Oregon City/Blue Heron - Design connundrum

[Prof Klyzlr]

Dear Oregon City/Blue Heron officionados,

 

Right, this question is going to sound a bit cryptic,
but for those who are suitably up-to-speed on the prototype Oregon City and Blue Heron papermill,
and have a serious mind to exhibition-layout visual scene composition,
it'll (hopefully) make complete sense... 

 

Here we go...

 

Assuming we are starting with this...
(with utmost respect to Scott Lothes!)

 

 

You'll know that:
- we're facing roughly due-south
- to our right is the 505 Tavern, sandwiched between the SW1500s on Main St, and Oregon Rt 99e/the Willamette River
- to the left in the dark is another (visually unremarkable) strip of shops,
the UP LA<>Seattle main, and the distinctive OC overlook vertical cliff-face
- and behind the Railbox boxcar is the Blue Heron papermill

 

Now, consider that the track and Main St (in HO scale) is on the centreline of a 12"-15" wide (deep) shelf... 
(IE the module backdrop is the overlook cliffs and a 2" wide shelf for the LA<>Seattle main,
the front/viewer fascia edge is Rt99E/the Willamette River,
and we need to fit 2x strips of buildings + the Main Street switchlead in the 12-15" module depth)

 

...and there is no way the entire depth of 505 Tavern is going to hit between the track and the layout edge/the common viewing position...

 

...what to do?

 

I forsee 2 options (and a possible 3rd oddball).

 

Option 1 - Build 505 Tavern "foreshortened", with a solid backwall virtually hard up against the layout fascia
(makes for a oddly-short building, but avoids needing to build the entire detailed inside of 505)

 

Option 2 - Build 505 Tavern "cut-away", with a fully-exposed and detailed interior presented to the viewer
(serious animation and sonic challenge, particularly if "Blues 2" is a subterfuge name for "Alice MudGarden"...  )

 

ooooorrrrrrrr...

 

Oddball option 3 - flip Main St North of the Rt99E/Main St intersection E<>W,
so that 505 Tavern is on the other side of the street,
now sandwiched between Main St and the UP LA<>Seattle main line/the distinctive Oregon City vertical cliff...

(It means the more-familiar front of the tavern would be presented to the viewer which would be arguably a good scene composition move,
but makes for a materially unproto configuration,
and would require re-engineering the entire shop-front strip inverted L<>R...)

 

SO, for those who know Oregon City well enough to understand the above,
and have enough Iain Rice and Lance Mindheim headspace to understand the finer-points of shelf layout visual scene composition,
particularly in the context of exhibition layout design and presentation,
 

which option would you choose?

 

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

[long island jack]

option 4,don't build it LOL 

 

If i had to build it option 3

[298]

This is why I copped out and took the freelance option....

 

 

 

But I'd choose #2, our punters rarely look into buildings and don't notice such detail at first so presenting an interior to look through would be more obvious. I did consider it on my own Blue Heron with an "Old Spaghetti Factory" restaurant as a nod to the PNW as they have old trolley cars inside, but the two story building blocked too much of the uncoupling area and was replaced with the single story White Tower restaurant.

 

 

 

My own nod to the '505 cafe was a leftover DPM shop (called the 645…) and although the layout of the windows looks odd as it is, presents two rooms to the viewer. My usual method of glazing wasn't up to the job so I quickly added frosted signwriting to the upper windows, and will replace the acetate with mobile phone screen cover glass to make it more see through.

[298]

Another thing that makes that shot work outside of the 505 that I hadn't noticed before is the front wall slopes into the building, so you get a greater angle of the window...

 

 

 

 

[298]

I did Photoshop the sign from that image but didn't change the wording, oh well, something else to go back and correct for me the sake of accuracy. I'm not sure of the origin of "Alice Mudgarden", but the latter band have played secret gigs as their anagram, Nude Dragons.