ATSF Los Angeles Division, circa 1949

[Cajonpassfan]

A couple more images of the LA staging yards, left to right, with the incomplete backdrop. The white box is the future Post Office annex, the bridge over the tracks future First Street viaduct. I’m still playing with its precise location, before I tackle construction...I like the way it breaks the track curvature visually wher I have it mocked up, but it should really be located at right angle between the freighthouse and the National Storage buildings. Given all the compromises we need to make, it’s always a dilemma placing things where they should be prototypically vs. by artistic “feel”, where they “look” right.
Ah, a first world problem

Fun stuff!
Otto
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[OldEastRR]

How do you reach in there to switch all the spurs inside the loop?

[TMatt253]

I've always loved urban places and scenes. The way you've captured the LA skyline fading off into the distance is awesome and it makes the space look much bigger than it is.

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks Matt, appreciate the compliment. Yes, urban scenes are hard to do, even in N scale, because they are, well, BIG. Here, I’m relying on lots of trackage and acres of site-specific backdrop (and, shhh, not that many actual full depth buildings) to convey the feel of a large city. Oh, and welcome to the Railwire!

@OldEastRR, good question, and I was asking it too when laying out the trackage. If you count carefully, there are just five spurs behind the Santa Fe  Freighthouse representing the “Patch”, all with facing point switches. The Patch job switcher will likely shove and pull cuts of cars; the farthest reach for manual uncoupling is 24” in front of Anthony Macaroni, and I may yet install a couple of magnetic uncouplers between buildings where I can see them. We’ll see how well it works in practice😬 As for maintenance and emergency access, see response #72.
Thanks for your interest.
Otto

[OldEastRR]

I think this is a great layout. Hopefully you'll publish a track plan someday. Or do a photo montage of each section of the RR one after another.

[Cajonpassfan]

Thank you @OldEastRR.
I don’t know if this will help explain the LA Yards’ trackage, or confuse it more. For what it’s worth, below is a rough schematic sketch I made a while back to help me assign track, switch, and macro program numbers while doing wiring. It is not complete in that it doesn’t show the left hand side of LAUPT and East Yard (the trackage that disappears under the city and Aliso Bridge). Basically, all those missing tracks and turnouts feed into one track at River Jct.
Best I can do at this point.
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

Recently I acquired another Walthers Y3 Mallet, with the notion of rebuilding it and its sister into a pair of UP  “Bull Moose” helpers eventually. Meanwhile, she’s a “stand-in” and a test engine to try out helper/pusher operation on my 2.2% grades. It will take some tweaking, but so far I’m happy with its slow and smooth performance and limited power, which is what is needed for this assignment. Photos taken last night along the long climb, at (the makings of) Blue Cut and at Pine Lodge /Hwy.138. Looks like I need to get going on the Blue Cut area...I like the potential for photo opportunities there...
TBC, Otto K.

[TMatt253]

Whew, you're an expert with the backdrops. Do you use Google Earth for all of your backdrops, or is it a mix of photos and stuff? The mountains in the background look to be pretty good quality.

Trevor

[Cajonpassfan]

Thank you Trevor. I wish I were, an expert. It’s been a lot of trial and error...
Most of the open country backdrops are based on images I took over the years. They are all heavily photoshopped to varying color saturation and layered for illusion of depth. Glad you like, it’s actually a lot more effort than I had anticipated, but to me, is would be futile to try to model a well known and photographed area like Cajon Pass without location specific backdrops.
Otto K.

[TMatt253]

Very interesting. For my job I do urban planning and design which requires me to do a lot of site plan and perspective renderings...Google Earth and Google street view can be great for providing a backdrop to renderings or site plans - or at least a starting point, but the quality can slip depending on your size and depth. I'm a big fan of Photoshop. It is amazing what Photoshop can provide for an image with a little work. You seem to have mastered a good technique that really makes the scene look much larger than it is.

Trevor

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, I started using Photoshop at work for similar reasons and quickly realized that one could turn mediocre photos into works of (almost) art. The “painterly” Santa Fe image below is made from a photo I took at Keenbrook, CA in bad light.
I’m not a fan of backdrops that look too much like a photograph (YMMV) so I use the same technique on my layout backdrops.... I filter out the detail, give it some brushstrokes, play with colors and lighting and perspective, and voila. The second pic is a sample, closeup it’s just a bunch of color blobs, but looks good to my eye from isleway viewing distance, kind of like a painting would.
Thanks for your interest,
Otto
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[Steveruger45]

Otto, great backdrops.  I have yet to even start on this aspect.  How do you print them? Thanks

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks Steve. Bill Brown at LARC Products. He has his own line of backdrops, but will print yours if you ask nicely. They are self-adhesive, repositionable, waterproof and tough. Great stuff
Otto

[Steveruger45]

Thanks Otto. I didn’t think doing the printing myself on an inkjet printer would cut it.  I have been looking at LARC Products too.  Glad to hear I’m on the right track (oops see what I did there) with considering LARC.

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, there’s time to work, and there’s time to play. And then there’s time to JFRT’s, in Dr. Hotballs parlance😎
TBC, I’m sure...
Otto K.