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My Scenery Backdrop purchase

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Posted by jefelectric on Thursday, October 7, 2010 1:52 PM

They look great Don.  That might give me a good excuse, not that I need an excuse, for another visit.  Also was glad to hear that you are on the mend and feeling better.

John Fullerton Home of the BUBB&A  http://www.jeanandjohn.net/trains.html
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Posted by dbaker48 on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 5:52 PM

Jack,

You're a 100% correct.  I plan on identifying which sections I plan on using then consult about the cleaning.  And I want to be carefully about cutting up the panels.  Want to have an artistic person look at them BEFORE I start cutting or working on them.  Not looking that I have a fortune or anything, but it is a lot easier to check things out BEFORE start hacking or them or messing them up.

Don

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Posted by RockIsland52 on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 11:21 AM

Hi Don.......WOW!!!  Hand painted scenery on canvas with oil-based paints.  That's a once in a lifetime find.

You mentioned cleaning them up a bit.  An art gallery might be able to point you in the right direction (person) to consult on how best to proceed.  Folks get paintings professionally cleaned all the time.  But you have a lot of footage to contend with as well.  Personally, I'd seek some advice on the cleaning.

Jack

IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.

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Posted by SPMan on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 12:50 PM

Don, regarding the backdrops..  Looks great!  I finally got around to looking at them after our visit.  I love the steamboat but all of  the scenes are nice.  I need to put some kind of backdrop on that big blue area on the north side of my layout.  My friends keep harrasing me to do that.  Too bad about Po Folks.  They will probably put up something dumb to replace it.  The O scale model railroad club which was an institution for many years at the Los Angeles County Fair was kicked out of their place under the grandstand at the race track a few years ago supposedly to make way for a coffee shop.  Last I heard, there is still nothing there.  What a waste!  I think the real reason was politcs.

Ray

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Posted by dwiemer on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 8:30 AM

Don, I think you may have scored an addition to CTT's "My Greatest Find".  That is fantastic.  Thanks for sharing and I am looking forward to seeing what you do with them regarding some rails in front of them.

Dennis

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Posted by Seayakbill on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 4:37 AM

Some very nice backdrops, a lot of variety that should hi-lite your scenes.

Bill T.

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Posted by balidas on Monday, October 4, 2010 8:35 PM

Excellent score!

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Posted by Sturgeon-Phish on Monday, October 4, 2010 7:55 PM

Don,

Those are beautiful!!!!  You were very fortunate.

Jim

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Posted by ChiefEagles on Monday, October 4, 2010 5:33 PM

Lucky DOG!!!!!  Crying  Great find. 

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Posted by dbaker48 on Monday, October 4, 2010 4:47 PM

Fife,

There isn't any museum that would be interested, I'm sure.  There where some other panels as well but the owner kept them.  Las Vegas Skyline, Mount Rushmore, NYC with the Statue of Liberty, Chicago Skyline, and St. Louis.  They were really nice looking, a "little" abstract, but that was fine.

Don

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Posted by rtraincollector on Monday, October 4, 2010 10:16 AM

Super score there Don.

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Posted by cnw1995 on Monday, October 4, 2010 8:44 AM

What a find! Great quality - I love the different subject matter - something out of the ordinary and you get a gigantic-long backdrop for seemingly a pittance.  It must have been in a relatively prominent place in the restaurant because of the detail work - cowboys! Long-horns! Riverboats!

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by fifedog on Monday, October 4, 2010 8:38 AM

Wow, Don, you struck gold!  I think it's fabulous that you were able to preserve that bit of local memorabilia.  Might you dry mount them further more to protect them?  They will look just as awesome with O-gauge trains in the foreground, as they did with LGB.  On a preservation kinda note, might a local historical society be put on tabs, should your family not want to care for them later on?

Great story. Yes

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My Scenery Backdrop purchase
Posted by dbaker48 on Sunday, October 3, 2010 11:59 PM

A local restaurant (PoFolks) has unfortunately closed as a result of Urban Renovation Project, their land was acquired as a result of Ultimate Domain.  And in this case purely financial on part of the city.  The restaurant was located less than a mile from Knott's Berry Farm on the same street.  They had been there for about 24 years and had really great food, a REAL loss.  They also ran LGB G-Scale trains around the ceiling of the dinning room, I wasn't fortunate enough to get in on the track or equipment, but was able to pick up the background scenery.  (At a ridiculous price.)  In total I ended up with about 170 linear feet!  All of the panels are hand painted on canvas with oil paints.  They are all 2 feet wide.  As it turns out the area I plan on using it happens to be a 2 foot blank space between the G-Scale trains I have running and the ceiling in my train room.  I plan on cutting and pasting to take advantage of the "highlights" in the paintings.  I only have 70 linear feet of space.

To show the magnitude of the paintings and the quality, I made an attempt at taking an overall picture of the panel, and then a closeup of a feature within the panel.

These first few are primarily of Sky, Clouds, and tree top line.

Planning on using the hotel in an area that works for a "commerce" area.

The far left of this panel is night sky and stars, the plateau area will use as a transistion section.

The Plantation panel  there are also smaller buildings in the background.

This Prairie panel is huge with lots of detail, the Windmill is awesome.

For some reason I think of a Fair with this panel, maybe its the Balloon?

Kinda reminds me of Mounument Valley, and then the Saguaro, neat!

Definetly Northern California, from the beach to the Redwoods, then desert, a favorite!

This one is really cool, plan on the riverboat, will be in our Bar Area.

Lots of opportunity with this panel.

Hope the images come out, it will probably take a couple of months before they are up.  But looking forward to getting them cleaned and posted.

Thanks for looking.

Don

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