Playing around

[spitfire]

Lately I've been playing around with the placement of some of my buildings, and getting them "right" is not as easy as it sounds. I'll try to steer clear of the obvious references to women and our propensity for re-arranging the furniture -- oops! too late!

I had originally built a diorama of a midtown Toronto scene, and so when I built the layout I just transferred everything from the diorama. However, it seems that those buildings are making their way back off the layout as I experiment with 2 new Bachmann City Series buildings I've recently acquired. One, the Metropolitan Bldg is from a consignment sale at the LHS, already assembled - but not painted, necessitating a lot of time consuming window removal in order to paint it.

The other is still in kit form, that's the Trade Tower, which is both too big and too small. The depth is too much but the spread not enough, so I'm going to assemble it in a completely different way along the edge of the backdrop.

The streets are just paper for now, but I like how this scene is shaping up.

cheers
Val

 

[spitfire]

Here's another view showing the bus station in the foreground.

 

[spitfire]

Over on the industrial side, I realized that all the tall factories I was placing in front of the tracks, while creating a cool "concrete canyon" was also going to interfere with the reaching the trains and turnout controls, so I've opted for 2-storey structures instead.

Here's a first attempt at placement.

 

[spitfire]

This has allowed me to move the Walthers kit to the back of that section where its slightly compressed scale works as a sort of forced perspective.

Sorry about the lack of scenery. I hope you can imagine it there.

 

[spitfire]

I had another neat little idea (which I now realize is not all that original) to run a fake siding off the very front of the layout. Here's how it will look. Please disregard the kink in the track - I obviously tried to bend it in too tight a radius. I think I'll get a couple tight radius curve sections instead of flex track for this.

 

[sumpter250]

Val,
I like the "planning process" you're using. Get all the bugs, like rail accessability, worked out before nailing everything down.
"moving furniture" is fine.....as long as I don't have to move it!
Pete

 

[Blake]

As you know Val, I'm rebuilding my small N scale railroad so I am going through the same thing. There is something about new slabs of plywood that stirs something inside every model rairoader. It's a very exciting time and a frustrating time all at once. I LOVE it. Looks like it's coming along just fine Val. Your choice for buildings is bold and quite wonderful. Looks like magazine material to me.

 

[Clerk]

Looking good Val. Keep at it and it will fall into place.

 

[60103]

No scenery?

Val, there is no need to apologize for lack of scenery, given the length of time you've been working on it. (My layout had little scenery other than buildings for 8 years, until the convention came up. That gives you until 2053 )
Better to think and play before you make a commitment, but remember that as long as it's only paper, plastic and plaster, you can change it anytime.
And if you feel a need for green scenery, you can work on the New Hamburg section.

 

[Tyson Rayles]

Looking good Val, you got the right idea by playing around with it till you like it!

 

[TomPM]

Looks good so far Val. I start out with a very basic plan on paper then like you are doing I start placing everything to see how it will look. By the time I am done nothing seems to match the orignal paper plan.

 

[Sir_Prize]

TOTALLY COOL!!
Move away, pretend your the creature that puts everything back
after Godzilla comes through. LOL!

I've found that if you put the streets and buildings on a touch of an
angle from the tracks it somehow makes it seem bigger and go farther. Just thinking out...

 

[spitfire]

Thanks a lot guys! Blake you're so right about the combination of excitement and frustration - just when one thing is working perfectly something else seems to get messed up. That's ok though, now that I have David's permission to take until 2053!

cheers
Val

 

[Blake]

2053?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think so Val! (Blake* looks at his watch) I was thinking more like tomorrow morning!!!

 

[spitfire]

Easy there Blake! I didn't say I was going to take that long - only that I had permission.
Let's see now, 2053 minus 2003 - cool - I'll be 104 years old!

BTW, Sir_Prize, I like your Godzilla idea. Does anyone know if Preiser makes any LPBs screaming and running in abject fear? I'll need about a hundred of them.

cheers
Val

 

[60103]

2053

Blake:
The 2053 date was based on the NMRA National Convention. The previous time they played Toronto was 1953; this time was 2003; every 50 years makes the next one 2053.