YOUR LAYOUT

James,

I was reading and re-reading your article on Great Model RR Mag. and I have to say that I love your railroad and design. The simplicity of the layout and the minimalist idea behind it makes it just perfect. Like everything else, simplicity is the best ingredient to anything and you have mastered it in your design and railroad pike.

Looking great!

As always James, your modeling is impeccable! And thank you for the heads up on Google Earth Pro. 

cheers,

Brad

WOW!

Looks great!

Wait a minute, is that car part of the photo??

That is a big improvement!

That is a big improvement!

As always I really love your

As always I really love your layout it is amazing

Viewing Angle

The big issue was finding the best angle for the skyline. The downside of the one I used is that there’s nothing underneath the bridge, since the photo was taken on top of the bridge.

I ended up covering the bottom of the bridge with the same Mirlon strip that I used to model a distant tree line. Ideally it gives of a “don’t look at me” vibe, but the jury is still out on the effectiveness.

Indeed it is.

James

At times. . .

And let's face it...

perfect or not, this is better than a lot of stuff you see and certainly provides the intended effect.  I hope to one day get nearly as good results as you do with photo backdrops.

I know the area well…

…and it looks dead-on. Really gives the scene a true sense of place. Very nice.

A Sense of Place

Thanks Scott. Since this is the absolute first thing you see when stepping into the layout room, I wanted to immediately setup the locale (and era) of the entire layout.

James

looks really good!

Nice seeing a scene done in my home state! I will be in Des Moines Thursday for a class trip and I will be looking out for IAIS power with my camera  

Mission accomplished

I'd say you accomplished that very well James. Great job!

Looks really good Joe!

Looks really good Joe!

James -- outstanding--always

James -- outstanding--always look forward to what you've done--this is another highpoint--how high on your backdrop did you go with the photo backdrop

Image Height

The backdrop runs five inches from the bridge deck to the highest point on the image, which is the streetlight on the far right of the image. Average height is closer to 3 1/2 inches.

However... the bridge deck is 4 inches above the rail height. So you're looking at 8 to 9 inches overall.

Thanks Phil!

James

really nice work James,

now I'm gonna have to go see if I can learn how to use that....of course, I don't have a backdrop up yet, but at least I've been back working on the rr the last three days.....been too long.   Need to order some more stuff from P87 stores now though.

Ummm...

Wait...what?

Sincerely,

Joe

James

Jim?

This is what I love

about the MRH forum. Such fantastic layouts to look at, learn from, and inspire me toward new heights as I construct my own layout. Thanks for all your great posts!

Continuing to inspire!

And making me proud to be a Hawkeye (and for those who don't know, not a Cyclone).

These IAIS guys sure can rock!  Well, scenic in general I mean.

They sure do. . .

 . . .even if their names get in the way!

Nice!

Great transition!

Cyclone Nation

Yeah... but the IAIS guys are all Cyclone fans. Go State!

James

Question to James here I was

Question to James here I was wondering whether you reply to your PM's I sent you one a few days ago but I didn't know if you got it.

PM

Hi Trainmaster247,

I don't remember receiving one from you, and didn't see one in my spam folder (where PMs sometimes end up). What can I do for you?

James