When I decided to put some scenery along a two track staging area along one side of my room things got a little out of hand, as usual. I added another track for a small stockyard left over from a previous module. And I needed a place for a recently retired (it’s 1959) coal and water stop. All of this required a simple backdrop. The scene I had in mind stretched across a narrow band of two slides taken from several miles away. Just zooming in and splicing would not have left any ‘photo-realism’. Besides this is a layout, it’s a representation, made by me. I have tried painting backdrop by projecting a slide etc. but not been happy with the result. So I decided to ‘paint’ the backdrop directly from the photograph using PhotoShop Elements. Using filters and effects to sharpen edges and create ‘watercolor paint daubs’ I created a ‘photo-unrealistic’ backdrop. Printed in sections on photo paper with the sky trimmed off, and then spliced together on foam core, it is mounted against the wall previously painted sky blue. Foreground cover and some vegetation along the bottom edge, along with track and ballast, complete the scene.

 

And for background, here is my 1954 Brownie snapshot of the actual coal and water station that I had in mind.  It was located between Miles City and Terry, Montana at a "station" called Benz.  Nothing remains except the BNSF main line.

My next backdrop projects will be behind the stockyard mentioned above, including a gravel road into the distance, and behind a bridge showing continuation of a river and hiding staging behind that.

Ken Ziebarth, Boulder