"I focused on the work"

A great observation, James. Sometimes, these things just need to be tested.

I found the same thing with the fabric backdrop I use on my layout. It wrinkles a bit - I've tried to steam them out, but it hasn't been 100% effective. But when people are running trains, they don't even notice the backdrop - which is the whole point.

Glad to hear it's working for you - the scene looks great.

Cheers!

- Trevor

I think it looks fine as it

I think it looks fine as it is. Anyone that comes over will likely see that you only modeled part of what was there as the isle takes space that would have been used to model the rest of the industry. Really nice work, excellent realism, thanks for sharing your layout with the rest of us.

Rob in Texas

The scene looks solid to me.

The scene looks solid to me. I particularly like the weathering on your roads and the wash you put on the crane. 

So many rail-served industries these days are large, it can be hard to put them on a shelf layout without some degree of compression or leaving parts off entirely. 

I wanted to ask what material you're using there for the gravel/dirt roads in this scene? That's exactly the look I'd like to capture, just not sure what material to use. 

Again, great scene. 

Paver Sand

Thanks everyone for your kind comments.

It's paver sand, available from your local big box home improvement store. I sift it thru a small strainer to remove the larger chunks, then attach it to the layout with diluted matte medium. Once it's dry I sand it with a coarse sanding block to give it that compacted look.

The same material is used to ballast my track.

James 

Paver sand....

Thanks for the tip. Sanding sand never would have occurred to me. 

My only concern

Well done

I think that turned out great James!  Having the other structures in place - especially the one on the left - really suggests to me that this is just the edge of a much larger complex.  You don't find a crane of that magnitude sitting around at some little hole-in-the-wall industry, and the fact that it's so large by most model railroad standards really helps to tell the story.

Evidence of Things Not Seen

Paul, Joe, thank you very much.

As I've said, I wish I had the space to do this industry better justice. But I knew from the start I was never going to give it the space it deserves without dedicating most of my basement to modeling it. I'm happily surprised in how it turned out.

James

Simplicity

James

That scene looks great. I wouldn't change a thing. What you don't see is as important as what you do: No clutter, no bunching up of building that overwhelm the scene. I think you have accomplished a fine balance there. Attaining realistic scene while maintaining simplicity is not an easy task.

Bravo

Cheers

Syl

It's always useful to solicit

It's always useful to solicit outside opinions, but ultimately, there's no substitute for simply trying out your plan to see if works.  Your satisfaction with the scene is testament to the fact that you ultimately made the right choice.

I don't know if you'll need to explain anything to first-time visitors.  Looks to me like the whole layout tells the story just fine by itself.

Hunter