How to visualize your landscape

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MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Oct 31, 2002
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Ottawa, Canada
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I was having a hard time visualizing how the finished contours of my landscape would look. A flat plan is ok, but doesn't do much for cuts, tunnels, streambeds, etc, etc.

Then I came across an article by Dave Frary in Dec 1998 MR. There was a little sidebar with a picture of a mock-up of the layout.

Not wanting to shell out $$$ for full featured CAD-based planning software, I printed out my track plan with Atlas RTS, found some scrap cardboard, and invested $1.15 in modelling clay form the dollar store (taxes extra... ;)).

Here is the result. A neat and cheap way to visualize a layout when you find yourself a little "imaginationally" challenged like me ;).

Andrew
 

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Great job! Mock-ups like these are more valuable than one would think. $1.15 and some of your time vs. much more money and lots more of your time wasted if you turn out not to like some aspect!
 
Great idea. Lots of clay there for $1.15 (plus taxes). Just one thing, inflation must have hit your town pretty hard, our dollar stores still charge a dollar (plus taxes) for their stuff.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the good idea Andrew. It sure works and is affordable
Now if it wasn't for the feezing rain we are supposed to get tonight and tomorrow morning I would head out to the local $ store.
 
Originally posted by MasonJar
...
invested $1.15 in modelling clay form the dollar store (taxes extra... ;)).
...
Click to expand...

Well, despite being in (actually near) the capital, stuff at the dollar store is still $1. I should have said "invested $1 in clay, and $0.15 in government"... ;) :D

I took this little mock-up to one of the local meets this past Saturday, and I was really surprised at the positive reaction I got. This is a relatively simple idea, compared to all the other stuff we do, that I thought most people would look at me like I am crazy - but there were a ton of good compliments, (just like here :)).


Andrew
 
Re: Re: How to visualize your landscape

Originally posted by MasonJar




I took this little mock-up to one of the local meets this past Saturday...


Andrew
Click to expand...
I'm hurt that we were not your first choice. Are you two timing us? :cry: FRED
 
Re: Re: Re: How to visualize your landscape

Originally posted by dash10
I'm hurt that we were not your first choice. Are you two timing us? :cry: FRED
Click to expand...

Relax Fred, about half way down this page is where I first reported on the mock-up. I just didn't have a picture.

And it is more like 4-timing... I just thought about it and realized I have joined or otherwise committed to 3 local groups ( Modular - Ottawa HOTrak , Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders, and the St Lawrence Division of the NMRA). But rest easy Fred, my first stop on the internet is always The Gauge :thumb:

Andrew
 
Andrew, 3 clubs, I am impressed.

I belong to the Muskoka Model Railway Club and one of our members is talking to CARM about the club joining as an entity.

Do you ever get over to the Muskoka area?
I do not have a home layout (yet :D ) but the club meets every Wednesday in Bracebridge and we always like o show off our layouts for guests. W have an HO and an N layout.
 
Andrew,

I read the same information in Dave Frary's book on scenery and took the same approach. I also used RTS, Sculptamold and some kid's water colors. The 3-D model helped me work out several problems and plan for tunnels and grades better.

2002_0831_165757AA.JPG


And the model was fun to build. I felt like I was making progress even though I didn't even have any bench work.

It's a great idea.
 
Jim!

I knew I had seen this before!

It struck me as a good idea at the time, but I guess I needed to hear it more than once, as is often the case for me, to understand how it could help me.

Thanks for putting up your picture again. Your mock-up is much :cool: :cool: :cool: than mine...

Andrew
 
Originally posted by Will_annand
Andrew, 3 clubs, I am impressed.

I belong to the Muskoka Model Railway Club and one of our members is talking to CARM about the club joining as an entity.

Do you ever get over to the Muskoka area?
I do not have a home layout (yet :D ) but the club meets every Wednesday in Bracebridge and we always like to show off our layouts for guests. We have an HO and an N layout.
Click to expand...

Will,

Thanks for the invite, but I am rarely that way. Just thinkning though... my aunt has a cottage near Parry Sound, so I may make it there yet...

Yeah, 3 clubs sounds impressive, but OVAR is really a dinner club that meets once per month for a presentation related to railroading - real or model. There is no club layout, so there is not much committment there.

SLD meets every other month, and has workshops most of the other months, but not always. There is a small switching layout that needs occasional maintenance, and I will be building a few structures for it shortly.

The modular guys are really the club in the traditional sense, although their "layout" is composed of about 320 feet of modules (most are 4 to 6 feet long) that are assembled for one weekend per month of operations.

Andrew
 
That is what I think I will end up doing, only a couple of modules of a larger layout I wish to create. I have put up a website to visualize how things will look and to get opinions from others.

Of course the 1880s is not all that popular a time period. But I think I will go with either three large tables 36"x72" or six of 36"x36" I can't decide....

Someone today suggested I design the entire "dream layout" which would be two branch lines that ran 35 and 27 miles respectively for a total of 62 miles. Had 6 flag stops, 3 Junctions, 2 terminals (with full yards) and 3 town stations.

I figure I would need a space of roughly 20x20 to accomplish it.

Still pondering..... :thumb:
 
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