeling, which I constantly have to contend with.



Too many compromises to my liking, but what can I do...

[nkalanaga]

I wonder if a blue ceiling might have worked better?  Choose a nice sky blue (whatever looks good to you), and it would reflect more light, as well as looking natural.  Most viewers wouldn't think twice about "up" being blue.

[trainzluvr]

I wonder if a blue ceiling might have worked better?  Choose a nice sky blue (whatever looks good to you), and it would reflect more light, as well as looking natural.  Most viewers wouldn't think twice about "up" being blue.

A mockup...though I believe the blue would definitely bleed into the track space due to light bounces. Not sure what impact would that have, the only way to know is to render this in virtual 3D space.

[mark.hinds]

I wonder if a blue ceiling might have worked better?  Choose a nice sky blue (whatever looks good to you), and it would reflect more light, as well as looking natural.  Most viewers wouldn't think twice about "up" being blue.

He may be going for a "lighbox" effect there, with black skirting below the layout to match above.  I am planning something like that, except I'm using dark brown. 

EDIT:  Here's a better illustration than that I originally posted:  https://www.facebook.com/x2011west/photos/a.225592364142430/225592367475763/?type=3&is_lookaside=1

[trainzluvr]

Yes, the shadowbox effect is what I'm after. Focus all the attention to the space between the black valance and fascia, immersing the viewer so the surroundings disappear.

Hopefully by using the combination of different scale of buildings and trees, modulating the scenery up and down, and a backdrop that towers over everything, it'll get there.

[trainzluvr]

I did bit more work on the plan...it's inches away from being done.



Still not sure about the Helena yard. This version is a compressed prototype, but my concern is whether it will be functional to serve the online industries or not. Don't really care about trains having to climb up and down the "hill" to get to Garrison or Silver Bow, or beyond.

Speaking of Silver Bow, ever since I started with this plan, I've been stuck in the "prototype first" mode of thinking. This ultimately made me think I'd have to scratch build every single building to match the real world.

Then, after seeing Ernie Poole's Montana Rail Link layout, I realized I should slightly alter the base premise from Proto-Freelance to Freelance Prototype, just like he did. Ernie's got bustling towns made of Garrison and Logan (neither are true), but they look believable on his layout.

I defintely didn't like the fact Port of Montana had no waterway, so I'm toying with an idea that in my world, it does. And I probably won't stop there...

[MK]

That doesn't look like sky blue.  That's BLUE! 

[nkalanaga]

MK:  I agree, I haven't seen a sky quite that color before, but it's good enough for a concept image.  If the goal is a "lightbox effect", with black above and below, then, no, blue wouldn't work better.

With a lighter/paler blue, such as the blue on the wall at the end of the room, I doubt that enough blue light would bleed into the layout lighting to make a difference.  Also, shadows are bluer than direct sunlight, so it would work as "fill" lighting.  But, no, THAT ceiling blue definitely wouldn't work!

[trainzluvr]

Yeah, you are right, I made that mock-up way too blue.

I feel it would be awkward if the ceiling was the sky blue I have on the walls. At that point I might as well had left the ceiling white, and I'd lose the shadowbox effect altogether.

[Scottl]

Drove through there the other day.  Port of Montana seems to have lots going on.  Same with Butte and Helena yards.

[nkalanaga]

Yes, if you want a shadowbox effect, the ceiling almost has to be black, to match the lower portions.

As for the Port of Montana, I don't know about adding a river port.  Lombard, maybe, as it would at least be possible to make the Missouri navigable that far.  Very, very expensive, and not worth the financial or environmental costs, but possible.  But I doubt there's enough water in all of northern Silver Bow county, outside the Berkeley Pit, to float a commercial freight vessel.  I think Butte even gets its city water from the other side of the Continental Divide.

Silver Bow county straddles the Divide.  Most of the water is on the south/east side, and drains into the Missouri River.

[trainzluvr]

I brewed up a track change at Garrison, for the Silver Bow branchline, looking for comments:



I don't have room for a wye as they have it on the prototype. So, I thought if I get rid of the incline/descent section, level the track, and put a turnout half-way into the Garrison siding, that might be better.

Without the incline/descent section, I also enlarge that pinch-point by 3 inches, and make it somewhat breathable for a Garrison operator to shunt a few cars back and forth.

I also pushed back the main turnout into Garrison, on the right side coming from Elliston.

[nkalanaga]

I like the new Garrison better.  A wye would be nice, but modern diesels don't really need one, as long as they have a runaround track.

[trainzluvr]

I wish there was a wye though...I see a bit of a situation forming with handling traffic from Silver Bow.

I got 2x GP38s and two sets of 6 autoracks each in this example



Doesn't look like the geeps can do a run around and not scrape the edge of the leftmost autorack, nor push the right group of autoracks back without scraping the left group.

I think pushing is silly though, it's not 1950s anymore. They should be able to run around and connect to the head-end, then go back to Silver Bow.

Even though this mid-way connection might be better, I'm not sure operationally it works. Perhaps it needs to be moved to the left into the ladder allowing access to at least two last sidings?

[nkalanaga]

If the prototype inherited that track arrangement, pushing is exactly what they'd do!  Remember, that "interchange track" was originally the junction between two NP mainlines, so wasn't designed for interchange.  You'll have a prototypically justifiable, if not true-to-prototype, switching puzzle.