Backwoods NE in Florida

[cuse]

Definitely staying with HOn3, just a change of atmosphere. Here's today's work...I worked late last night, spent the good part of today with the SBG visiting the Cutlers' beautiful Pennsy layout, so now it's time to put it all aside and go pick up some Sushi takeout to maintain the home front.


John

[Janbouli]

I like what I see so far John, will the layout be much smaller then before?

[ACL1504]

John,

I believe the shadow box affect will be a fantastic new look for the railroad. Great job on this.


I also enjoyed our Butty meet this morning. Great friends.

Tom

[ak-milw]

It seems to be growing.

[cuse]

What you see are 2 2 x 4 foot modules connected. There will be tracks departing from both ends. Eventually, I'll have staging or just hidden loops behind the boxes. I will add modules over time and the ultimate shape is still to be determined. I've got two kids in college and would like to downsize our home. This may be in 2 years or 10 years. I just always wanted to build this type of layout and felt like "why not now?". This project could be moved, altered or expanded to fit whatever space becomes available. I was very happy with my recent layout but once my mind gets excited about a new project - it's not going away . I was troubled by continuing to pour time, effort, and money into something that (a) wasn't exactly what I want and (b) wouldn't be coming with me when the time comes.


I'm really excited to pour a lot of energy into a small space and see what I can do with it...before growing it. My mind is still bursting with design ideas. I've got a few things I definitely want to incorporate and I'm prioritizing and arranging them as I build the "skeleton". My friend, the graphic artist, is working on a photo backdrop right now, so I'd probably be wise to wait for that before progressing beyond the brainstorming phase.


Thanks for checking in.

[S&S RR]

John


Very cool idea - especially with a pending move.  I will be watching your progress. 

[GPdemayo]

It looks like the beginning of a very interesting journey John.....I'm looking forward to see where you go with this. 

[Erieman]

John,
Good Morning from Arizona. While I don't like to see someone take apart a beautiful layout ( too many tears), Some of us, who will remain nameless, face the chainsaw massacre sometime in the future. Having gone thru one of those many years ago, I can say that it was not a pleasurable moment.   I do like the concept of what you are trying to achieve. The modular layout will allow growth, possible alternative configurations and could be used anywhere in the house (wife permitting) The only thing that I don't like is the reinforcement between the modules. It sticks into the scene and an alternative technique should be developed to allow you the visual freedom of your beautiful work. There were several articles some years back in one of the RR publications on modules and I may have it in my library. I'll check and see if I can find it. There may have been a better solution. I really like the idea , the fact that it is portable. It opens a whole new venue for beautiful scenery. Best of luck with it and I look forward to seeing your progress.

Frank / Erieman

[cuse]

The intrusions are necessary to provide the degree of stiffness (and light weight) I want to be able to carry the modules out to the garage for messy work or just to place them on a lower worktable. They won't be nearly as disconcerting once the facia is installed (same size top and bottom). As for the visible bump in the rear, I'm comfortable that a combination of taller buildings, possible landforms, and the photo backdrop will minimize the negative. All of the display layouts at the Suncoast center have similar concerns and they tend to disappear after a few moments. I'm not worried about them.


John

[Erieman]

John,

I found the articles that I mentioned earlier. There were two articles in MR in January and February of 1977 on bookshelf railroads. The articles show construction, different configurations. They are very detailed. I will scan then and email them to you. I think you will find them very helpful. I got you email address from Tom this morning.

Frank / Erieman

[PennsyJ1]

Hey John, really looks good!! I like that look you have going. We will be following closely as the new venture proceeds.

Bill

[cuse]

Moving along. Roughed in the coastline shapes. Next step is to cut out the homasote layer above the foam. I hope to hear from my friend about the photo backdrops soon - John Addison shared some wisdom with me at the Suncoast Center, "It's a heck of a lot easier to match your scenery to your backdrop than the other way around". Wisdom is usually pretty obvious - but you don't necessarily think of it at the right time     I've got a variety of mockups (paper, walls from the kits, etc) to help me space things out. I also placed it where I expect it to stay in the room. There is room behind it to do a complete loop with a couple of staging tracks. On the right end, I can eventually do a "turnaround" module and still have a foot and a half to slide around in front of it...I will have to lose a couple pounds and keep it off for that project (down the road anyway).


I have a question...would a pile driver barge possibly be moored to some pilings away from the shoreline? It would seem like a safe way to stow the unit between workdays and transporting it would involve a tug of some sort anyway so shore access wouldn't be an issue. I think mooring it (just) offshore would allow an odd angle to visually contrast the fairly perpendicular docks and retaining walls to come. Just thinking that a handful of pilings would make sense as a "parking spot".


John

[ACL1504]

John,

Looks like you are making great progress on the modules.

In answer to your pile driver question, YES, anything is possible. I once saw a pile driver on the St. Johns River miles from any salt water.

Tom

[S&S RR]

John


Looking good! It sounds like George Sellios is doing a similar thing with the new section of F&SM. He describes it as shadow boxes. I hope we get to go see it together in March.

[Zephyrus52246]

The shadowbox is a cool concept.  I'll be interested to see how you hide the stiffeners.


Jeff