I’ve been looking at a lot of layouts lately and was woundering how all of you who have layouts hide any track work that passes through backdrops. Tunnels and highway overpasses tend to be the norm but what other clever ideas are out there?
Thanx StuJo4-6-6-4
I have one track which will diisappear into a cut overhung with trees. Deliberately avoided having a road bridge, it’s such a cliche. The five-tiered pagoda immediately adjacent should also help distract the eye.
The other end of that ‘tunnel’ will reappear around a steep-sided bluff - on a shelf across the (very narrow) river. Once again, trees will help to conceal the actual transition.
As that railroad proceeds upgrade, there are a couple of other places where it ‘herniates’ out of the modeled scene on one-turn helices to adjust altitude. One goes out of sight around a curve, the other three are obvious tunnel portals.
At the very top of the grade, the 'empties in, loads out, connection at the colliery runs under the overflow bins - and sinks out of sight on a train elevator. It’s also behind the track where empty cars can be live loaded, just another view block/distraction.
What helps me is that I’m modeling a real geographic area where the natural terrain stands on edge. As was once said about a similar place in West Virginia, “If you could cut out five acres, lay it flat and iron it, you could sell ten acres and still have land enough to build a house on.”
Chuck (Modeling mountainous Central Japan in September, 1964)
I just buried mine amongst some buildings:
Wayne
Hey, that’s why I love this forum. I was just wondering about the same issue…track through a backdrop. I logged on to write another post about the properties of typical fibreboard to glue the backdrop on and saw this thread.
Doc Wayne, that is a neat idea. I was toying with something along the disappearing into a cut as well (like Tomi there), but the area that I have to conceal is one that I want to develop into and industrial end of the layout. You have given me lots to think about now.