Cumberland Station TTrak and Other Adventures

[DKS]

Photo backdrop is da bomb!

[randgust]

A long time ago I stumbled into a backdrop theory where you paint the sky area and build the backdrop kind of like a collage with various photo and commercial elements in it, rather than looking for that 'single perfect' backdrop image that never exists.   It looks like the way your're going too and I think its very effective.    Really looking forward to seeing this in person.

Way back in 1976 I developed the Hickory Valley portable layout with 10" backdrop so that it was easier to move and crate up.   As I've done T-trak modules I've done the same 'standard'.   I've got two sets of T-trak modules, Hickory Bridge and Thompson, that are triples and flip over top of each other for transporting as a sealed crate.   The doubles, Trunkeyville and Jamison, are built the same way.   It works with the permanent, 10" backdrop boards.   They are still removable, but I never take them off and the scenery is blended right into them.

http://www.randgust.com/TRKMOD023.jpg

One trick with that is to develop end pieces of the crate with handles, and also a 'rib' of 1x1 pine across the top inside edge so that you bolt the end pieces on, then flip the second module upside down and reversed as the lid for the first part - but it has to have something solid to rest on while you put the bolts through the top of the end pieces to make it a solid unit.   About the first time you drop the top module on the bottom module you'll come up with this idea on your own....

I've now got 2 portable logging railroad modules and 5 T-trak modules, working on a sixth....so figuring out how to move them and fit them is a 'whole different challenge'.

[wm3798]

@randgust that's pretty much how I've approached backdrops since that Laurel Valley layout on the previous page.  It's certainly what I'm doing with this one.

Last night I pulled everything out and applied the mountains that provide such a lovely backdrop to the real Cumberland, and then put everything back.  I also found a suitable image to extend the highway bridge into the 5th dimension...


You may remember that from the original WM layout...  Well, I resized it and pulled the critical bits out to apply to the new skyboard, I think with pleasing, if less than perfect results.



If you're going to extend the view of your model bridge, nothing works better than a photo of your model bridge!

Here's some wider views of the scene, now improved with the painted hillsides in the background.





I found a halfway decent flag for the flagpole on the station, too.  I clipped it from one of those post it pads you receive from the DAV along with all those return address labels.  It's not two sided, but then, neither is the module, is it?  For the record, I sent in a suitable donation to support the cause!

Lee

[DKS]

How about a removable smokestack/light pole/cell tower/something to cover the gap in the background panels? Everything else works so well, it would be kind of nice to have that addressed.

[wm3798]

I'm heading to Lowe's today to get some trim H channel used for joining white tileboard.  It's the right thickness, and will snug right over that gap.  I can paint it to blend into the background.  It's very thin material, so it should go pretty well invisible once it's painted.  I'll just fit it in so it can be removed for storage/transport.  I might also grab a similarly sized J channel to put over the top edge to hold the two units plumb to each other without the aid of the shiny binder clip I've been using...

Plus an 8' stick of it will beget additional modules!  I mean, you can't just leave that stuff laying around...

Lee

[DKS]

Awesome sauce.

BTW, I love the "meta" quality of using a photo of a model to extend a model.

 

[wm3798]

I aim to have these done in time for the BRW Railfest visit.  I'm going to try to do my 180 deg. return loop to be at least functional.  If Ed or someone brings along a couple of boxes and another end, we can play trains!

Lee

[DKS]

That would be super! I have a great big living room with no furniture... (or sheetrock, or woodwork, or...)

[wm3798]

If you can scare up a 6' folding table, we're golden!  I'll assume you have a power pack or two floating around...

BTW, I love the "meta" quality of using a photo of a model to extend a model.

I know, right?  If you look closely, the LTD Country Squire in the foreground is also sampled in the background!

Lee

[randgust]

I've got a situation like that on my ATSF layout at Winslow, where a Rix bridge dives into the backdrop at 90-degrees.   I put a rather small embedded front-reflective mirror right at the end of the bridge and then painted and filled around it to blend it in and reflect the bridge surface back so that it looks OK from several angles.   If you get low enough you can see yourself, but most times the front surface mirror is viewed from a high enough angle you can't.   A front-surface mirror doesn't have any visible mirror edge at all, and it's only about 2" tall and 3" wide in the experiment.   My NORMAL angle of viewing is from the side, and there's a tree strategically placed to conceal where you'd normally see, but the pavement surface itself is very convincing in the mirror.     Photos if you want....

I can't remember how many times I've driven over that bridge.   That's really good.  That's exactly the way it should look.   

[wm3798]

A highway purist might point out that I've used the 1930s WPA style cast concrete railings, while it should be more "interstatey" looking...  But when you're fishing in the parts bin and that's what you find...  If I ever do Hillen Terminal, it would match up well to the Orleans Street Viaduct on US40...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

If I ever do Hillen Terminal, it would match up well to the Orleans Street Viaduct on US40...

Awww *****. Is that next?

[wm3798]

Presently the only thing up my sleeve is my dimpled elbow...  TTrack  might be a bit snug for a full on terminal... but it's certainly worth a little chin scratching, don't you think?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Presently the only thing up my sleeve is my dimpled elbow...  TTrack  might be a bit snug for a full on terminal... but it's certainly worth a little chin scratching, don't you think?

Hey man, as you've seen, when you need more space, just add more frames. The only REAL limiting factor is the priceyness of turnouts. I need to do a yard next but it keeps feeling daunting to see all the stuff for just a few tracks in the cart at Kleins.

[wm3798]

And therein lies the rub...  If this becomes a "thing" it would have to make use of the vast inventory of c55 turnouts I have squirreled away. 

Lee