The Franklin & South Manchester Railroad - it's all about the details!

[S&S RR]

More great pictures, John!

I don't believe I have ever seen close up shots of the White & Bagley Co. or Bernstein's Fish Grotto.  What a great scene!  Its super cool the way the closer in you get the more there is to see.  Loving it!

Cheers, Mark.

Mark



Thanks for following along.  Every time I digitally zoom in, I find details I missed when I have visited the F&SM.  When you visit this year bring your camera and share some of the details I have missed here on this thread.

[S&S RR]

At this point it's about time to jump the river that splits Franklin and concentrate on the small structures that line the hilly streets of Franklin.

[Janbouli]

How did he ever build this part of the layout , did he start from the back and work down to the front , did he have some sort of scaffolding, I'd really like to know .

[S&S RR]

First there is one neat structure with white pealing paint behind Fox Run - I don't have a name for the structure but want to include it for completeness. This is one of the structures with a very unique roof shape. Can anyone help with the name of this structure?

[S&S RR]

How did he ever build this part of the layout , did he start from the back and work down to the front , did he have some sort of scaffolding, I'd really like to know .

Janbouli


I have some pictures of this area when George was just starting it - before we leave the Franklin area on our picture tour I will post them.  In the meantime to answer your question, George started with the backdrop and the structures in the back and worked his way forward.  Yes, he does have a special scaffold that he uses to reach over the layout - picture to follow as soon as I can find it.

[S&S RR]

Well - Janbouli got me side tracked.  I think it's a good thing this time, so thank you for your question and sending me down memory lane for a few minutes.  I have been collecting pictures of the F&SM off the internet for many years.  I have not posted any these pictures on this thread (only pictures that I have taken) but I'm going to make an exception here to show the scaffold that George uses and some pictures of the benchwork in the Franklin area that help answer Janbouli's question.


First here is the scaffold George uses.  I believe it is still available from MicroMart.



Source: The internet



Source: The internet


George hard at work.

[S&S RR]

Franklin in the beginning!


Here are a few pictures of the original benchwork and a few of the original structures for the town of Franklin.  You will notice a few of George's kits that were originally placed in Franklin but then removed.  I asked George about this and he told me he got a offer he could not refuse and sold some of the original prototype kit builds. The source for these pictures is the internet.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Keep these photos coming (please)!

I'd love to see more of this sort of thing.  I'm really interested in the process behind how George goes about building these amazing scenes.  I see these as gems that I may be able to take and use in my own work (although I've got an idea that George is far more intuitive than I am - I would have to mock this whole area up to see that it would work and to tweak things).  I've often looked at that (topside creeper?) and thought how handy it would be.  All very inspirational!

Cheers, Mark.

[Janbouli]

Thank you very much John, George makes it look like a puzzle where he fits in the different pieces gradually making it the whole that becomes this awesome layout.


I enjoyed putting this together  - I think you have a very accurate picture of George's process. I don't think their are very many pictures out there of the process.

[S&S RR]

Keep these photos coming (please)!

I'd love to see more of this sort of thing.  I'm really interested in the process behind how George goes about building these amazing scenes.  I see these as gems that I may be able to take and use in my own work (although I've got an idea that George is far more intuitive than I am - I would have to mock this whole area up to see that it would work and to tweak things).  I've often looked at that (topside creeper?) and thought how handy it would be.  All very inspirational!

Cheers, Mark.

Mark


I will add the process pictures that I have as we visit the different areas of the layout. I think your right about George's process - he makes it up as he goes and it just works.

[ACL1504]

I used to make mine up as I went and it never worked!

Tom

[S&S RR]

I used to make mine up as I went and it never worked!

Tom

I know just what you mean Tom - I always want to see cardboard mockups first.

[S&S RR]

Before I go back to the River area of Franklin, I would like to add the pictures of Rocky Point Depot that George posted on his website a few years ago. This area is in the foreground of the area we are exploring. The Rocky Point Depot is George's prototype build of the kit he named Brownsville Depot.

[liabacken]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing 

Magnus

[S&S RR]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing 

Magnus

Thanks Magnus - I'm glad you are enjoying them.  Welcome to the forum!