ATSF Los Angeles Division, circa 1949

[Cajonpassfan]

Well thank you @OldEastRR . The buildings are not really leaning, they are vertical, but the pics make them look like they are. There’s a thread on the subject in the Photography section titled “Three-point perspective” It’s what happens when high level views get exaggerated by short focal length lenses...
Otto

[OldEastRR]

Are you going to post a current layout plan? The original MR plan isn't much like you must have now.

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks for your interest. You’re right,  I should really draw up a new plan because the layout has grown and evolved a lot since then, but there are so many MR projects on my plate (in addition to my real life) I’m reluctant to take on another one. Maybe at some point; for now my focus is to get the layout ops ready, and have a long list of items required to get there. So I hope pics will suffice for now...
Otto

[OldEastRR]

Well, maybe you can take a series of "aerial shots" straight down along the layout, in sequence so we can get a general idea of the current trackwork.

[thomasjmdavis]

sounds like what we need here is an N scale Goodyear Blimp.

[Cajonpassfan]

Lol, Tom, but what I really need is not a blimp but a crew of guys helping me finish all my electrical wiring first, so I can finish the basic scenery and start on buildings and finish scenery work which I enjoy immensely. If I had that, I’d draw a new track plan in a hurry..
Otto

[Yannis]

Those downtown backdrops made a big difference to the 1st street yard scene Otto! Well done.

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks Yannis, that’s the idea. Can’t really model downtown LA without, well, downtown LA.
With the revised/improved LAUPT backdrop hopefully coming this week I decided to put some effort into the REA/Baggage/Mail building flat that separates the 3D yards from the 2D backdrop. Here’s the middle section, 36” long. Beer bottle for scale (couldn’t find the obligatory dime). Still needs a shallow canopy over the docks.
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

Here it is, with the canopy. The whole flat is only about 1/2” thick, so I had to make the canopy roof much shallower than the prototype. But, it’s a background flat that cannot be viewed from an oblique angle, and it’s in the back of a 4’ deep scene. On to finishing the bookends, the REA and US Mail buildings flanking this.
Otto

[Santa Fe Guy]

Coming along very nicely Otto.
Rod.

[Hawghead]

Wow, you did a great job on that beer bottle, it looks almost real.  How do you plan on integrating it into the layout though? 

Scott

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks for the encouragement from down under, Rod!
And yea, I did a job on the Pilsner all right...😎

I got the modified/smaller LAUPT printed and like it much better. Better proportions I think. Also finished downtown LA  backdrop to the left of City Hall. Working my way around the backdrop first, with buildings and scenic elements coming next. Kind of like painting a 3D picture from the fuzzy background to the more focused foreground. Still need to fit things in properly...but a good start.
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

Hope I’m not boring you guys with this stuff, but I borrowed my wife’s iPhone 10 and the pics are so much better, I’m reposting the same scenes here. The sharper photos also illustrate how much more there’s to do..urban scenes are murder. I could have done miles and miles of desert in the time that went into this so far....And to think this started out as an unscenicked staging yard
Fun stuff!
Otto

[Dave V]

Nah...as a closet AT&SF fan and a fan of fine modeling, this is anything but boring to me.

[Steveruger45]

Brilliant Otto.  I have an unscenicked staging yard too.  Yours is inspirational.