Bill McClanahan was one of my favorites too, and............

.............you certainly nailed his scenery "style" spot on.  Certainly brings back fond memories from the past.  I have the old book he wrote which was in color and you've done an admiral job capturing his art.  I remember every time I saw a photo in a magazine, I knew whether it was John Allen or Bill McClanahan by their distinctive style.

Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing...........

Peter

Appreciate that....

Bill and John both have always been huge influences on me so for someone to say I've "captured Bill's art" is a huge compliment to me and I appreciate it very much!

Michael

"Here from there"

As promised, here's a series of photos  I took with my phone while I was in the process of getting the scene to the point you see in the first picture in the thread.  This is sort of a condensed version of things, there are many more pics I took for my own personal documentation but I don't want to bore anyone! This sequence of six pictures hits the high points. The trestle was built with Grand Central Gems components plus a little bit of extra stripwood from my local Hobby Lobby which is the closest thing I have to a LHS around here....

MIchael

Sweet Memories

Great to see you back Michael. I agree about sometimes needing a break from modeling. You come back refreshed and sometimes you find problems have solved themselves.

Coming from the same John Allen, Bill McClanahan, Jack Work as you do, It's like a trip down memory lane seeing your scenery. Thanks for posting the creation photos as well - that trestle is really sweet.

Sky also looks great - the only observation I have is that (in this view anyway) the 2 hill tops are quite symmetrical?
No big issue and if you are applying tress it probably isn't an issue at all - just musing .

Keep it coming......

Rob Clark
Cornhill & Atherton RR

Hill tops

Hmnn....I never really saw them being symmetrical till you mentioned it.  Thanks a lot Rob....  Seriously though, I will be applying trees and such so maybe that will break it up some.  It bears mention that the hill to the right and behind is actually removable to allow access  to hidden trackage. I can take it off the layout and work on it so it makes it easy to make changes. Below is a shot of the hill removed and sitting on the front of the benchwork. If it's one thing I've learned over my years as a model rail, it's that good access to hidden trackage is a major necessity.

I've got to get to work on some more of Joe's "bottle brush" style conifers.  That reminds me too that while Im at it honoring my model railroading heroes that I need to find someplace or something on the railroad to name "Fugate".

Michael 

Fugate........Hmmmmm.............

.............perhaps the spur entry into an Asian industry of some type??

Peter