I broke down today at the LHS and bought some Scenic design grade material. Since I'm building a mountainous coal hauler in limited space, I thought I'd start with 3%. The scenic design stuff is great, I hate spending money, but I havel imited time to be carving out my own inclines so it is a time saver. I have no scenery yet and just thought I'd pin down some material to see how it looked and worked. It works ok, but the 3% looks more like a highway ramp than a RR grade. maybe it will better when surrounded by more scenery. Is 3% way overkill ? I'm home alone and hope to make some progress on my "N" scale shelf layout this weekend. One thing I want to do before I get too far is install a backdrop. What is the general height for an "N" scale backdrop ? also is masonite a good material for this ? Thanks, Dave
Dave: You should limit the grade to 2%. This is amore customary grade to use and won't compromise the pulling capabilities of your loco's. 1/4 'masonite is great to use for a backdrop. My railroad the JJJ&E is also 95% graded with a 2% grade. I use clouds and sky for a backdrop since it is mountainous. I found rolls of wallpaper that just have clouds and sky as a theme which is great for the purpose of a backdrop.
Hey I use $7.50 woodpanel as my backdrop because it cuts very easily with a utility knife. It is also very light. As for grades I used 3% FOR JUST LIKE 6 FT AND its ok but 2% is preferred. here is a couple of pictures here is where the 3% grade is here is the backdrop results with spray painted clouds using the cloud stencil
Here are a couple of new pictures i have taken today and you can see the clouds. The clouds are really so easy yes. I just tape that stencil up and go crazy spraying white spray paint. You can make it mostly cloudy, partly cloudy, or mostly sunny as forecasters say. These pictures are the last work I have done June 29th and I will show a picture of the railroad sign i made last night because I was bored. This picture was taken before I did the scenery of the truck distribution center, but you can see the clouds and back drop. This is the after shot that I just took last night of the scenery complete. This is the railroad sign I made last night
My backdrop is poster board which works fine for now. I know in the future I will move into a more permenent domicile and I'll doo a higher quality backdrop then. As others have said, I would stick to the 2% grade if possible. Al, I like the curtain above the backdrop. For those of us who use unfinished basements it's a great option.
