Taking The Scenic Route: Part 4

One of the members of the Railwire forum, Dave Foxx, posted a comment after I posted a photo of the mock up. I hope Dave doesn't mind if I quote him here, "I'm not so sure that I would be concerned with the height as much as the slope.  Figuring that most people will be focusing in on the trains, it isn't as important to get the overall height right as it is the slope.  In other words, space looks tight for you, so the higher you go with the mountains, the more vertical your cliffs need to be.  If they are completely vertical for the height you're talking, I don't think that you will capture the look and feel of Horseshoe Curve.  I would recommend cutting back the height and focusing on getting the slope correct.  That's the risk of modeling a highly recognizable area, like Tehachapi and the loop.  You have to get it right."

After sketching Kittanning Point directly on the backdrop I realized that Dave was absolutely right and I had forgotten one very important thing. Horseshoe on the layout is less than half the size it should be. If it was to scale it would be over ten feet wide. If I make it anywhere near scale vertically it would look more like the mountain in Close Encounters than anything in the Alleghenies. If the mountain is half as high, it should be half as wide. So I rethought the entire idea.

The other thing I decided was that a reasonable looking mountain would need more room. So I moved the supports back to with an inch or two of East Altoona and Juniata...

New Backdrop Location: ANTIS

New Backdrop Location: Juniata

This gave me quite a bit of space on the opposite side, more than enough to build a respectable set of three dimensional mountains...

New Backdrop Location: KittanningPoint

New Backdrop Location: KN

Since I was reasonably sure this is where I wanted to keep the backdrop I painted it before I mounted it. I started with a coat of Bulls Eye white primer. I didn't go for a solid covering. I let a little of the dark color of the masonite show through. When the primer dried I sprayed on Walmart gray primer. Once again I let some of the white show through. I was aiming to replicate an overcast autumn sky. I think it actually came out pretty good...

October Sky

When the paint dried I lifted the masonite into place and fastened it to the upright supports. The problem now was how to build a mountain.

I went back and looked at the topographical maps I have for the area. It occurred to me that if we can use full size trackplans to help us lay track why can't we use scaled maps for scenery. I took the scale of the topographic map and divided it by the scale I model in. If I got the math right it's map scale/model scale x 100 = % scale factor. I then reduce (or enlarge) the map in Paint Shop Pro using the percentage. It took a bit of trial and error. Using the ruler and grid function of the software I kept modifying the percentage until the map fit into the actual area on the layout...

Horseshoe: N Scale Topo

I think there are several ways to pull this off. The most obvious is to build a pile of 2" thick styrofoam and contour the sides with saw and or file. The problem here is that 2" extruded styrofoam costs $30 a sheet or better. Falling back on my old standby, 1/2" blue foam, I came up with several ideas. One is to create horizontal layers that match the contours of the map. I would have to start from the "top" or inside contour line and work my way out. The result would hopefully be a set of nested shapes that reproduce the slopes...

Nested Contours

Nested Contours Section

To make this work requires a "stringer" to support the shapes. It's similar to what a carpenter uses to build stairs. The stringers would have to match the contour they support. No two stringers would be the same. A lot of work is required.

The second would be to use the same 2" high strips I use on the roadbed. I could simply lay the foam to match the contour lines. The trouble here is that the slope is steep and not suitable for modeling the general shape of mountains found in Pennsylvania. Unless the strips overlap so they can be glued to one another this method also requires a stringer.

The third approach is to use the two inch strips as vertical "hoops" like one might find in a tent. The strips are formed into arches that match the general outline of the mountain.  No stringers are required and the slope can be adjusted in several ways. One is to widen the arch. In the case of a rock face, such as the cut at the apex of Horseshoe Curve, the arch can serve as a frame for that face. I mocked this one up because it seemed the best alternative...

Support Arches

The arches will serve as supports for one or more layers of craft paper soaked in wallpaper paste. I'm not sure if wallpaper paste will give the desired result, but it's worth a try.

Regards,

Frank Musick

Building a dream layout on a nightmare budget

The Allegheny Eastern Railroad