Birds of a Feather

I realized there is a layout already built which captures a very similar theme to what I was planning -- except it's in HOn30.  Interestingly enough, when I was a kid in the 80's there were actually 2 narrow gauge layouts that I spent hours looking at the photos for.  One you already know because I mention it all the time, Malcom Furlow's San Juan Central, featured in the book "HO Narrow Gauge Layout You can Build".

The other, I didn't even realize at the time was narrow gauge, was shown in pictures scattered through the book, "Realistic Model Railroad Scenery (2nd edition)".  Said layout was also on the cover of Model Railroader magazine in 1980 (3 years before the San Juan Central).  That layout is Bob Hayden's Carrabasset & Dead River.

Mind you, this is HOn30 and everything you see related to engines and rolling stock was scratchbuilt or kitbashed.  The above shot is of the more "inland" portion, though as you can see from the track plan below there was a large coastal region as well.

It's a rather large layout of which the theme is technically freelance but highly influenced by Maine 2-foot railroads.  The result is that the layout looks unique but feels familiar, which in my opinion is a great place for a layout to land.

I've seen all of the pictures published in the scenery book, but I wish I could find more photos of this layout.  I'm attempting to locate a copy of the 1980 issue of Model Railroader in which it appears.  C&DR is one of those masterpiece layouts that I feel is worth the time studying how scenes are put together as I suspect a lot could be learned from it.

At some point I keep wondering if that 75 Years of MR DVD would be worth it, to be able to go back to the 80's when narrow gauge had a much better presence in Model Railroader magazine.

After a little bit of internet searching, I found that the C&DR has actually appeared in several more recent articles.  It was in the very first issue of "Great Model Railroads" (1991) and it actually has a VHS tape dedicated to it, Vol #26.  VHS... anyone still have a VCR?