Just thought I would post a few photos of the room as it is now. Was working diligently on a couple of the bridges, and then cleaned up a bit, so it is somewhat respectable.
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And a bridge I've been working on. This is freelanced but similar to bridges over the concreted bayous in Houston. It is a modified BLMA kit, seems like I posted this one already somewhere. Was working on the bayou banks.
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Gary S Wrote:... a few photos of the room as it is now. ...
Space, space and even more space! That looks great. Happy man!
It's looking great Gary.
Charlie
Hey Gary,
I was curious why you have plywood at the banks of the bayou rather than just bringing the foam down to the bed??
Nice job, you are definitely THE Bridge Rasta!
A#1..!! The building, layout, bridges...and so on..!!! He**, even the tool carts...All top-notch...!!!
Looks like you'll be doing some urban "canyons" yourself...Can't wait to see how that turns out...
Everything is looking Great! You are doing yourself proud Bro!
Gary, I love it! I think your layout is the first time I've seen someone take a space that would fit a basement sized empire, and model an industrial switching branch line! Fantastic! I think many of us who model industrial switching layouts, do so because of limited space, but seeing what could be done in a large space with an industrial switching theme is really amazing. I think the closest thing to what you are doing is probably David Barrow's Cat Mountain & Santa Fe, but he hasn't been focusing on scenery nearly as much as you are. His is more of a large collection of industries and spurs to switch out with little concern or focus on the scenery aspect.
scubadude Wrote:I was curious why you have plywood at the banks of the bayou rather than just bringing the foam down to the bed??
Richard, before I knew exactly how the bayou would work out, I rough-cut the foam, and cut out morethan I needed to. Still, the plywood will make a firm place to glue the plastic sheet "concrete" which will line the entire bayou all the way up to ground level. Starting at ground level, the concrete slopes down, then it flattens out on top of the plywood, then it slopes down into the channel. The water will be just a very thin layer of EasySand 20 on top of the lowest part of the wood in the bottom.
Gary S Wrote:Richard, before I knew exactly how the bayou would work out, I rough-cut the foam, and cut out morethan I needed to. Still, the plywood will make a firm place to glue the plastic sheet "concrete" which will line the entire bayou all the way up to ground level. Starting at ground level, the concrete slopes down, then it flattens out on top of the plywood, then it slopes down into the channel. The water will be just a very thin layer of EasySand 20 on top of the lowest part of the wood in the bottom.
Gary, that sounds like our "concrete rivers" here in Los Angeles.
Russ Bellinis Wrote:Gary, I love it! I think your layout is the first time I've seen someone take a space that would fit a basement sized empire, and model an industrial switching branch line!
Thanks, Russ. I've always liked the "around the room" concept to get as long a run as possible. I also don't like to compress things too much, so the industrial switching layout in a large space seems to be the most sincere plan for a model railroad in my view. I'm just not a fan of the spaghetti bowls, or of trains traveling through the same space twice, or of a train entering one town when the caboose is still in the last town. Now, nobody take that wrong, everyone has their own preferences and their limited space to deal with, and must modify their desires to fit the space. It is all a matter of compromise. I prefer missing out on some of the class 1 mainline running and classification and all that and settle for the local freight movements. The ISL in a large space is just what is best for me.
Russ, as always, I appreciate your interest and insightful comments.
Russ Bellinis Wrote:Gary, that sounds like our "concrete rivers" here in Los Angeles.
I'm sure they are very similar, although we call them bayous. They wind all through the Houston area, with all manner of roads and highways and rail bridges crossing them.
Reinhard, Charlie B, Gus, Tetters, appreciate the comments and thanks for looking.
Yes, a clean looking room indeed!
I've operated on some layouts where the clutter in the room overwhelms the layout. Some of that clutter is well-intentioned railroad artifacts so it's not all bad, but just distracting. I am encouraged both by seeing good examples (yours) and bad examples (as mentioned above) and by being in a shared family space to keep the room itself not only clean but free from clutter.
We just went wifi with a second-hand wireless router from my inlaws, and along with a new laptop have gotten rid of the old computer cabinet seen in some of my layout thread pictures. Now I'm wondering how to rearrange the stuff in the room to make the best use of the 'new' space freed up by removing the bulky cabinet, as well as child-proofing strategies (our 2-year old is getting way too mobile and inquisitive). All that to say, your clean-up effort is inspiring me to go and do likewise. Thanks for sharing your progress, as always.
Galen
What an attractive layout room! And its great to see your bridges in place!
Ralph
Gary S Wrote:I'm sure they are very similar, although we call them bayous. They wind all through the Houston area, with all manner of roads and highways and rail bridges crossing them.
Ours are actually flood control channels. We only get 13 inches of rain a year, except for the rare really wet winter like 2003(?) when we got 34 inches, or our dry years lately where we get 2 inches. However we have mountains to the north and east of L.A. that are 9,000-11,000 feet high that get a lot of snow every winter. If they don't, the ski lodges lose money big time! In the spring when the snow melts, the run off comes down all of the rivers and fill them up to 2 or 3 feet from the top. I guess before they built up the banks and put in the concrete, the spring run off would tend to flood low lying areas.