Welcome Sign

For those who are new to my blog, I've been working on foresting the mountains on my layout which is set in West Virginia. Here's a few pictures to bring you up to speed...

At this point I ran out of materials to continue with the forests, so I had to put in an order for more supplies. While waiting, I decided it was high time to tackle one of those projects that's been floating around in the back of my mind for a while.

About three years ago when I was building the four helices that connect the staging, main, and upper deck of my layout, I was trying to decide how to cover those helices with the fascia. I finally came up with this cover for one end of the layout...

At this point one of readers on MRH by the name of David Stewart posted this virtual mock up for a cool sign that could be placed on the fascia here... 

I really liked his idea, so I decided with a little free time on my hands now, it was high time to tackle making this sign.

Since I don't have any modern sign making equipment, I had to do things the old fashioned way. I made a transparency of this picture, used an overhead projector to get a larger image, traced that image over a piece of masonite covered with painters tape, then painstakingly cut out the pattern traced with a single edged razor blade. After mixing paint to match the colors on this picture I painted the sign.

Here's how it turned out. This is what visitors now see as they came down the basement steps and get their first look at the layout...

further enhancement?

Paul,

Here's something else to add to your sign creation. Make it look like a relay cabinet, just add a roof, and make the sign section into relay cabinet doors, just in case you ever need to get in there for some reason. But leave the paint & etc. as is.

Charlie

Beautiful, Paul!

Beautiful, Paul!

Wow... just wow.

Words fail me.

This is very impressive, especially as I spent a lot of time in that part of the country when I was a kid.

You nailed the scenery!

Replies

Charlie - That's an interesting idea you have there, but alas, access is not needed. If I ever need to get to the helix I just lie on my back, pull myself under the fascia, and then stand up in the middle of the helix for maintenance, track cleaning, etc. 

Rob & Lee - Thanks for the complimentary comments guys! You're more than kind.

Lee - There's nothing better than getting positive feedback from someone who has actually been in the part of country I'm trying to model. It makes me feel like I actually got something right for a change!  

Beautiful Sign Work

Great entrance to the layout!

Very very nice idea and execution for making the helix a sight for the entrance of the layout! It seems that you are determined to convince me to build a helix and a lower level for my next layout (joking! I just want to emphasize on the fact that your results are very inspiring).

You mentioned 4 helicies? You got another 3 on the layout? Trying to figure out the track plan here. Out of curiosity, what are the deck heights here?

Thanks for posting Paul, will be following with interest!

Yannis

Wow...

That sign looks fantastic. Very well done. Great addition to the layout. 

Randy

Nice

Your layout is magnificent!!!!

Replies

Guys, thanks for the many words of approval! The support here on MRH is fantastic!

Vince - I agree with you about the ambiance. The layout just feels more "railroady" now. Like the model is actually somehow connected to the real world prototype. 

Yannis - Truth be told, I didn't really plan the helix as being the entrance to the layout. It just kind of worked out that way as I developed the track plan. As for making a helix, don't let fear hold you back. Though time consuming, they really are rather easy to make. In case you haven't seen it, here's a link to my blog where I describe the process I used to make my helices.

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/pokey-progress-onward-upward-jan-15-12199338

And yes, there are four of them on this layout. A stack of two at each end that connect each of the decks. Here's a link to the track plan if you want to see it:

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/track-plan-database?page=15

My deck heights are set at 23" for the staging deck, 39" for the main deck, and 56" for the upper deck. These are a little lower than what most use, but I'm only 5' 6" and built the decks so they were comfortable for me. 

Randy - Glad to hear you like the sign. It took some time, but you are right, it does add a lot to the layout, so it was worth the effort. 

Very nicely done!

It has a bit of a museum quality about it.  

As a matter of personal preference, I would be tempted to paint the visible helix track/roadbed to give it more of a finished look.  To my eye it's a bit distracting, like an unpainted portion of your fascia with respect to the rest of the layout.

@ TJ

TJ,

Thanks for the nice comments and your suggestion. You're probably right about the helix roadbed. I should have painted it as I was building the helix. I could still do that now, but it wouldn't be as easy. 

Funny thing is there are a lot of things that catch my eye and bug me, which I then try to fix. But the unpainted helix roadbed hasn't been one of those. 

Paint?

I wouldn't bother painting the helix track, any more so than I would for track in a hidden staging yard. If you're painting the track, then you have to lay in scenery around it and in a helix, it just would look silly unless you're painting everything but the rails in the same paint as the fascia (and that just have merits if the helix tracks are visible to anyone outside the helix itself).

But as for that big sign as you enter the room, man, that looks great. I wish I had a spot on my layout where I could have done that!

@ Lee

I don't think TJ was suggesting to paint and scenic all the helix track. My understanding was that he was suggesting I paint the portion of the plain roadbed for the helix that can be seen through the viewing window next to my new sign.

There are some merits to his suggestion, and apparently you agree. To be honest with you though, with all the other projects I have going on right now on the layout, I just don't feel the need to do that now. My thoughts might change later, but we'll see. 

Thanks for all the enthusiasm for my sign, but if I remember right, looking at your layout blog, you have some nice RR signs up on the wall. I don't have any place to do that on my layout, so this was the next best thing. I guess we just have to make do with whatever options we have available to us. 

Thanks for the links Paul!

Thanks for the links Paul! Very neat work on the helix and very interesting track plan! I ll have them both in mind for future reference when/if the time comes to go double deck.

In the meantime one idea is to paint roadbed visible through the helix view-port in similar colors as your sign.

Exactly.

My suggestion was geared toward the plain roadbed that the helix track sits on.  I would paint it in the same green used on the sign.  To each their own.  It was just a suggestion of what I would do if it were mine.  I still really like the overall look.

New scenery

Paul- you weren't kidding about those trees. Can't wait to see the new scenery enhancements. And the signage. Nice work.

Dave H

@ Dave

Thanks Dave!

I shouldn't have spilled the beans though. Now when you come over you won't be surprised! Drats! I guess I was just overly excited about sharing the new work. Once I get a majority of the trees done, I'll plan another op session, then you can see everything in person.

Upper Deck Background Scenery

Thanksgiving weekend proved to be very productive. The kids had to work, and my wife was lost in a series of three books she was reading, so what's left to do other than to eat stuffing and turkey, and work on the railroad!!!

I had multiple scenery projects going on at the same time this weekend. I painted all the bare plywood, laid grass ground foam, painted my foam core building mock ups, started work on a long retaining wall, and began ballasting track until I ran out of ballast. As those projects aren't totally completed yet, you'll have to wait until later for pictures. (I also revised the train cards for all my mine shifter jobs that tell operators what work the train will do, but that's a subject for a different post.)

More importantly, I managed to finish the background scenery for the upper deck. Lots of foreground work still needs to be done, but that will come later. Since most of the coal mines are on my upper deck, I was going for that back woods West Virginia look, as if the train was winding it's way up a valley deep in the Appalachian mountains. I've posted pictures of the other end of the upper deck before, so these pictures are just of the work done on the remaining portion of the upper deck I did this weekend.

On my upper deck, west is to the right, so we'll start at the west end where the track comes out of a tunnel portal from the helix. To the right of this picture is the town of Liberty. Pictures of that will come later. 

Traveling eastward around the bend we come to Triple J mine...

Someday the next photo is going to be one of my signature scenes. As you come into the layout, after passing that N&W sign I showed you in earlier posts, turning to the left, this is the first scene ahead of you. Eventually I will have a 150' through truss bridge here, with a deck girder approach bridge to the left, crossing over what I'm calling the Cumberland river...

Moving further eastward to the left of the future bridge scene...

A little closer look at the tree detail, since it was easy to get a picture of that here...

Looking further eastward to Cumberland mine...

And now the opposite direction, looking westward toward Cumberland mine...

So there you have it. Time to relax and enjoy the new scenery!

Amazing!

Amazing work, 

Thank you for sharing!

Down in the Valley

That's going to be a fantastic signature Paul.  A real John Hancock for sure.  Very impressed.  You say that it will be a 150' scale span.  How long is it actually from embankment to embankment?

@ Jeff

On the right side of the bridge there will be an embankment with stone work around it to hide wiring for the turnouts there. If you start the measurement from there to the left, it's roughly 23". I plan on using the Walthers Arched Truss bridge.

WOW!

Thanks for posting, you have done amazing work!

That's going to be a great river crossing