Virtual Layout Tour ( Many Pics, Dial Up Warning)

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by talon104
[one pic you posted that stuck out with me, is the blurr pic of the Grande going by. love it looks great

Thanks Chris. That pic kinda keeps with the Grande's philosophy of short, fast freights. [:D]


AntonioFP45, thanks for the nice comments, sir.

[AntonioFP45]

Outstanding work!

This is what this hobby is about!

[talon104]

beautiful , absolutely , what a great job![:D] love the layout , and thanks for the picks. It's great that your son is involved also, i would love my son to be he just doesnt have the attention span yet i guess? oh, well [V] one pic you posted that stuck out with me, is the blurr pic of the Grande going by. love it looks great
Thanks again
Chris

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ARTHILL
The discriptions were as good as the trains.

[:D][:D][:D]

Thanks Art.

[ARTHILL]

Nice layout. Great pics. Wonderful words. The discriptions were as good as the trains. THANKS.

[Anonymous]

Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[Cox 47]

Looks great...Very nice modeling thanks for the tour keep us posted..Cox 47

[sleeper33]

very nice layout pictures very good as well
keep on running[:D][:D][:D][:D]

[csmith9474]

I'm working on it!! My wife seems to think that the Mod-U-Rail system is the way to go and I should have my first module in a couple of weeks. Hopefully in a few months I will have something to post.

[grandeman]

Hi all. I didn't realize there were more replies to this thread. I thought it was long gone.

Thanks so much, guys, for the positive comments. [:)]

Lane, how's the RR coming? I look very much forward to seeing more of your pics! [8D]

Here's a few more pics from the Platte Canyon Sub...

Six axle EMD power in the Platte Canyon Mine District.


Priority freight blurs by running on "clears".


Sedalia switcher being rotated back to Denver's Burnham Shops for routine servicing.


GP35 leads a freight thru Lehigh Gulch.

[Train 284]

Those are awesome pictures Grande Man! Love them! Keep em' coming!

[Anonymous]

That's some very nice work. Both the layout and your son. You have a lot to be proud of.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for replying to my post about my RSL, and for the compliment, but you my friend are a master of model railroading. Awsome layout. Simply Awsome.

[grandeman]

No new tours yet? [V]

[Anonymous]

WOW! i like them very much great job!

[Anonymous]

Aint he lucky, Great Job by the way

[trainboyH16-44]

Wow grande man, I can't believe that you got all that into that space!

[Anonymous]

grande
u blow my mind with the craftsmanship of your layout love the work

[Anonymous]

Cool I'm working on just getting the space for it

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by stokesda

Grande Man,

Just to tag on to what others have said... The close-up detail shots are superb, but what really surprised (and excited) me was the overall layout pic you posted later. I currently have one of those Atlas spaghetti bowl layouts that I'm going to tear down and rebuild into an around-the-walls layout (the particular Atlas layout I have just doesn't work for me). Problem is I have such a small space to work in, which is kind of discouraging. It was very encouraging to see your overall layout and to know that you can fit some spectacular model RR'ing into such a small area. You have given me the motivation and inspiration I need to charge forward! Thank you so much for your spectacular close-up photos and and for giving us the "big picture" as well. You have an outstanding layout that doesn't consume half your house - it's a win-win situation!

P.S. - I just moved from Boulder last year, so I really appreciate the fond memories of railroading on the Front Range [:)]

Dan, if you're encouraged in building your own layout by my post, the time it took to put it up is well worthwhile. If I were doing a layout now from scratch, I'd use more space because our involvement in the hobby continues to grow. In fact, we're working on plans to rebuild into a shelf type layout of approx 10x22x15 with a center peninsula complete with a double sided backdrop. With the way the staging turned out though, we're both pretty darn satisfied with what we have now, so a rebuild will probably be years down the road. If I were rebuilding in the current space, the only change I'd make would be to have the main benchwork measure 5x14 to help with the tighter radius curves. This would get into the operators area a bit, but would be a good trade off. Best wishes to you on your RR!

[stokesda]

Grande Man,

Just to tag on to what others have said... The close-up detail shots are superb, but what really surprised (and excited) me was the overall layout pic you posted later. I currently have one of those Atlas spaghetti bowl layouts that I'm going to tear down and rebuild into an around-the-walls layout (the particular Atlas layout I have just doesn't work for me). Problem is I have such a small space to work in, which is kind of discouraging. It was very encouraging to see your overall layout and to know that you can fit some spectacular model RR'ing into such a small area. You have given me the motivation and inspiration I need to charge forward! Thank you so much for your spectacular close-up photos and and for giving us the "big picture" as well. You have an outstanding layout that doesn't consume half your house - it's a win-win situation!

P.S. - I just moved from Boulder last year, so I really appreciate the fond memories of railroading on the Front Range [:)]

[Anonymous]

Back to the days of early computer "recalulations", press the recalc key and go get a cup of coffee, feed the cat, refill the bird feeder. Very well worth the "wait". Great to see the Rio Grande in action with the youngster involved as well. Keep up the good work and thank you for the "tour"!!
Will

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by lginc

grande man, WOW![:p], I LOVE IT!![^] thank YOU, for doing a pictorial of your layout. i REALLY have enjoyed seeing pics of your work in the past, but this IS the iceing on the cake.[:D] i apprecite the time you took to set up some of the scenes(i really liked the one with the cops), and do all the captions, i think it turned out quite nice.[:)] i also REALLY liked the shot of the layout you put in for TrevorG. i have followed tons of your threads and seen MANY closeups, and have always wondered what your layout looks like as a whole, now i know, thanks.[:)] i for one, am VERRY IMPRESSED, and hope others out there will do the same. being a HUGE photo fun fan, after seeing some of you guys that post to its work, think it would be GREAT to see others "virtual layout tours" also. grande man, i hope you have started a trend, though you are a tough act to follow.[;)] its ALWAYS GREAT to see your work grande man, thank you. -Dean

Thanks so much for the comments, Dean.

Maybe, just maybe, Virtual Tours will catch on here. This is such a "visual" hobby and the web is a wonderful medium for spreading the World's Greatest Hobby to other folks. I've gotten so much enjoyment over the years looking at layouts in the pages of MR. Now, with the web, we can get a personal tour from the modelers themselves and make comments or ask questions. I've learned much hanging out on model RR forums. There's much more to be learned from seeing other forum members work. The hobby just keeps getting better and better! We can all enjoy each others layouts! I think it's a great idea. [:)]

[UP Deano]

grande man, WOW![:p], I LOVE IT!![^] thank YOU, for doing a pictorial of your layout. i REALLY have enjoyed seeing pics of your work in the past, but this IS the iceing on the cake.[:D] i apprecite the time you took to set up some of the scenes(i really liked the one with the cops), and do all the captions, i think it turned out quite nice.[:)] i also REALLY liked the shot of the layout you put in for TrevorG. i have followed tons of your threads and seen MANY closeups, and have always wondered what your layout looks like as a whole, now i know, thanks.[:)] i for one, am VERRY IMPRESSED, and hope others out there will do the same. being a HUGE photo fun fan, after seeing some of you guys that post to its work, think it would be GREAT to see others "virtual layout tours" also. grande man, i hope you have started a trend, though you are a tough act to follow.[;)] its ALWAYS GREAT to see your work grande man, thank you. -Dean

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by selector

Someone torched that Connie?!!! Ooohhhh, maaaaaaaaan....!![:O][:(!]

Oh well, the pic is worth a ton. Thank-you! [^]

Rest assured, she lives on to poli***he rails on the occasional "1955 Night" operating session. [:D]

[selector]

Someone torched that Connie?!!! Ooohhhh, maaaaaaaaan....!![:O][:(!]

Oh well, the pic is worth a ton. Thank-you! [^]

[wctransfer]

Wow, beautiful layout. Cnat really say more , but wow, some very nice stuff you have GM. Keep postin them.

Alec

[grandeman]

A big thanks to all for your comments on the RR. If you can't tell, we're a little EXCITED to be able to operate per the original vision. [:D] I'm gonna post a few more pics and then let this one ride. I really hope to see more "tours" here since I love looking a MR pics. There's some fine talent here, take us on a visit to your layout. Pleeeeease...

Old meets new. F3 powered mixed freight coasts downgrade past GP30 led coal drag.


Wow, what an opportunity! The Grande's latest, a GP35, poses for a railfan's camera.


Friendly CB&Q engineer waves for the camera.


Brakeman enjoying the view and crisp mountain air from the ultimate vantage point, a GP7.


And just for you Crandell... You can almost smell the acetylene from the torch... The number plates are already someone's souvenir...[:D]

[selector]

Thanks for the tour, GM. I really appreciate the humour on top of the careful thought that went into each scene. Very nicely done. I can think of only one improvement..........................................................................ready?................................................STEAM!!!! [:o)]

[Anonymous]

Impressive to say the least. You called my layout Fantastic. Man thanks for the compliment. I either need to learn to take pictures or add more details. Anyway, you need to get your layout in the pages of MR. Great layout.

Lane