12-20-2010, 12:45 PM
Can I offer another suggestion for representing the buildings along the front?
Here is a "Concrete Canyon" trackplan
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://iholmes.com/pages/journal/planning_06.html">http://iholmes.com/pages/journal/planning_06.html</a><!-- m -->
I must confess I thought this would work with the buildings down the left-hand
side(front) being made out of "Smoked perspex" - like the tops of record decks
used to be - or possibly done with ordinary perspex, then covered with a couple
of layers of the glass tinting film used for car windows. That would "indicate"
that the walls of the building were there, but still allow you to see through
them to operate the layout. You could leave the open doorways and windows clear,
to exaggerate the difference. A third layer making the see-through "darker",
would indicate the doors slid back, and therefore "open".
The same system could be used on any layout where there are buildings
"view-blocking" at the front of the layout, allowing visibility for the stock
positioning, but not requiring the operator (at the front) to peer over the top
or around the end. It would also allow for precise positioning of the cars for
uncoupling over a magnet.
Here is a "Concrete Canyon" trackplan
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://iholmes.com/pages/journal/planning_06.html">http://iholmes.com/pages/journal/planning_06.html</a><!-- m -->
I must confess I thought this would work with the buildings down the left-hand
side(front) being made out of "Smoked perspex" - like the tops of record decks
used to be - or possibly done with ordinary perspex, then covered with a couple
of layers of the glass tinting film used for car windows. That would "indicate"
that the walls of the building were there, but still allow you to see through
them to operate the layout. You could leave the open doorways and windows clear,
to exaggerate the difference. A third layer making the see-through "darker",
would indicate the doors slid back, and therefore "open".
The same system could be used on any layout where there are buildings
"view-blocking" at the front of the layout, allowing visibility for the stock
positioning, but not requiring the operator (at the front) to peer over the top
or around the end. It would also allow for precise positioning of the cars for
uncoupling over a magnet.