Eric,
thank you for the great advice ! I am not sure exactly how to approach this, or how it will turn out. When you work on an indoor layout, the materials are different. You tend to work with wood, and paint ,and such. Outdoors, it's stone, concrete, dirt, and such. But, the illusions are the same, and similar tricks can be used. I've learned that capturing the essence is much more powerful than exact scale. Many great layouts have been very successful with suggesting a city, or scenery that if built to exact scale would be enormous ! It'S a challenge! But I'm excited to try !
Plus, I also believe it is important to dream Big ! If you accomplish only 1% of what you had set out to do, it'll be fantastic !
Paul
Paul,
I think you can capture a feel for any of these systems. The key, I think, will be the terrain, not necessarily the size. If you include a couple clever curves with some out of sight time for the train, you can surely get the illusion of space. We were shocked by how much "bigger" the Triple O appeared when we connected our two "mountains" with a saddle. Trains disapper from sight about 10 seconds, but that is really enough to give us a sense of them going somewhere.
Eric
To try to capture this somehow....
LGB has a steam rack engine, which is on my wish list !!
I'd love to try to kitbash this !!
But I think the smaller cog Railways would fit more easily into my modest system.
I want to try to use this idea somewhere !!
I realize that I do not have the space for the Glacier Express in my tiny garden line, but I can try to capture some of the flavor of the cog Railways in Switzerland. The cog lines are numerous, and some of my most pleasant memories !!
Thank You for the info about the Glacier Express in LGB's depeche!
I enjoyed reading about it very much, and I hope one day to ride this great train. I always thought RhB's helix at Brusio on the Bernini Pass line would be ideal in a model train setup.
LGB put a nice information set in the LGB depesche dtd 3/2917
Getting fired up to try LGB's rack system !
I've got some ideas to try out. I think I can run a cog line off what is now a siding, up and over the rest! Been researching the track components.
Just wondering, does anyone have experience with the rack system?
These are all great ideas, thank you !
I think the track itself may need to be supported with treated lumber, and the actual scenery could be something like you described. I am still combing the hardware stores, and looking at materials. Should be a fun project, once I figure out the best way to approach...
We had a gentleman suggest standar packing foam, carved to shape, and covered with concrete for a difficult part of our own "mountains." These were non-loadbearin areas, and it worked great. With the right stains, it blended in very well with the lava rock that forms the basis of most of our mountains. Maybe a similar process would work for you? Texturally, it might be "wrong," but you could cheaply and easily carve you 1:22.5 "Alps" to shape. I imaginne some clever sculpting as the concrete set and clever paintwork afterwork might do the rest.
I am not sure if this would hold serve as aviable foundation for the train, however. That might require a more traditional sub roadbed to take the weight
Thank you for some ideas !
Yes, I realize this is a tall order, plus, my space is very small, and, it's flat !! I am still trying to figure out how exactly to at the very least capture the flavor of the region. I am still convinced that I can come up with something to at least suggest...
I've had a lot of ideas for this railroad, but this one is sticking !
The whole point of the excercise is to give my rack engine a hill to climb !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmltCc15F0U
Merry Christmas to all !
I thinking about, at least partially, adding a Swiss influence to my railway. Trying to figure out how exactly to do it. To see what I'm talking about, Google:
Rhatische Bahn
Dampfbahn Furka Bergstrecke
Brienz Rothorn Bahn
then, look at images. Always been impressed by how Switzerland has used technology to overcome the mountain obstacles. Wish me luck !!
Eric they are also available from Amazon and Walmart, just search Home Bazaar birdhouses, Bill
They're great !!
it's Ace hardware, maybe try online ?
they're just about the right size for our needs . And reasonably priced.
Looking good
I'm happy with the bird houses. Plus, it saves me from having to build them.
Smooth Operator.....Sade, and my Forney !
The detail level of the bird houses is equivalent to my home made structures
Wanted to see how the buildings will look on the railroad
Thank you ! I will try that. Someone on the CTT forum recommended " Tiny Pix", but I found out they have shut down, from the note on their site.
Now, mostly planning my next step for the railroad. A lot of great ideas floating around in my mind. Hope to have something to show when the rain stops, and the holidays have settled down...
Thanks again,
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