layout tour

outstanding Rick,I can smell the fertilizer around the warehouses.

Awesome

Love the overall feel. Hot

Love the overall feel. Hot arid, dry, dusty.Colours complement each other so well.

Phil

NICE!

And yes, I'm shouting! lol

Thanks everyone

I could hear Bud shouting clear over here!  I wondered what the ruckus was. I was quite surprised that the fertilizer could be detected at such distances.......may have to do something about that.

 It's funny, but just reading the posts and glancing at the photos the old nagging feeling of something on the layout that I've been struggling with for quite a while came into focus and now I know what is going to be the solution. I've got to tear out a strip of area for about 6-8' along the front facia and redo the topography. Not the first time I've torn out an area. The last time led to a huge bump in my enthusiasm and all the recent buildings. It also trashed the rest of the layout with a total dust storm no matter how hard I tried to keep things clean........took a major effort including spraying EVERYTHING down with water to get the dirt off of it. One thing about the dusty, weathered look I go for is that if you add real dust over everything all the subtle colors disappear and the layout just looks flat. The real dirt didn't look like real dirt..it looked like a color filter. I really don't look forward to that again and honestly the most recent structures just couldn't handle that. Oh brother......this won't be fun, but the decision has been made....the dye has been cast....it has been run up the flagpole and saluted. Luckily we're headed out to St. Paul MN for a couple of weeks so I can put it off!

Thanks

for sharing.It is inspiring!

Exquisite

Thanks Rick, that's really cool. And given that you're showing us fellow modelers your layout, not just scenes on it, I really LIKE seeing the context of you in your work space. 

But those scenes look just great!

Jeff Allen

Fantastic!

it's super detailed and weathered perfectly, yet simplistic, by that, I mean not over done. You can feel the sun burning the back of your neck as your throat goes dry......

Nice work

The rust effect on the tin panels of the warehouse roof looks like some of the old farm buildings in my area, very convincing. 

Bill

Great photos

Rick

Great photos, really enjoyed them as well as your other posts on buildings. 

I know you probably have mentioned this somewhere before, but what scale is your railroad?

Thanks and blessings

Thanks all!

You'll know how to make a guy feel welcome. It is very special and much appreciated.

Layout is HO.

Thanks Rick

Neat to get a full look around. Glad to know I wasn’t the only one that was curios what the layout was like. Thanks for showing it off. Great stuff. 

Steve

very cool Layout

a very nice set up you have there Rick everything looking neat and presentable

and the general modeling and weathering is jaw dropping and an inspiration

Thanks for posting this and your other threads

Tezza

In French

I'd say " extraordinaire" - but it's almost the same in English !

Rick, the 'cozy feel & ambiance' of your layout is just wonderful. Every single detail is in harmony with the environment and the colors are soft and yet sparkling with life.

And it's nice to see the 'creator' sitting on a cloud making these photo's.

Thanks very much for this post Rick ! Much appreciated !

Now I'll have to start over my own layout and follow your approach....

Happy railroad modeling !

Filip

Very nice!

Very nice layout Rick!  It’s nice to see more of the structures in the larger context, and the larger scenes without buildings are pretty impressive too - lots of subtle variations which make it very realistic.

If you’re going to rip a strip out and are concerned about dust, maybe consider making a plastic drop cloth tent around the part you’re going to rip out plus enough room for you to be inside the tent with a vacuum while doing deed?  Or maybe that would be worse than doing the cleanup afterward

Beautiful layout!   Jeff

Beautiful layout!

Jeff

Hi rick, have admired your

Hi rick, have admired your building topic and use of textures for some time. nice to see a view of the layout. you say the room is 7' x 17'. I'm amazed at the feeling the space has in photos. I'm working with a 9 x 19 space and struggling with inspiration thinking it is to small or just not going to work. I'm curious about some more details / stats of your space if you would care to share rough thoughts,

Track height, Fascia thickness, valance height, isle width

Do you have your workshop / workbench area tucked away under there or are we just looking at a bit of space in your layout room and you have your actual workbench tucked away some place else?

Looks great! More photos!!

Looks great! More photos!!

Special Treat!

Rick, your layout tour is a special treat.  All the special words like awesome and fantastic come into play.  Don't change your camera/computer set up for photos - it's great to have you in them!  In your second photo an aisle around the corner to the back right seems to be there.  What's around that corner?

Great looking layout Rick.

Great looking layout Rick. Have you considered putting a track plan on the page so we can follow along from an operation standpoint?

The nitty gritty tour

Warning! This is definitely not for the sensitive or highly refined type........oh, just remembered who I'm addressing.....never mind.

Here are some quick snaps and answers about the "specs" (I use the term very loosely) of the layout space.

Track height 52".   Determined by the need to put the work desk and spray booth under the layout. Space under layout is filled by storage, Cricut, printers, small air conditioner, small heater, and quite a few large tool chests for tool and supplies storage. Track plan is basically an oval with sidings and drop down bridge at door. I't's really a building/scenery/photo hobby for me but I've been known to change my focus so maybe track will evolve at a later date.

The room is at the end of a three car garage and has it's own ceiling so the internal ceiling height is approx. 7'.

Aisle is 3+ '

Facia and valance is made with 1/8" hardboard.

The aisle has a wooden rail on the ceiling that I hang my photography lights from. From my past life I had microphone boom arms which I chopped and modified into lighting booms. That way I always have lights available and my limited floor space isn't cluttered with light stands.

I've got to hit the road this morning so here are pics. I'll check in later to answer any questions.

My little "slice of heaven" in the garage. Layout room entrance to the right.

 Both ends of layout room. Scenery etc storage to the right on back garage wall....table saw etc to the left between layout end wall and garage door. I can use the small table saw and sander without opening door. Very handy when running back and forth working on a building project. 

Work desk. Where I'm found most of the time. I'm lucky that some of the outside window is still usable and I have a view across a field. Very relaxing. The computer monitor is on a swing arm and it and the keyboard can be repositioned when I need more desktop to hold the bigger projects. The latest auto garage was on a large removable module and took the entire desktop. Every inch is precious in a small space. The module sizes were determined by the area available on the desktop with computer swung out of the way.

Storage under the layout. Directly behind work desk. The back of my chair can be glimpsed on lower right. 

Paint booth. Sitting at the desk it is immediately to my left.

Paint storage, stash of rolling stock needing painting underneath, soldering supplies, jigs etc to left.....really a mess, just a bunch of stuff I haven't cleaned up. Model paint is in a roll around steel cab directly at my back when I sit at booth.

Looking back at the entrance to the room. Here 'ya go Steve G!

Ta Da! Around that corner is the door camouflaged as a painted backdrop.

Photo lighting rail and a couple of the lights.

Well, I think that pretty much covers it.

 'later, Gators!

Rick

The heat feels so good at least in my imagination. Love the look of your layout and it will be interesting to see how you change it. And thanks for the 7x17' of inspiration.

Take some warm clothes with you to MN. 

Jack

WOW

Rick, in the words of The Avengers, you are IRON MAN.  You have done a fantastic space utilization job.  Thanks for the around the corner and underneath views.  Great!!

Rick, you have come up with a

Rick, you have come up with a layout that you "wear" as it seems to me it fits you like a glove. Very ingenious use of space and the oval with sidings and spurs makes great use of the space allowing for an easily viewable layout and one that should be easy to maintain.

One of the great things about your design is the options it offers. If you wish to operate in an intense fashion you can, if you choose to turn them on and watch em run you can, best of both worlds.