This morning I emerged from the basement and after blinking my eyes for a bit was surprised to realize that another year has passed and it’s now Spring time out there!!! Our pear tree is in full bloom, the neighbor’s cherry trees are blooming, our maple trees are pushing out their leaves-- in short, it’s gorgeous out there! And with these 75-80+ degree weather days, the prospect of resuming external activities is not altogether unappealing…
So as I was sitting out on my back deck last night enjoying the nice spring weather, I got to wondering whether or not anybody models the seasons on their layouts. Sure, I know that we all pick a season and “freeze” it there-- forever Summer or Fall (generally), or “non-specific, but not Winter” is more usually the case, but I’m curious if anybody goes to any length to actually change the seasonal appearance of their layouts. I’m sure that the changes would probably be minimal-- it just wouldn’t be practical to dump baking soda (or whatever) all over the layout to represent snow only to have to clean it all off a few months later… but short of that, (and here’s my question for today) Does anybody model the seasons?
As usual, I’m looking forward to your thoughts and opinions, and photos too if you got 'em!
Like Camelot or Pepperland, it’s always early summer in Moose Bay. Part of this is the choice of foliage - largely deciduous trees with a smattering of pines, and even a few flowering trees. Changing those out would be a major undertaking.
Figures available in HO also lead you down the summertime path. Yes, there are a few sets of “winter” figures, but by and large, the ladies are in dresses and the men in shirtsleeves. Finding enough characters to populate a layout in winter would be a daunting task, I’m afraid.
Besides, I wouldn’t want the working girls in the red light district to catch cold.
I have seen different seasons modeled on a layout, but I have yet to see a layout with changing seasons. It´d be a major undertaking to replace every tree, shrub and figure on a layout and i have my doubt that this would be reasonable venue. Could be cheaper to build 4 different layouts …
I do not particularly model the scenic appearance of the seasons. I model the coast, where we have 3 days of winter some years. We usually only see know on television.
Pun picture: snow on television. This is a picture I donated to a historical archive, because any snow at all is so rare here, it is a historical event. My collection in the archive includes some railroad pictures if you are interested… http://rattler.tamucc.edu/dept/special/Anthony.html
I foolishly tried to model fall on my first 4X8. The difficulties of modeling fifty shades of brown coupled with my inexperience produced a layout that went to the dump when I moved. The second and current layout is summer time all the time. I have only to find four to five shades of green to pull that off. If I thought I could model fall effectively I would do it. Maybe in another life.
I can’t say that I’ve ever encountered any hobbyists who took their layouts physically through the cycle of the various seasons, one by one. Almost unquestionably, this simply isn’t practical! However, I have seen a number of examples over the years where various sections of a given layout represented different seasons and/or cases where differing aspects of a particular season are represented (i.e. the result of meteorological effects due to changes in elevation). Some hobbyists may recall Bill Henderson’s great Coal Belt RR (now a fallen flag), whose setting was late autumn, with traces of the first light snowfall at the high points on the line. Modeler extraordinaire, Mike Tylick, went to rather more extremes with his New Haven Berkshire Division layout in MR about 20 years ago, wherein one half of the layout depicted late autumn, while the other was set in mid winter. There are certainly many other examples.
In my own case, my layout’s period is set at October 15, 1941. Although my Hudson Highlands RR serves two specific Hudson River cities, in between these the railroad must traverse a range of high hills. Typical of the region’s situation, fall colors can be approaching peak near the hilltops, while trees nearest the river itself are still mainly green. I’ve depicted such on my layout.
This approach serves an additional purpose. Since autumn in the Northeast can produce a riot of color that, when accurately modeled, can tend to overwhelm the viewer. Modeling only a section of the layout in full autumn splendor, while much of the remainder is still relatively green, tends to somewhat mute the impact of the more colorful areas.
I recall reading that John Allen created a winter scene for the photos that he used on Christmas cards. He liked it so well that he created a permanent winter scene at one of the high-elevation towns on his layout - I believe that the permanently frosty town was named “Cold Shoulder.”
As for me, I stick with one season: Baseball season. All of my little people are discussing this DiMaggio kid and what he might do for the Yankees.
I am planning to use the idea of having a winter scene at a high elevation. Also when you model pine forests, you do not have to have a lot of fall color which is very difficult to model well.
As I recall, didn’t the old Lionel headquarters in NYC have all four seasons on their display layout?
My railroad is set in the tropical Pacific (North shore Oahu, HI), so its always summer, with plenty of palm trees and green. In addition, many of my N scale people sport swim suits and casual outfits. When it’s rainy and cold (and it does get that way here in Folsom, CA) it’s nice to be able to see a slice of paradise from the islands.
Well I don’t care for the heat of summer or the frigid winter (but if I have to choose, winter wins), maybe a major reason I have an indoor hobby.
Here on the ATLANTIC CENTRAL it is late September 1954, and it could pass for October. I like the early fall colors, still mixed with green. And here in the Mid Atlantic it is some of our most pleasant weather.
I have no problem with those who model more than one season, although I have no interest in it.
As others have noted, changing seasons seems all but impossible.
Well, really, not quite. `Way down at the bottom of my priority list, about ten lines below the operating tunnel boring machine, is a little note:
Miyukidani
It means Beautiful Snow Valley, and it will be the very last stop for the narrow gauge empire that may get built on a second level if I ever finish the main level. (Holdeth not thy breath!) Yes, it will be a snow scene.
So, what about the transition from late summer to winter. Since every tree in sight is a cedar, how can you tell?
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - mostly)
I know this isn’t what you had in mind, but when I saw the title, “For Everything There Is a Season,” I immediately thought that these past few months have been the season for marking the passing of some great people in the rr modelling world. Sad.
