06-19-2010, 11:19 PM
Ralph, you did good starting this thread! Thank you. And great thoughts from everyone.
Russ, my plan from the start was along the lines of Galen's thoughts. I will have a scenicked Southern Pacific interchange yard on one end and a scenicked Santa Fe interchange yard on the other. The idea came from and is modeled after the prototype Modesto and Empire. So... cars that were headed "beyond the basement" to the SP railroad would make their way around the layout and be dropped off at the SP interchange. Then between operating sessions, I would remove those cars from the layout and place them in storage drawers, at the same type replensihing the interchange with new cars that were dropped off by Southern Pacific. Ditto for the SF interchange yard.
Galen, I just couldn't make myself devote so much space for a unscenicked hidden staging yard. To me, your commentary seems like a good way to avoid the staging yard "dungeon" and use that space for scenery and active operations.
Now, as I was working on the layout wiring, I was looking for a way to add the Galveston branch. I could do something at the approach to the peninsula, but I would have to put a new backdrop out from the wall for the trains to hide behind. That's one option, but it may be difficult to blend the new portion of the backdrop into the already painted sheetrock backdrop. Another option would be to hide it behind structures and large trees and whatever else I can think of.
Or, as Ralph has done and Russ mentioned, have the track go behind a large industry.
And... is there actually a such word as "scenicked" or "seniced"?
Russ, my plan from the start was along the lines of Galen's thoughts. I will have a scenicked Southern Pacific interchange yard on one end and a scenicked Santa Fe interchange yard on the other. The idea came from and is modeled after the prototype Modesto and Empire. So... cars that were headed "beyond the basement" to the SP railroad would make their way around the layout and be dropped off at the SP interchange. Then between operating sessions, I would remove those cars from the layout and place them in storage drawers, at the same type replensihing the interchange with new cars that were dropped off by Southern Pacific. Ditto for the SF interchange yard.
Galen, I just couldn't make myself devote so much space for a unscenicked hidden staging yard. To me, your commentary seems like a good way to avoid the staging yard "dungeon" and use that space for scenery and active operations.
Now, as I was working on the layout wiring, I was looking for a way to add the Galveston branch. I could do something at the approach to the peninsula, but I would have to put a new backdrop out from the wall for the trains to hide behind. That's one option, but it may be difficult to blend the new portion of the backdrop into the already painted sheetrock backdrop. Another option would be to hide it behind structures and large trees and whatever else I can think of.
Or, as Ralph has done and Russ mentioned, have the track go behind a large industry.
And... is there actually a such word as "scenicked" or "seniced"?
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