Tag: Sioux Falls

The Backdrop Question – Is Black Beautiful?

One of the main issues of micro railroading is to simulate the wideness of landscape. Hmm…how to achieve, if there are only a few centimeters in depth? If you are a gifted painter, grap brush and colors and paint your favorite landscape on the layouts rear wall. If you are not…better try a less ambitious alternative.  Ok, no backdrop is not the best choice, that´s obvious…

without-backdrop
…”Schnakenhörn” started without a backdrop…

May be a more neutral backdrop is a possibility to solve our problem? Let´s try a black backdrop. Not bad at all…isn´t it? I liked the dramatic look…but after some time I have had enough of the permanent stormy atmosphere…

backdrop-black-1

backdrop-sky-1
…”Krumme Fohre” changed from black to sky blue…

My next attempt was to use a panoramic photo as a backdrop. I am not quite content with reflections and edges, but overall (and for the moment) I like the naturalistic version more.

backdrop-black-2

KF Panorama schmal
…the same comparison..abstract or naturalistic…

The same story once more…Also “Grub am Forst” got rid of it´s black backdrop. The new one was a commercial backdrop showing a bucolic scenery. Unfortunately I wasn´t able to avoid problems with gluing. Using spray adhesive was not one of my best ideas…

backdrop-black-3

Backdrop-landscape-1
…”Grub am Forst” moved from black to blue, too…

There are two more versions left. In Europe the sky is often more grey than blue. So I tried light grey at my harbour station “Weserkai”. Looks more friendly and reminds me of a rainy day at the coast…

backdrop-grey
…grey may be an alternative…seen at “Weserkai”…
backdrop-mirror
…”Sioux Falls” – and now for something completely different: the mirror trick…

For the sake of completeness I have to mention the mirror trick. At “Sioux Falls” the mirror was used to make the layout seem longer. Ok, your choice. There is more than one way leading to Rome…

Cheers!
Alex

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It´s all about operating…the house of cards

Why do we build model railroads? For operating, aren´t we? Ok..there may be some model railroaders who only like to plan, to build and to regard their own creation. But, tracks are made for switching… Take “Sioux Falls” for an example (find more here, if you want). The first you need is a set of cards to represent your set of wagons. At “Sioux Falls” we play with five freight wagons. It´s not difficult to print five cards with the pictures of your wagons. Here we go… If you are a perfectionist don´t hesitate to design more elaborated cards. You will find a lot of prototypes in the internet. To be honest, the simple version works either…Ok, now riffle and pull out three of the five cards. That´s the order in which your train should appear. Considering that the five wagons are in random positions it may be a tricky problem to solve. Take your time to think over the next manoeuvers and you will probably avoid useless moves. Competitive switchers may set a deadline or compare the number of moves…you don´t have to, but you can, if you want. With the help of the photos below you can follow one switching session in “Sioux Falls”. It took about 15 minutes to complete the train. For more informations about switching puzzles visit Adrian Wymann´s superb website.

Let´s switch again!
Alex

…the unfinished…”The Sioux Falls and Crater Lake RR”

Perhaps you now this: a fulminant start followed by fading and at last building freeze…My SF&CL RR was such a unfinished site. As you can see, it was another inglenook, supplemented by a additional platform track. The 0n30 trackwork was by Micro Engineering.

See you!
Alex

…”Sioux Falls”…inglenook once more…

20160328_135339
…the trackplan of “Sioux Falls”…

“Sioux Falls” represents another possibilty to use a 165 x 35 cm bookshelf. 0n30 scale seems to be a good compromise between size and space saving. The third inglenook in a row comes up with an additional siding and  gentle curved tracks.

See you!
Alex