It's been some time since I did a video update of the layout so I created a little video that is about 7 minutes long.  I tried my hand this time at adding real proto sound.  Check it out below:

Rick

The original alcove scenery plan (yes, there is a plan...not on paper but in my head) included a mountain on the right of the door when entering to give some drama and act as a small view block of the alcove to allow for some "discovery" as you walk into the room.  Now that the artist has completed the background mural I can move forward on creating that mountain.  Note the neat lodge painted on the mural, which will have tiny fiber optic lights.

The artist that painted my mural in the alcove area included some street and building lights at my request as I hoped to be able to illuminate them in the future.  It just so happens that I had gotten some free samples of fiber optic "cable" from a vendor that posts to the MRH site.  When I received the samples I was intrigued and purchased some more cable in different sizes along with an illuminator.  Today I thought that I'd try things out.

If you're using MP3 players for background sound (see the August MRH magazine article) and would like a free downtown city sound file, click on the link below.  The file is 15 minutes long, 14mb and has ambient background sound, cars, trucks, kids playing, dogs barking, and other various other sounds.  This is the first of (4) four downtown sound files that I have and use on my railroad.  I'll be posting others later.  I created the files myself using totally free sounds so that there are no license issues.  You are free to use and distribute them.

As a boy I used to frequent drive-in restaurants - some with car hops, but most without.  I figured that the motel needed someplace for it's customers to eat, so I'm building the Blair Line(tm) #182 "Dari-King drive-in.  It will be viewed from 3 feet away, thus the less than stellar construction.  It is still under construction with a bunch more to do, but is presentable at present.

Artist Linda continues her work on the mural in the alcove area and according to her she has completed about 90% of the mural.  She has yet to paint in the town area and some near detail.  I've got to say that I'm very impressed with her work, but quality and quantity as I believe that this project turned out to be bigger than she had imagined!  One of the benefits is getting to know Linda as she's a wonderful person!   I hope to be able to get her some additional work when others see the beautiful job.

First the disclaimers:

1.) The pictures are a poor quality - poor lighting, out of focus, etc..

2.) The construction is shoddy.

3.) This is NOT a contest model, but only to help visitors visualize what will be.

After some careful consideration the cold hard truth hit me that I'm not going to be able to complete the alcove area before my October 15th open house on the Piedmont Pilgrimage.  Accepting this fact I decided to change focus to try and install what I though would be pleasing for my visitors.  Since I believe that fascia and a fascia curtain help define the area and give it a more finished look I'm going to concentrate on getting those items installed.  I believe that I won't have any problem getting this task completed.  Here are some pictures of the pro

The artist that is painting my backdrop continues to make great progress and paints in "layers" adding details on to already painted areas.  It's really starting to take shape and below are pictures taken today.

I love the way that the mural draws in your eye - away from the narrow benchwork and sparse foreground scenery.

I'm trying to get as much scenery base down as possible instead of super detailing each section.  My latest work is in the back right of the alcove area and as usual I build the sections as separate units so that I can work on them in comfort at my table.  Notice the very nice work my artist is doing on the mural, which is still a work in process.