Thanks Karl, your comments are appreciated as always, I am still following the Skally Line blog and loving your work as well! Once that loco is done my loco paint jobs get a nice rest, a couple weathering jobs and a nice break! My best, Jan
Well, it has been a really long time where I have done no work whatsoever on my modules or trains. Life was roaring by! But on a rainy weekend I finally got around to working on the backdrop to the yard lead for my CP Rail D&H Division southernmost yard at the port of Philadelphia. This is the lead into the yard (it will roll under the Ben Franklin Bridge and into the yard on the next module. This is meant to represent an industrial type wetland on the Delaware river in winter, looking out at the Port of Camden, NJ: My best, Jan
Welcome back to the fold Jan. Your updates have been missed! I like the device of having the backdrop feature the river as a divider. It really helps to have a distant point of view on a backdrop like that. How do you like it in person? Cheers, Gary
Got some backdrop and "winterizing" work done on my south end modules- the intermodal yard in "South Philadelphia" here are some shots: The intermodal modules are a full 10' so I am only working on one at a time and obviously still have some work to do but I am pleased with how they are coming out. As per Gary's question- I like the way they look in person, they truly convey "urban railroading." The South Philadelphia atmosphere I am seeking consists of 6 modules and they are full of trailer lots, chassis lots, a UPS lot, and the Walt Whitman bridge. Slowly but surely coming along! my best, Jan
What a gorgeous beast!! I do love those elder CP SD40-2 workhorses! I have been following your blog and have really been enjoying your Skally line motive power projects. I have (obviously) been working on my modules, and just moved to the last of my south-end four-footers, I can smell the finish in sight! Enjoy the Skally! Jan
As my backdrop continues to evolve towards being done I put together the modules and ran some trains this weekend. Ended up spending most of my time replacing a faulty switch but had a great time! Not great quality camera work, but here are some shots from the railfan perspective on a grey-post snow squalls "Philadelphia afternoon": Lining up wells for loading for the northbound intermodal- road power waits in the distance: Road power sits in the intermodal yard. This is as close as a "photographer can get" at the end of the public portion of South 10th Court (idea for this scene came from a similar spot around Chicago where I once photographed some CP Rail AC4400's!): Got close to photograph a CP 524 series NSC well car (big fan of that series, made the well by altering a CP Rail Walthers Thrall well car): Hope you enjoyed as much as I did! Thanks!
The inherent problems with trying to create backdrops especially on narrow modules like these that create debth from all angles can be very frustrating. There is no real answer for a 2-dimensional backdrop from all angles, you can create the debth from certain angles, especially straight on, but not others. My south street subdivision modules have a highway overpass. I figured out some time ago where the best or only spots to get good photos are and that is around the highway bridge for the most part, which is a problem because the overpass ends at the backdrop and messes up a lot of photos and the feeling of 3-dimension. I gave a quick try at penciling in some more support beams to see if it aided it all, maybe a bit I think: It ends up looking a bit like a shadow, but it does add somethin. ​Anyone got any other ideas on this one? If I cut the photo to exclude that side of it, it turns out o.k.:
As far as the overpass goes, I wouldn't worry about it. The eye is drawn to what is going on in the photo, whether it is movement, bright color, interest, or detail--and it ignores where the "frame" ends. That's why we can look at a photo or a painting and not much care that it is surrounded by a frame or a white background. I looked at the photo in question and thought, "Oh my, what a realistic and interesting scene." Then I read your concerns and went back and looked, and said, "Well by golly, it IS cut off!" All that said, I think the shadowed pillars work perfectly to fool the eye even more. Very well done. The same goes for 2-dimensional backdrops. Yes, they become distorted as we move to the side. But one can keep that from being an issue by 1) keeping the backdrop buildings low, and 2) providing the kind of detail and stuff-going-on in the foreground that will distract the eye, fooling it into thinking there really is a city in the background. And you have done these things. Your backdrop is looking great. I love what you've done.
Lots of progress Jan - that's great to see! Re the bridge: the shadow posts do seem to help a bit, but you might consider a mirror in this spot. If the mirror is perpendicular to the bridge-way the reflection of the bridge will be exactly parallel from any angle. The only drawback is that traffic headed towards the mirror is destined for a head-on collision. Even if you don't have one permanently installed, you could try it for taking photos. You'd have to experiment with what size of mirror gives the best trade-off between reflecting the bridge while not reflecting elements that you don't want to see. Cheers, Gary
O.k., got the kick in the butt to start posting more progress reports and updates. Since last time: Sold a pair of SD40-2's, both custom jobs I did with high headlights as my switching layout is using fewer road power units and more switchers and I have a new low headlight unit in the works. Here is one of the sold units: I began work on my last corner module to join the industrial area and the north country yard. Still needs backdrop work but here are some rough photos: A shot of Philadelphia intermodal yard with completed backdrops: This weekend I hope to finish the backdrops on the corner and my CP Sd40-2 and get some photos done. See ya folks!
Thanks gentlemen! Building tip #1 for modular layouts (and I say this from painful experience after painful experience): If you want bullet proof butted track joints between modules, clamp and dowel your module frames BEFORE doing anything else. Otherwise leveling problems will create all kinds of problems when you dowel later. Can't tell you how many dowels I had level (I thought) and have to go back and cut off. I have been toying with the idea of taking out my northern yard, which really exists to form up trains, takes pictures, and run them about 15' to the intermodal yard (or vica versa) to break them up and run ops in my urban area. So it works like a scenicked staging area. I am thinking my next project will be getting rid of the north end to use just the urban area, the intermodal yard, and the line to nowhere off the intermodal yard could give me up to 3 additional rail served wharehouses at the port in a series of 2' modules. When and if I go this route, I will dowel as I describe here!
Rainy here so I was unable to get natural light photos but these will have to substitute: The front of the new 5743, an SD40-2, low headlight, CP bell added: Rearview showing the replaced rear headlight to s CP style rear light and the moved horn and winter hatch Boxcars on the "urban" side of the new corner module: More of the "urban side:
Here we have the "country" side of the curved module: Stumbled into some good light on that set of boxcars on the urban module so shot these:
