Copper Ridge Railway under construction

Matthyro

Will always be re-membered
Hey Rory, I don't mind if you take a break and let some of us catch up to you a bit. You sure have been very busy.
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
Sorry, guys. I've not been feeling too well these past few days, plus I've had a very busy schedule. When I've been on the board lately, its just been to lurk when I have a few moments. But I have been working on the layout, even if at a reduced pace.

I've cast rockfaces on most of the layout now. The only areas that I haven't done yet I'm still thinking about, so I might be done with that. Make sense? :)

This evening I sat down and painted the cliff that will be behind the town. It's getting easier for me to visualize how things are going to look in the end. Well, at least in a general sense. I'll try to post some pictures of the progress tomorrow.
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
Here's part of the completed cliff on the second level. I also have cast cliffs on the canyon to the right (outside of view) and the cliff on the lower level on the left (also outside of view). There isn't much to see yet on those outside bits because I haven't painted them. I think I'm going to paint the rest of the foam, then cover it with grass, weeds, bushes, trees, etc. to hide the "unusual" contours.

I used brown as the base color for the second level. I'm trying to simulate a different kind of rock--more reddish and brownish than typical gray limestone. The upper level will be a lighter and redder brown, if I can figure it out. (But most of it will be covered by grass and weeds). Despite all of my work on the second level cliff, most of it will be covered by the buildings of the town! :p

I'm really looking forward to getting to the grass/trees/weeds/bushes point. I think that's my favorite thing to do! :)
 

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WM-N-fan

Member
Nice Rory!!! That foam in the front looks like the remnants of snow. Too bad it doesn't snow in the area the layout is based in.
 

Tyson Rayles

Active Member
The last I heard Rory was basing his layout on the Copperhill, Tenn. area. Living not all that far from there I can assure you they are no strangers to snow!!!
 

Drew1125

Active Member
No snow om Copper Ridge?:eek:
It's looking really, really nice Rory!
I can't wait to see all the undergrowth sringing up...
(from under the melting snow :D )
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
When viewed from a lower angle, the foam hills on the top level look kinda like clouds to me. :)

The "foam snow" in the foreground will eventually be trimmed down and covered with dirt and grass. I did the grass on part of the first level just so I'd have something green to look at. hehehe
 

Matthyro

Will always be re-membered
Its great fun to see a layout progressing. Will look forward to the next steps.
You are having fun Rory.
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
Copper Ridge in 3-D

I couldn't wait to try this out. I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before. The picture below was taken at two slightly different angles (about the distance between my eyes...maybe a little more).

Look at the middle of the picture, then allow your eyes to cross. Fix your gaze on one item, like one of the trees in the back, until the two individual objects merge into one. Then, voila! you have a 3-D image like those you see in stereoscopes. Tip: It's easier to see if you sit back from the monitor a few feet.

I've done some more painting...still have a lot left to do. I brought out the buildings and a few trees for the photos. Maybe by the end of the week I'll have the ground and rocks all painted...

Incidentally, the preserved caspia had built up an invisible toxic cloud inside the box where the trees have been stored these past two months. It nearly bowled me over! Yuck!
 

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Tyson Rayles

Active Member
A sky backdrop, a few trees and some buldings set in place and from a few feet away it's starting to look like a finished layout!
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
Well, if you don't look at it too hard... I'm not even halfway through. There still a LOT of scenery work to accomplish. And these trees are just temporary visitors. I'll arrange them more nicely later. I think all of the pines might be concentrated on the back-left corner. It will be somewhat bare around the mine except for a few little trees. And then there's going to be all the grasses, shrubs and debris. Shoot, I still have to ballast to track!
 

bobrien

Member
Rory your layout progress is fantastic to watch and looks really great.
You are providing millions of tips for many who are just watching and learning things for the first time I bet.
But damn man! I have tried and tried with the split picture thingy, and all I been getting is sore eyes and a mild headache:rolleyes:
I cannot see anything in 3D with crossed eyes - lol:)
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
If you're having trouble seeing it, check out this site:

http://www.eyetricks.com/3dstereo.htm

Click on the link that says, "Tips for Viewing Stereograms." It takes some practice, but once you learn it's fairly easy.

Also, look at the image from slightly farther than arms length. The further away you are, the less you have to cross your eyes to see it.

Good luck!
 

Matthyro

Will always be re-membered
Rory, I can get the 3D ok but for some reason the background is in the front and the foreground is at the back. There must be something I have to do to see it the right way around.
 

Drew1125

Active Member
The layout looks fantastic, Rory...
I am in awe of how much you've accomplished in so little time!:cool:
Thanks for sharing with the rest of us!
 

roryglasgow

Active Member
Nope. Sorry... Things have been really hectic lately. School just finished up (I taught computer classes), and I've been running around taking care of this-and-that. The layout has been close to my heart, though! :)

I have at least one more week before I start my new job, so I'm hoping to get a lot done before then. My current plans are to finish painting the rock faces and start putting in ground cover soon. I want to have it ready for structures by the end of the week, if possible.

BTW, I repainted the cliff on the second level. I got a tube of Red Iron Oxide and used that to add a little more "iron ore" look to the rocks.

I've also been trying to figure out how to make the copper mine. It seems that no matter what design I come up with, I find something wrong with it. I might just have to sit down and build something and say "THIS IS IT."

Another thing I've been thinking about is the design of the two bridges. At first I wanted to build wooden trestles, but after doing some experiments I found that I don't have enough room (the track crosses over one to two other tracks). So I've decided for now to build some kind of girder bridge. I've been doing some research on bridge designs, but because both bridges will be on a curve, it's been sorta tough. I think a trip to the local library is in order...

That's the latest news from Copper Ridge, where all the women talk long, all the men are looking for food, and all the children love beverages.
 
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