Where I Started

Junction City yard may be the operational hub of the layout, but visually it was a dud.  There's no space for much scene here due to what's consumed by track, so the backdrop was always intended to supply most of the information about the place.

Other than the equipment, not much was happening here aesthetically.

Here's a wider perspective.  Nothing to convey where you are.  That's staging below.

Where Am I Supposed to Be?

Here's the prototype UP yard at Riverdale.

The Weber River is behind the yard in this view, which shows the treeline and not much else.  Behind me Mount Ogden rises over 9700 feet high, and there are other mountains to the north and west.  None of them are visible from this angle, which I saw as a good thing.  There's mountain backdrop off to the right of the yard, and having a big span of nothing but trees would make for a welcome transition to other lower mountains timetable west of town.  I figured it would cement the image of the yard as part of the valley.

The freelanced Junction City isn't Riverdale, but as this is the look I was after from the beginning, I took a panorama of photos from ground level, and from an overpass, so I'd have plenty of tree shapes to work with.

Where I Ended Up

Some trees happened.  First, however, I did finish lightening the sky toward the horizon with a mix of my sky blue and some PVA drywall primer, and painted clouds.

Cottonwoods, box elders, and other stuff now grows behind the yard.  I broke up the solid wall of vegetation with some views to more distant trees, suggesting the water course is "over there" a ways.

On this end of the scene, a hill rises to strategically cover the top turn of the staging helix.  I'll plant a mass of 3-D trees here like the hill above Riverdale.

Color-wise, note that there is no green paint visible in the scene at all.  Not one drop.  Here are the color mixes used:

Distant treeline: Ultramarine blue and yellow ochre.

Foreground trees:

• First layer (darkest shadows): Delta ceramcoat black acrylic and cadmium yellow deep.
• Second layer (intermediate): Black and cadmium yellow pale.
• Last layer (lightest highlights): Black and yellow light hansa.
• Trunks/branches: Americana "charcoal gray" and "driftwood."
• The yellow grass and sagebrush in the foreground are more ultramarine blue and yellow ochre, with white.

Note that the colors I use will play well with Scenic Express and Woodland Scenics ground foams.

Each layer of the above gets multiple passes.  Acrylic, especially anything mixed with yellow, will go on translucent.  This can work in your favor as it allows progressively lighter colors to build up.  Starting with darks helps to create a rich, deep color as more layers are applied.  The final highlights look almost yellow on the palette, but take on some of the darker color beneath when applied to the backdrop.

As in the prototype photos, some areas remain quite dark, while others get much lighter.  Trunks and other branches aren't visible everywhere.  

Here's a wider view of almost the whole thing.

Back to Normal

With the backdrop essentially complete, save for maybe some buildings to be added later, I filled the yard back up with cars, just where they were when the last op session ended.

Even without weathered track or ballast, I think the backdrop helps a lot.  It's no longer just plain benchwork.

From now on, as trains come and go from Junction City, it will at least feel like somewhere.

Well done

Looks great and sure it took some time to get all the coats applied.

WP 8th ops

If you have an opportunity some time, I'd like to hear a little about the phone system.

As always...

Phones

Joe B.:  The phone system is the one described in the article back in MR in August, 1982 on the Cat Mountain & Santa Fe.  I think it was by Ken Thompson.  I didn't actually build the thing, as it was my friend Alan Anderson who kindly volunteered the time, over 10 years ago.  Once it was assembled, and then disassembled when the last layout was torn down, I was able to hook it back up using the diagram, but as to how the actual circuitry was put together or works I really have no idea.  It's a party line where the dispatcher is always connected, and the individual handsets are on only when lifted from the cradles.

We use the phones to OS trains to the dispatcher or otherwise call in.  I couldn't figure out how to reconfigure the buzzer system that goes along with the phones, so we now use FRS radios for the dispatcher to call out when he needs something.

Another Functioning Telephone System with Circuit Diagrams

If your are interested in working telephone circuits you might want to check out Don Ball's system on his Stockton and Copperopolis Rwy at  http://sandcrr.blogspot.com/p/telephones.html

Thanks for the comments.

Thanks for the comments. Always looking for an alternative to FRS party lines.

Works well Rob

The backdrop is spot on as is typical of your work Rob. Looks just like the prototype photo. And thanks for the painting lesson as well.

Excellent!!!

Excellent, Rob.  Just simply excellent!  I feel bad now using photo backdrops being a retired art teacher an artist.  I should have painted my backdrops too.  :o)  Well, I did with the sky but I didn't spend a lot of time painting my clouds.  Not like I do in my oil and watercolor paintings.  When I looked at close to 100 feet of backdrop, I just kept it simple.  Again, great job!  Tom

Thanks All

I appreciate the views and comments.  Someone seems to be enjoying marking this thread as spam, so it keeps disappearing from the recent posts, and I don't necessarily know who's been commenting until it gets restored.

...

I think it looks fabulous.  High marks for learning how to paint!!

Who needs photo backdrops...

scenery

Looks very good. Nice job. Even a little scenery is a whole lot better than no scenery

PKS

SP over donner

Funny how some trees and a

Funny how some trees and a little work make the yard look realistic.  Good job.

I agree with everybody else,

I agree with everybody else, outstanding job on that Rob. When you ballast that area, it will really look awesome.

btw, is that Peco track?

Thanks Again for the Comments

This yard is all Atlas code 83, save for one Shinohara/Walthers turnout.  The rest of the layout (outside of staging) is a mixture of Micro Engineering and Shinohara, primarily ME.  Staging is Atlas code 100.

Spam?

Yeah Rob, mine is getting the same treatment from someone.  A friend couldn't get my blog up last night.  

Moving Right Along

I've been adding backdrop at the west end of the yard and now beyond.

We start to leave the river bottoms as we head past the unfinished diesel shop.  Farmland starts to dominate the view.  This will help substantiate all the agriculture related industry on this end of the layout.

This corner seemed a reasonable location for a shelter belt angling around a farm house and some outbuildings.  Some 3-D trees and fences will be needed to separate this spot from the right of way.  This may also be a good scene for my wheel line irrigation thingy from ExactRail.  I can stage this segment as if it's stored next to the ROW fence.

Throughout this area I've been keeping the distant mountains indistinct, much like the Lakeview scene.  There are plenty of places around the layout where the mountains are more prominent and colorful, and I don't want the same look everywhere.  The prototype photo for this locale was taken about a mile from my house

Beautiful

Thanks Tom

I did experiment quite a bit with perspective and color in this area.  I have some rural backdrops coming up that I anticipate to be more critical to the look of the scene involved, and wanted to try some things out here so I'd be more prepared for what's to come.

Excellent!!!l

Just simply EXCELLENT, Rob!!!  Ditto to Tom Patterson's comments.