Amen, Pete. It's daunting to have a dream, then look at bare foam and wonder "What the Heck Have I let Myself in For.....AAARGH!" :tb-shocked:
Until I looked back on the dates of my photos, I never realized it took me three years to get even the most basic scenery done, and that only on the first two levels. I thought I had done it all in six months or so. I do know I had a major push in late 2005/early 2006--the Christmas shutdown, where I got the second and third levels basically scenicked. Wow, memory fades once things are done.
Many asked me to post a step-by-step when I started the next area on the Saucier Central. So this week I am starting on the village of Saucier itself. My concept is a small established rural village in a hilly area, similar to how I remember Center Sandwich, New Hampshire when I was young. The center of Saucier is focused on Main Street, with the railroad station, freight house, and a few buildings like a cafe, bar, hotel, and fire house along the street. The residences, church, and school house are along Hill Street that goes up a slight hill from Main Street and the center of town. These photos show the beginnings of that hill. I have the hill going above a tunnel containing the track in the background. I want the tunnel removable to recover derailments, etc., so I made a slot in the foreground and background foam for it to drop into. I use hunks of foam board glued together for the tunnel and basic contour of the hill, then scrunch up newspaper to create the general form of the hill, and finally use WS plaster gauze to get the final form that I'm looking for. The beauty of plaster gauze over news paper is that you can push and prod while the gauze is still wet, then it will stiffen fairly quickly to hold that form. If it's not right after it sets, just cut out the offending section with a utility knife and redo that area. BTW, that blue ramp with a hunk of cork on top is the road support for Main Street at the town end of the covered bridge going over Saucier Creek to the Saucier Industrial Park. The cork is a height guide for when I add Sculptamold. I also plan to use cork roadbed as the base for the roads because it flows smoothly making roads look more realistic. Actually, I have to admit that four years ago I bought three times the amount of cork roadbed I needed for the track, but didn't realize it until two years later after I laid the track. By then, I didn't have the guts to ask my LHS to take it back, not something one does when they have already bent over backwards more times than I care to remember, besides they're neat people. :tb-cool:
I'm glad I finally opened this up and looked at this fascinating layout. I had seen the topic before but I was put off because I interpreted "Saucier" as meaning "more SAUCY," where Saucy means "impertinently bold and impudent" and/or "amusingly forward and flippant." But it is simply a town name that did not coincide with my limited familiarity. Based on real places, such as-- MIDDLE SANDWICH?
I like the extended cut leading up to the tunnel. A lot of folks wouldn’t have included that feature and it goes long way towards blending the mountain into the layout. Making the mountain look like it should be there rather than having it look like “A mountain where a molehill should be".
Ken, I can understand your confusion, and sympathize.... Saucier (Sew-Sure), MS, where I reside, is a small town 25 miles north of Gulfport, on the Gulf of Mexico. Center Sandwich, where I spent much of my youth, is an equally small town in central New Hampshire, about 100 miles north of the Mass. border. Before we were married, I told my bride-to-be that there was Sandwich, Center Sandwich, North Sandwich, and Ham-On-Rye. That lasted until after we were married and she went there for first time...I'm occasionally reminded of this even now after 52 years. :tb-embarrassed:
Honest, there has been progress.... I built up the land beyond the station with Sculptamold, raising the roadways a bit, so that the buildings could be placed on a more gradual rise. The hotel, fire station, bar, house, school, and church are in their final position. So is the two story house across from the school, it just needs Sculptamold to fill in that side of the hill. It was after I placed the buildings that I realized I needed to raise the roads at the intersection some more, so I placed some cork strips on top of the roadway to see how high I needed to go. I'll work on that later this week. I'm building a General Store & Post Office with a gas pump that will go across Hill Road from the bar and face Main Street. The general store will be reminiscent of Glenn Smith's Store (it's actual name) in Center Sandwich, NH, 60-70 years ago. Glenn had an Esso pump on the store's front porch so folks wouldn't get wet while filling their cars. He also had the Post Office sorting room and mail boxes at the rear of the building, next to the store room and cooler. I'm going to have an entry road to the station and freight house coming off Main Street from the left, once I finish with Hill Road. OK, I admit that I'm just trying to recreate how I remember of a lovely small New Hampshire town during my youth, but I gotta admit it's fun. :tb-cool:
sd90ns, thanks. I like things to flow logically, so the cut just seemed natural, 'cause that's how hills are....:tb-cool:
Center Saucier is progressing nicely with grading, building locations, and roadways now established. What remains is attention to details such as homeowner landscaping and driveways as appropriate, public area trees and grass, and shoulders and striping for Main Street, Hill Road, and the station area....maybe the platform needs to look more cruddy also. You will notice that the Wortham dairy farming and processing area in the upper left of the top photo has been defined with roads, processing plant, and ice house in place. A dairy farm will be in the white area, currently occupied by the piece of sandpaper and other stuff. Wortham will be a separate area from Center Saucier, isolated by trees and other visual barriers, much the same way as Saucier Creek separates Center Saucier from the Saucier Industrial Park and neighboring forest. I didn't realize that it would take so long for me to shape the town and roadway contours, and for drywall compound to dry. But using drywall compound allows me to fine tune and smooth the shapes of the hills and roadways. Also, I now understand that this has become an artistic product of my imagination instead of a model of anything real. You know something, that's what makes it fun, because nobody can say "Hey, it doesn't look like...(fill in blank)".
Looks good. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that buildings are usually on level foundations, even when built on the slopes of hills. MH
Thanks Mark, actually these buildings are on the level. The angle of the camera makes them appear to be catty-wampus...honest.
Greetings, Hank! A belated "Happy Birthday" and a couple questions (if and when you have the time). I was wondering if, after several years now, you have experienced any "sag" issues with the foam on bracket construction? My guess is a resounding "No," but I just wanted to be sure. BTW, what is the deepest "reach" into the layout? What is the height of the layout? And how did you attach the track to the foam? I also like the finished look of the attached skirt. Have a good week! WBH
Hi WBH, thanks for the BD greetings. Now for your queries..... No sag. Shelf bracket w/1"x2" supports are 16" on center at most, less at corners. Max reach is 36" at only one location. All others are less, even the loop ends that can be accessed conveniently from the ends and from the cut-ins next to the loops. BTW, I'm 6'2" with arms inherited from a family of Orangutans. Height is 48"...see 6'2" above. Attachments: Foam-Liquid Nails-Cork Roadbed-Liquid Nails-Track. Skirt is cheap muslin (I think?) attached behind Masonite fascia with Velcro Tabs every 6"-8". Here's the latest status...... Dairy farm started to the left of Saucier Village (note name change). Photos in a couple of weeks.
Hank, I really like how your layout is progressing. A lot of changes in the past month. It is great that you have the space to make it look like a real railroad. You are showing us beginners that we can make a nice looking layout. You had posted this a while back in another thread, I was looking forward to seeing updates and they never happened. Someone recently posted that you had started a new thread. Glad I found this one. Thanks for the inspiration. Michael
Now developing Wortham Dairy Farm. Looking to have 40-50 head of Holstein to serve the milk processing plant in the background. Next will be hedgerows and/or fencing, equipment, and hands to help operate. Some folks may be familiar with the barn roof advertisement...:tb-cool:
