Some Details and Progress

I was looking at the picture I posted yesterday and realized it doesn't quite show how the backdrop looks.  As in, it looks much different in real life than in the picture.  I went back this morning and tried to get a "closeup" shot of how it looks.  It's easier to see in this picture how it looks -- it's a gradient going from a strong sky blue on the top down to a very subtle and desaturated blue on the bottom.  It doesn't give the eye anywhere to "rest" or look or focus on which was the intended effect.

Also, you might have spotted the side of the backdrop painted dark gray with some RR signage...

This was something I had been imagining for a bit now.  This is the "entrance" to the layout and once I am 100% on a name I'll probably design a nice sign with the railroad's name to go below the RXR sign.

So, with the backdrop "done" (I might add some clouds or other misc things) I turned my attention to sub-roadbed.  For those following my blog who aren't model railroaders the sub-roadbed is the support that goes under the roadbed which is the support that goes under the ties which is the support that goes under the rail.  An illustration would make this easier to explain.

The purpose of the sub-roadbed is to provide stability and support for the track so that the trains are running across a steady and solid surface.  For simple layouts this can be a sheet of plywood or hollow-core door.  In my case it will be a mix of plywood supported by risers and spline sub-roadbed also supported by risers.

Before I start cutting wood and building the sub-roadbed, I wanted to sketch out where everything would go.  Working from my track plan, I laid out scrap sheets of the backdrop material onto the benchwork and drew out how the track will go...

I know it's not the easiest thing to see, but you can get an idea where the track will be going.  The track plan I'm using actually is the "Blue Hills & Yonder" by Iain Rice which appears in the book Shelf Layouts for Model Railroads that I've previously mentioned.  Iain set the layout in a more southern location which I won't be following.  I've made a few adjustments here and there but the track plan (not the scenery plan) is about 90% similar to what's published in the book.

I plan to have this section of the layout be mostly waterfront.  The 1x4 represents the "face" of the dock.  After measuring I'm pretty sure I cut the legs too short when I cut them down.  Oh well, I guess it's easier to bring things up.

The extra amount I cut off will just end up being "water depth".  It doesn't really need to be 3 inches, but since I already cut it that's what it's going to be!  The bottle in the center of the picture is a possible lighthouse.

A lighthouse?  Yes, it seems over the past month I've drifted a bit (again).  Sometimes these things end up being circular.  I've waffled a lot over what theme to build my layout.  The progression has gone something like this...

Pacific coastal/rugged => Oklahoma prarie => Texas => Texas gulf coast => Atlantic coastal

No matter what I do I keep ending up with a strong sense of coastal in whatever I pick.  I've come to interpret this as -- I should have a coastal component to my layout!  In terms of the coast there's basically 4 choices:  Pacific Northwest, Atlantic North East, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of California.

One thing I hadn't previously considered was:  What is a theme that I'm happy with today AND that I'll be happy with in 10 years.

That second part is quite a bit more difficult.  I've been able to navigate my way to the answer by using some   logic that one would use in other areas of life.  When attempting to decide on something that is intended to be around for a long time, one strategy is to avoid fashion and to instead lean towards an option that is conservative and neutral.

Great example:  Choosing cabinets for your kitchen.  Sure you can go the ultra-modern route and get something covered in plastic that has no handles or you could go really strong in the other direction and get a very rustic "paint is chipping off" country style cabinets.  However over the long haul, and especially when it comes time to sell the house, having something conservative, neutral, and otherwise "plain and boring" is going to be a much better pick in the long run.

Extrapolating from this, it's probably safe to say that any railroad who's theme is extreme is probably best left for a diorama.  I've mentioned I'm a huge fan of Malcolm Furlow's work, however many of this photos are of extremes which while it may seem like a good idea right now I'm not so sure how happy I'll be with it in 5 years.

Instead I want to land somewhere along the lines of "classy" -- as in I'm not trying to build a railroad that defies gravity and engineering physics.  I'm just trying to build a nice, classy, quaint narrow gauge railroad that I can still be happy with (ie. proud of) in many years to come.

When I push the dial towards classy I end up with less of the "crazy mexican" and more of the "upstanding colonial atlantic coast" which is where I'm leaning at the moment.  Think of the Nantucket Railroad and the Martha's Vineyard Railroad with two scoops of Maine 2-foot gauge thrown in and a little bit of Ilwaco Railroad sprinkled on top and that's about where I'm going.  Wharves, coast lines, sand, and lighthouses.

I mentioned yesterday I had gotten a handful of small details and things I was going to be looking over.  One thing, going in the classy direction, that I've really started to like are harp-style switch stands.  There is one made by Precision Scale Co. in O-scale which is pretty nice.  It costs around $5-6 and comes in a 4-piece kit, cast in brass.  From what I've ready on the internet, these tend to last long and their brass construction actually makes them usable for real hand operation.

Talk about classy, those are pretty nice aren't they?  The whole unit will likely be painted black and the target (the long oval-ish shape at the top) will be painted half white and half red.

What I haven't yet decided is, should the stands be used for actual operation or should they just be used as a visual and under-the-table throws still be used?  I'm not sure.  Will be thinking about this one for a bit...