Sure makes a beautiful scene in the early light:
Lehigh Valley AM1 at Palmerton by Doug Lilly, on Flickr
Of course, all the vegitation for about a two-mile radius of the plant has been defoliated
Cheers, Ed
Click on image to enlarge.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Matt,
The photo of the plant came through, but your track plan picture has Google wanting me to verify my existence. I don't exist, so there's a problem there. Please attend to it.
The plant is about a half mile long. Your layout is not. It is so big, the usual selective compression approach is ridiculous. If you "selectively compress", you will get a toy.
If you want to include this enormous industry on your teeny tiny layout, you'll have to do something more like selective snipping. Snip off everything that isn't railroad. Do it again.
Then look at what is happening in those operations. You will be doing research. That is your job.
You should, if all goes well, find an area that you can fit on your railroad. It WON'T be the entire operation. It MIGHT be shipping. It MIGHT be receiving. It MIGHT be lotsa things.
You need to find something that works for you.
If you really want further advice, you should first explain why you care so much. YOU need US. Get us involved. I, for one, have trains to play with; and I don't need to spend my time doing your research and thinking for you.
Ed
I'm working in HO scale. I don't have much space... only about 3x6 feet on the back side of my 4x8 layout. That's why I am having a hard time picking and choosing which buildings to include and how to compress them so I can maximize the space and make it as interesting as possible. I think it's okay if things are a little crammed, it just makes the model more interesting to look at.
Here is a picture of my track plan and how much space I have to work with.
(zoom for larger image)
I am trying to build the New Jersey Zinc Company West Plant located in Palmerton PA. The plant is so massive that I am overwhelmed with where to start. I'm having a hard time drawing up plans for scratchbuilding for several reasons.
1: There are so many little buildings that make up the complex plant, there is no way I would be able to model all of them. How can I selectively compress the massive plant while still retaining its essence and character? Has anyone built a model of the New Jersey Zinc West Plant? What have others done? Which buildings are important to include in a model?
2: Does anyone have plans or scale drawings of any of the New Jersey Zinc West Plant? Unfortunately, it was demolished in 1991 so finding plans and even pictures has been difficult.
Thanks, Matt