I was thinking about being able to change the look of the layout. I find it fascinating to see cloudy days with dark clouds overhead with thunder in the background. Just watching the huge steamers pulling up the grades while the switchers are moving cars around in the yards. And think nothing about what is coming soon. Does anyone else like scenes like this.
My plans are for a fall layout… a nice clear frosty day but with recent rain… So, while there won’t be a river there will be puddles and (if I work out how to do it right) trickles between puddles/to drains. Flat roofs can have puddles too. Big issue turns out to be to select figures in the right sort of clothes.
Maybe you also mean sky effects. Some people have worked not just on light and dark lighting but actually programming the lighting to “swing” around giving the effect of the sun’s movement during the day and all the changing shadows… if I only had time!
It shouldn’t be too dificult to project a changing sky…should it???
Rand Hood did a MR article many years ago about modeling a rainstorm…including a lit lighting bolt in the backdrop.
Nick
Hows about using Dimmers on the lightswitches and red and blue colored blubs in place??? Kevin
Here’s a module featuring a thunderstorm complete with an animated tornado.
http://www.woodenrailwayadventures.com/modeltrainshowpictures/tornadomodule.jpg
To each their own. It’s your layout. Nobody can tell you what’s right or wrong about it. Go with whatever makes YOU comfortable.
Was is DVD no.1 that had the thunderstorm effects on the layout behind the mountains?
On the huge K-10 layout in Maryville, IL http://www.k-10smodeltrains.com/layout_tour.htm there is one section where there was always a shadow on the backdrop, no matter what was done with the lighting. So to cover the shadow, this section of the backdrop has dark clouds and a rain storm. 
How about a couple of scale correct umbrellas, someone runnig for shelter holding a newspaper over their head, maintenace or construction workers with raincoats (repainted smocks). People sheltering under roof overhangs, cattle laying down in the pasture,etc. Abit of glossy clearcoat on the roofs of buildings and rolling stock (locomotives also) , streets and sidewalks also for a “wet” sheen of rain. Have the overhead lighting on seperate dimmer switches to simulate the varying amount of light during or just before/after the storm(s).
Wasn’t there an article in MR sometime back with a Z scale layout that went through all 4 seasons? He had spring, summer, winter (w/ snow), and fall. Each season was separated by a backdrop. That was really cool.
Years ago I wanted to do a little storm in the distance. I thought about (but never did it), cutting a thin jagged place in a back drop and then covering it with paper, blending it in with the back drop. Place a bulb that was blinking irratically behind it. With the right skill and know how, I think it would work.
Yep - SP through four different areas, a really neat layout in a small space, passed through four famous areas of the SP, including Donner Pass…
The more red ink in my checkbook the UGLIER the days are in my model railroading. Lately, the price of gas being a major contributor to the process, things have been getting UGLIER and UGLIER and UGLIER.
[:p]I’m working on that idea. I have a winter section that will be divided by a back drop, with spring on the other side. Spring sort of moves into summer and than later into fall.[;)]