While I’m waiting for the stars to come in alignment to work on the PRR and the Rock Ridge and Train City II, I’ve been putting together scenes for my Office N-scale layout. So far I have two in mind. The first is 80% complete and failing something strange, it should be complete this week.
This is a timeless scene because you really can’t tell if it has been abandoned 10 years or 30. Since the layout is strictly railfan, I will get variety by running different trains as opposed to making them do different things. See no turnouts or industries. Quite a different concept for me.
Anyway, you can see where the coal mine is going. The second scene is going to be the bridge in front of the window. It will be a stone bridge–so once again timeless.
Anyway, the coal mine worked so ell, that now I’m thinking I might want something on the other side of the bridge about where the “s-turn” is located. But I haven’t come up with any good ideas for another timeless scene.
So much of railroading takes place out in the open, a simple stretch of track passing through a simple landscape. We too often strive for the dramatic bridge, or the imposing mountain. On a simple layout, why not build a simple scene?
Lee, you speak the truth! One of the things I strived to make sure I had room for on my layout plan was some good areas for absolutely nothing!
As a counter to that, what about a pasture with cattle (complete with cow pies!), or maybe a tent and campers out in the woods by a creek fishing or something.
Chip, you have a really nice railfanning layout planned, with some light operations thrown in for kicks. Why not just have some real nice scenery for that railfanning? If you feel like it still needs something, keep it light, like the suggestions I made. You’ll have a very “unhurried” feel to that section of the layout that’ll be an enjoyable place to sit back and have a cup of coffee on a cold winters morning.
Even “nothing” has the potential to have a lot details. And that doesn’t mean a camp fire with a flickering flame LED, or other little crowd pleasers. What’s wrong with a simple plowed field, or just a stand of trees? To make it challenging, just make the trees as detailed as you can, or add typical things like some old ties scattered along the right of way. Make that even more effective by painting some fresh black ties in the track, and maybe some fresh ballast to indicate where the old ones came from.
My immediate first thought was, “Woods!” Lots of trees, with campers, or ‘critters,’ or maybe campers interacting with critters.
Then I thought about your bridge. This should be moderately rough country. How about a few cuts and fills; maybe a sidehill cut where the track disappears around the curve at the extreme right.
Then there are “railroady” details. A single signal mast, maybe with the head turned sideways (new installation on present ‘dark’ track, or deactivating an underused/unnecessary system) and associated relay boxes. Pole line parallel to the track. Really rough timber grade crossing for a dirt road.
Note that none of these involve any changes to the track itself. Sometimes, just a simple section of single track is the best railfanning background.
Hey, how about a couple of kids out in the woods building a treefort? Or maybe putting pennies on the tracks and making the trains “toot” as they got by? I used to do all of those things down by the tracks through the woods out back when I was a kid.
Of course the original plan was to just have dense forest, so the idea of just adding variety to the scenery is probably the best fit. I like Chuck’s idea of the canyon crick (PA pronunciation).
Note to Phil: The saloon in Rock Ridge is named “The Flattened Penny.”
Since most RR’s were built by 1880, buildings evolved, but the Scenery stayed the same.
1880: all track was single…and most still is.
1880: all rail was in 40’ lengths…vs. 2000: continous welded rail used in hi-traffic mains. 1880: mainlines would be represented by code 40 rail… (Today it would be code 83). Example: 'Steam era ATSF mainline 56lb. rail (code 70?)
Semaphores were replaced by Searchlights, replaced by ??
ALL improvements were gradual - bridges, etc. - not instantaneous. Wood buildings gave way to brick, which gave way to pre-poured concrete. Autos, and Trucks ‘date’ a scene as do billboards and signs.
I like the abandoned mine… I’m plannign a similar one, line side, with a Marble Slab over the entrace to the shaft: “These few words are written on that stand: “At the bottom of this mine lies on hell of a man- Big John”” Idea was taken from the classic song: “Big Bad John”
Stating the obvious, anything man made will not be completely timeless, while anything else will. Probably the most timeless man made stucture found in this country would be Indian burial mounds or cave dwellings. Not sure if any of them have railroads nearby, though.
If you’re not limited to the USA, there is a railroad near the Great Pyramids you could model, or so I’ve heard. [:)]
I like the ‘nothing’ idea that Lee had. When I was in Texas for a couple of years, I got a ride in a Piper Cub. We flew over a cattle ranch and I saw a water hole with some cattle around it and standing IN it. I don’t think I will ever forget that as I hadn’t seen anything like it before. Lately I just saw something just like that in one of the model mags. To me that would be a great detail for a nothing scene. It would also be timeless.
