coachmann Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) I was out almost every day of the year with the camera and noticed few changes in the late 1970s/early 80's. But trackside growth was subtle at first like high vegetation growing between Up and Down track and hiding wheels, small bushes where there had been none, soon to be small trees. Lineside trees growing as if on steriods that hid trains in summer. Eventually it got so bad that trains were passing through curtains and canyons of trees. I can only speak for the Chester-Holyhead line and branches plus accasional visits to old haunts around West Riding of Yorkshire Edited March 1, 2012 by coachmann Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 Courtesy of the Jubilee bank holiday I've been able to do a little work on the layout. The retaining walls and hillside below the Manchester Road are now finished and a new narrow boat installed under the railway bridge. Resin will be poured into this section of the canal in the next week or so I hope. Pics at the end of this. However, I have a question that I hope fellow RMwebbers may be able to help with - on the non-tunnel end of the layout just beyond the bridge the tracks curve sharply round as they had to the fiddle yard. in reality the scene looks like the image posted here (http://www.derbysulz...44marsdenbw.jpg), with long sweeping canted curves, but thats obviously not possible (see pic below for the section of the layout I'm talking about). I was therefore going to make the scenic break by building the bridge at the west end of Marsden station (and simply miss out the intervening mile or two of track) which looks like this: http://www.nationalr...558-0000004.jpg - although this view is from the fiddle yard side as it were! However, I am not 100% comfortable with this given the 'open' nature of the landscape show in the first image above and so the only other option I can think of is three holes in a backscene for the tracks to pass through and some sort of painting or image of the landscape on the backscene. I've seen this done elsewhere though and it has always jarred a bit with me and so I wondered if anyone knew of a third option that I am not aware of?!!! Thanks in anticipation of any ideas out there!! 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted June 5, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 5, 2012 Hi Philip Great to see progress - and it's looking really good! cheers Ben A. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted June 6, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 6, 2012 The "hole in the sky" approach only really works well if you have a large building or trees to hide it behind. I don't think that applies here. Other than moving Marsden nearer, I would suggest a small farm occupation bridge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted June 6, 2012 Author Share Posted June 6, 2012 Thanks Ben - much appreciated! The top photo harshly reveals a couple of the compromises I have had to make though - firstly, the distance between tunnel mouth and bridge has had to be compressed (all other distances should be prototypical assuming I have translated from my maps correctly!) to fit within the available space and secondly, I didnt feel confident enough at this stage in my modelling career to hand build n-gauge points As a result, the Peco large radius point is in fact too small in terms of radius, which means the Marsden loop has to be slewed 'back in' to make the crossing over the bridge in the right place - should be a nice smooth curve of course rather than the dog-legged affair you can see in the image!! Doesn't look quite as bad 'in the flesh' thankfully! Joseph - thanks for your comment - given this, I think I may stick with the Marsden station bridge - at least it has some prototypical authenticity, albeit compressing a couple of miles into a few inches! There will be a large-ish photographic backscene around the whole layout eventually so I hope that will help things. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post philiprporter Posted November 12, 2012 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 12, 2012 I've made some small progress on the scenics at the non-tunnel end of the layout - apologies for the poor quality pictures. The continuation of the channel fed by the overflow structure seen in these images was pretty tough to get looking right, as its relatively hard to access (and one side you could only access by trespassing) and the concrete fencing, and in fact this entire area, is completely covered in dense vegetation, so photos dont help much aside from a few very early steam shots that show a tiny portion of this concrete fence. So, its probably not accurate - but then again much of it will be covered in dense model vegetation soon! Have yet to build the scenery for the 'inaccessible without trespass' side of the channel as can be seen - thats the last bit of landscaping to do, but looking at contours from maps it seems reasonably simple. I'm still not sure how to make the trains 'disappear' at this end of the layout - in reality trains sweep round a canted reverse curve and there are spectacular views down the valley towards Marsden station (which is out of sight) - neither the 'hole in backscene' or imaginary bridge seem to be very good ideas at present - but I guess I will be forced to go for one or the other - any suggestions? Must remove those track pins too - only just noticed them in the second picture!! 24 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted November 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 12, 2012 Hello Philip, Yours is one of those threads that I always click on with a great sense of anticipation when I see there's been an update... and it does not disappoint. You must be delighted with the progress - the water looks really good and the sense of "place" is really starting to come together. Disguising back-secene holes can be an issue; I would second what's been said above - either a footbridge, or a large tree just in front of the hole to disguise it. On our club layout we've disguised one such hole with a pipeline going over the railway - this was inspired by a canal trip to Mond last year. cheers Ben A. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Hello Philip, Yours is one of those threads that I always click on with a great sense of anticipation when I see there's been an update... and it does not disappoint. You must be delighted with the progress - the water looks really good and the sense of "place" is really starting to come together. Disguising back-secene holes can be an issue; I would second what's been said above - either a footbridge, or a large tree just in front of the hole to disguise it. On our club layout we've disguised one such hole with a pipeline going over the railway - this was inspired by a canal trip to Mond last year. cheers Ben A. Thanks very much indeed for the kind words Ben - hopefully there may be some more progress over the weekend with the rest of the landscaping and I'm also about to start working on the photographic backscene. I have about 40 images to stick together as a test run before I order the real thing - its going to be tricky, as the land modelled is very much higher at one end of the layout than the other and I want a decent height of backscene above the tunnels, without the backscene towering above the lower land at the non-tunnel end - not quite sure yet how I will achieve this! I also need to sort the white water on the overspill structure - I am approaching this with great trepidation as I have seen modelled white water look pretty unconvincing on some layouts and that structure took weeks to build and get looking right so I dont want to mess it up - its a devilishly complex shape! Clear bathroom sealant looks the best bet, but my test runs on scrap material were dreadful! I keep putting this job off......!! Best wishes, Philip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) Been playing around with a mock up of part of the backscene. Its based on photos of the real location, but getting a full 'sweep' of the horizon at this location to make a backscene 'in one' is tricky/impossible, so I will have to join two sets of backscene images to stitch into one long panorama - so there will be a small semi-fictional section (out of shot in these photos) to make the join - going to have to learn some Photoshop! Edited November 13, 2012 by philiprporter 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Not only a fantastic layout, but a fantastic backscene, The colours flow really well and make a very impressive scene, The 56 definitely looks lost in the landscape. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Hi Phillip, If you have the latest version of PhotoShop then there is a tool to stitch photographs together. I have used it in the past and it is VERY easy to do. I have of course forgotten how to do it since but I seem to remember using a You Tube tutorial and it being next to impossible to get wrong! You could then get it commercially printed in one sheet. Not my era or scale at all but the quality of the scenic modelling here is top notch - well done! I hope this helps! All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
50031Hood Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 If you know someone with an iPhone, you can now take a 'panorama' style picture that will allow you to do a 240 degree sweep with the built-in camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Many thanks for the kind comments and helpful advice everyone. I've probably said this before, but positive comments from fellow RMWebbers are a real drive to keep me going with this model - which is never easy given the demands I face at work leaving very little time for modelling activity, hence the rather sporadic updates! Will fiddle around with Photoshop or Corel Draw this weekend and try to get the backscene done. I had intended to 'fade' it as recommended in multiple articles on this subject, but that would mean a mis-match between the green of the landscaped elements on the model and the green tones on the backscene and the boundary between the two would I suspect, stick out like a sore thumb - and I sort of want the landscape to be imposing and to dwarf the model rather then be 'faded' into the background, as its that landscape (and the resultant sweeping, canted curves) that make this such a great location in the real world. Cheers, Philip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelW Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 That backscene really does work with the on-layout scenery. I'm not much of a fan of photo-backscenes normally, I think they tend to have too much foreground detail that doesn't gel with the scenery. Yours on the other hand give a perfect backdrop to what you have created. Can I suggest you make the abandoned tunnels more of a black hole though? The light coming through them spoils the rest of the image in your last photo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 That backscene really does work with the on-layout scenery. I'm not much of a fan of photo-backscenes normally, I think they tend to have too much foreground detail that doesn't gel with the scenery. Yours on the other hand give a perfect backdrop to what you have created. Can I suggest you make the abandoned tunnels more of a black hole though? The light coming through them spoils the rest of the image in your last photo. Many thanks for this positive feedback - much appreciated - yes the tunnel ends will be filled in - its one of many jobs on my ever-growing 'to do' list!!! Cheers, Phil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted November 18, 2012 Author Share Posted November 18, 2012 Been going bog-eyed making a whole bunch of these today: They are the small concrete posts that used to hold lineside cables (up to the late 70's I think) but were left by the lineside after the cables were removed - and they are still there today. They are small in real life and in n-gauge they are tiny!!!: These are made from 1mm square section plastic (still overscale but I couldn't go any smaller!) painted concrete colour and the pieces of metal that hold the cable on the real thing are made from tint strips of black paper curved into a sort of semi-circular shape (as best as I could manage) with tweezers - all done under a big magnifiying glass!! Once done they are dipped into weathering powders. Have done 40 now and thankfully thats all I think I need! You can JUST see some of these from an earlier batch on some of the pictures above. One of those things that nobody will ever notice on the model I suspect, but very noticeable in the real location so I wanted to try and model them. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Looking great David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted November 18, 2012 Author Share Posted November 18, 2012 Thanks very much David - I had been putting off making these cable supports for a while as they are very fiddly, but managed to get in the right frame of mind to do 40 in one sitting!! I dont know if its because I have managed a few days work on the layout recently (a rare thing), but I almost feel like I am winning and can actually get it finished and maybe even exhibit it one day - we shall see! Cheers, Phil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Excellent stuff. There are (or were) similar supports on the GER suburban lines. The kind of detail that adds location character. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Wow, just found this excellent layout, superb blending of the back scene and the water is amazing too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Hi, Any updates on this great layout? Have enjoyed watching progress. A long time back I was given a video on Penine steam in the 60's featuring this location and the model is really effective. Hope to see a further update soon! Best regards, Jeremy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clecklewyke Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) Hi, Any updates on this great layout? Have enjoyed watching progress. A long time back I was given a video on Penine steam in the 60's featuring this location and the model is really effective. Hope to see a further update soon! Best regards, Jeremy So do I!!! Fantastic layout. I cannot see anywhere the size of the layout. I presume there is a fair degree of lengthwise compression? Ian Edited July 16, 2014 by clecklewyke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Hi Ian and Jeremy - just logged in to RMWeb for the first time in a long time and saw your messages from 2014(!) and realised my last post was in 2012!! Apologies for the lack of reply, but I haven't checked this thread since 2012! Life took over somewhat in 2012 for all the wrong reasons and so work on the layout had to stop and it was temporarily dismantled - however, I'm happy to report I set up the layout again at the weekend and have done some work today tidying everything up ready to crack on - so I hope to post some updates soon all being well. Best wishes, Phil. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 (edited) I did make one 'quick win' today while tidying up having just reassembled the layout - farm building and small outhouse installed (the latter being a 'ready to plonk' item which looks vaguely like the real thing) as both existed before the layout was packed up. Not sure why my dry stone wall has gone shiny while the layout was in storage - that needs rectifying! Edited April 9, 2015 by philiprporter 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian Smeeton Posted April 9, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 9, 2015 Looking goood, keep up the (restarted) good work Regards Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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