Hello.
I am wondering if I should put a back drop on the island table, where the red line is. I think it would allow me to have more buildings, and switchable industries, by allowing me to use building flats. But, it would also block the view of the other table. What do you all think ?
Thanks for any help.
Loren
I got my first train when I was three,
put a hundred thousand miles on my knees.
Loren, i think the addition of that backdrop in that particular spot would be an excellent idea!! You will still be able to see the table along the left wall when you walk down the aisle way anyways....
Josh Mader
Maders Trains
Offering everyday low prices for the Model Railroad World
I would say drag it all the way down the the bottom of the table where it is making the loop. You could add the backdrop where it is now, and along the 3 sides that lead to the bottom of the drawing. A backdrop of some hills in the distance or a city on the backdrop might look pretty cool!!
Josh Mader
Maders Trains
Offering everyday low prices for the Model Railroad World
Josh, thanks for the reply. I was thinking going all the way down to.
Andrew, that is a very interesting idea. I am going to see what I can do with it. Thanks.
Loren
I got my first train when I was three,
put a hundred thousand miles on my knees.
Actually, come to think of it, you could make it double sided, but not have any industries on the left side. The track could be "unhidden" and just run past a backdrop of flats that represent the backs of buildings, such as you see in almost every major city. If you went this route (so to speak) you'd only need to set it in from the left edge a few inches - just enough to clear that track. The reverse side could still be a conventional backdrop for the buildings on the right, or it could be as Art Curren suggested.
I like the idea of making the backdrop out of buildings, but we are talking at least 18 ft of buildings That's a lot of buildings.
Your idea of having the industries on one side only sounds good. Other wise I only have about 11 in on each side. Once you add the buildings, loading docks (if used) and the siding tracks, that puts the mainline pretty close to the edge of the table.
Loren
I got my first train when I was three,
put a hundred thousand miles on my knees.
nomad Wrote:I like the idea of making the backdrop out of buildings, but we are talking at least 18 ft of buildings That's a lot of buildings.
Your idea of having the industries on one side only sounds good. Other wise I only have about 11 in on each side. Once you add the buildings, loading docks (if used) and the siding tracks, that puts the mainline pretty close to the edge of the table.
Loren
It is a lot of buildings, but once they are laid out flat, I don't think it'll take as many as you might assume. I know that I stretched Walthers Hardwood Furniture out to about 3 1/2 feet as a "semi-backdrop" building --> <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=354&p=3739">viewtopic.php?f=24&t=354&p=3739</a><!-- l -->. If it had been completely flat, it probably would have made it to 4 feet... So that's only 4 - 5 buildings required.
Plus you could get away with suggesting alleys and other spaces between the buildings - perhaps printed backdrops would fill this in ok, or even paper sheets of brick to suggest blank walls of other buildings.
Here's an idea from a friend of mine in the local round-robin operators group. Look for the October 22 and October 27, 2007 entries in his blog - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://lyonvalleynorthern.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html">http://lyonvalleynorthern.blogspot.com/ ... chive.html</a><!-- m -->. Your track would be below the building, but parallel, no perpendicular like his. You may not need the tracks going into the industry (on his, they are just for show anyway - there's no way to operate that siding).
Loren, in the modular club I belong to, we use plexiglass at the front of all of the modules. It serves the purpose of discouraging people, especially children from touching the trains as they roll by. It also serves the function of keeping a train that derails near the edge of the bench work from falling to the floor, but since it is clear, it does not obstruct the view of the train. In your home layout, a piece of plexi that sticks up only 3 inches above the track would serve to protect the trains from the "big fall" without obstructing either the view or operation of the trains. We mount our plexi using a 1/2 round piece of masonite in the center and a 1/4 round at each end with a long narrow piece of masonite going full length to sandwich the plexi between the masonite and the front of the modules. The 1/2 rounds serve as locators with a similar half round cut out of the plexi. The plexi just slips in and lifts out for photography, and easy set up or dismanteling. If you don't want to cut on a curve, you could also use squares and rectangles in the same way.
For HOTrak, which uses a similar plexiglas "facia", the setback of the track closest to the edge is 2 1/2" to the centre of the track. Your penninsula looks to be about 24" wide (?). If we adapt the standards from HOTrak (2 1/2" setback, plus additional 2" for clearance towards the inside X 2 sides), we end up with 9" required for the mainline that loops around the penninsula. Therefore the maximum space left for a doublesided backdrop including industrial trackage into, beside or between buildings is 13".
Chris' backdrop building is certainly less than that (although not doublesided). IIRC, the Art Curren "operational" doublesided backdrop was not much more.
That's a lot of buildings.