Background scenery for northern Ohio (or Eastern Michigan)

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I need some pictures of small town and/or rural scenery in preferably northern Ohio, east of Toledo, near Lake Erie. I know it’s rather flat there, as I have been up there before but it’s been over 10 years ago. If anyone has any photos they’d like to share so I have some idea of what to use on my backdrop as scenery, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

2

Tom,

Sorry I don’t have any photos to share but I can offer some ideas. Between Toledo and Sandusky:

  • Any crops that northern Indiana would have - corn specifically

  • Marshes and wetlands are common

  • Petroleum refineries (Toledo)

  • Rock and gravel processing

  • Sandusky Bay

  • Houses made from limestone

  • Marblehead lighthouse

Sorry I couldn’t help more.

Tom

3

Google Earth and Miscrosoft Live can give you a general lay of the land. I was checking out the rail yards by Cleveland Hopkins airport the other night. You can see the type of industries in any area.

Found some sites

http://web.ulib.csuohio.edu/SpecColl/glihc/cpcindex.html

http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/112276/?nextnav=tag&tag=rainy

http://www.worldfromtheweb.com/Parks/Cleveland/Cleveland.html

I found these just by doing a search for “Cleveland Industrial pictures” You could probably substitute any city name and get the same type of results.

4

Having driven from Toledo to Niagara Fallsa in 1984, I recall that you are getting into the so called “Rust Belt” populated with hundreds of closed down and rusting factories a tribute to the manufacturing acumen of the Japanese.

5

Actually, the area I’m modeling is the semi-rural-small town area just to the east of Toledo (between Toledo and Sandusky); urban but not big city. One of the old Penn Central or N&W branch lines from back in the late 70’s. This is more east Toledo-Lake Erie theme than the very heavily smokestack industrialized areas around Cleveland or Toledo even, for that matter.

6

I just flew out of Detroit and over Michigan between Detroit and Toledo. (We took off facing west and did a southward U-turn to go east.) I also flew over southern Ontario. The land is primarily flat, green farmland and there were many swampy areas near the rivers. Unless someone can take panoramic photos for you, I recommend commercial backdrops like the following link.

7

That area is very flat and most of the horizon is going to be tree lines. i would bring the sky down almost to the ground and scrub in a tree line (oaks and maples and the ilk) about 1" high. Dry brush the trees in like doing a stencil. Almost no paint and dabs of 2-3 colors of green on the brush at the same time. Just make circular motions to form the trees. Add some trunks when done.