föstudagur, 9. maí 2014
Relocating Williams Creek: 7
When I got home from work tonight I added some additional texture to the foreground hills on the backdrop. I included a fair amount of rust/brown trees in the foreground hill since I have lots of Supertrees made up that are in that color "family." It may seem like the background hills are a little too tall, and that the lack of detail at the joint between the vertical backdrop and horizontal surface of the layout may seem distracting, but remember those things will be obscured once the trees are planted. 
miðvikudagur, 7. maí 2014
Re-Locating Williams Creek: 6
In progress look at the backdrop with some of the tree textures added. To prevent a real circus look, even on a fall backdrop like mine the green trees should dominant the oranges, reds, and yellows. I still need to work on the foreground trunks and do something with the road in this view.
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Re-Locating Williams Creek: 5
A quick update on progress on the Williams Creek scene.
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Current appearance of the Williams Creek scene, including my initial attempt at painting some distant mountains on the backdrop. |
A previous post showed what I originally planned to include in this area of the layout (see photo at right). Comparing the two images shows how things have evolved. Inspired by the "less is more" principle espoused by some other modelers, I eliminated the planned station and country store from the scene. Also, the road running up the hill was just a little too steep so I located it between the creamery and bridge instead. In the place of the road and store the pasture (which was too small to look correct) will be expanded. The earlier view shows a stub-ended siding behind the station. It's been replaced with a double-ended siding that will serve the Whiting Creamery (based on a prototype in Waterbury.) I recall reading somewhere (perhaps in one of John Nehrich's article on milk trains?) that ".... most" creameries were on double-ended sidings..." I learned a long time ago to avoid such broad, declarative statements.
Most towns on the CV had at least one creamery during the time frame I'm modeling. The only two creameries I've found with this "typical" double-ended siding arrangement are the Whiting Creamery at Waterbury (below) and one of the creameries in Randolph.
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Pete McLachlan photo of the Whiting Creamery in Waterbury, Vt. This is going to be a fun scratchbuilding project. |
As far as the scene goes, I might include a small section house but otherwise this is a simple scene that features the creamery, river and bridge � and not much else.
Next on the agenda is to build a mockup of the creamery building, paint the detailed trees on the backdrop and add some ground cover and texture. The entire saga of removing and resintalling Williams Creek will be featured in my next "Getting Real" column in Model Railroad Hobbyist ezine.
föstudagur, 2. maí 2014
Aerial View of Waterbury, Vt 1938
The University of Vermont maintains an excellent web site that includes a number of vintage images of the Vermont countryside. I check the site from time to time since they are obviously still adding digital versions of these old prints to the online collection.
This image dates to 1938 (there is also one available for 1940 - enter "Waterbury-aerial-1940" into the search window on the UVM site). Clicking on the photo should take you to the UVM web site where you can select the "Zoomify" tool - a little magnifying glass icon - and zoom in on different sections of the photos.
A few notes:
1. Starting at the station area, you can follow the mainline to the top of the photo. The way the track curves to the left is the inspiration for the way the mainline bends around the end of the peninsula on my layout.
2. You can clearly see the station area, with the feedmill, coal sheds, and a creamery just beyond the station.
3. There's a large industry across the tracks and just north of the station. I believe this might be the Pilgrim Plywood plant, but I'm not sure.
4. In the far distance (where the mainline curves to the left at the top of the image) you can make out the Demeritt Canning Co. to the left of the track. Derby & Ball is to the right.
5. The "Rock of Ages" shed would become the Cooley-Wright foundry during my modeled era.
And, if you're not particularly interested in Waterbury you'll find similar aerial views (and lots of views from ground level as well) of Essex Junction, White River Junction, Randolph, Burlington, etc...
Read More..
This image dates to 1938 (there is also one available for 1940 - enter "Waterbury-aerial-1940" into the search window on the UVM site). Clicking on the photo should take you to the UVM web site where you can select the "Zoomify" tool - a little magnifying glass icon - and zoom in on different sections of the photos.
A few notes:
1. Starting at the station area, you can follow the mainline to the top of the photo. The way the track curves to the left is the inspiration for the way the mainline bends around the end of the peninsula on my layout.
2. You can clearly see the station area, with the feedmill, coal sheds, and a creamery just beyond the station.
3. There's a large industry across the tracks and just north of the station. I believe this might be the Pilgrim Plywood plant, but I'm not sure.
4. In the far distance (where the mainline curves to the left at the top of the image) you can make out the Demeritt Canning Co. to the left of the track. Derby & Ball is to the right.
5. The "Rock of Ages" shed would become the Cooley-Wright foundry during my modeled era.
And, if you're not particularly interested in Waterbury you'll find similar aerial views (and lots of views from ground level as well) of Essex Junction, White River Junction, Randolph, Burlington, etc...
fimmtudagur, 1. maí 2014
White Space and the Model Railroader
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This is clearly a working business � anyone can open a bunch of packages of �bits,� paint them and scatter them about the countryside. Purposeful placement of details is much, much more difficult. I especially like the half barrel planters � a very common site at many industries both in the 1950s and today. When was the last time you saw those modeled? |
Negative or �White Space� is a concept familiar to graphic designers and fine artists. I think it�s a concept that more model railroaders should grasp.
As I continue building, and rebuilding, my layout I�m finding that less is usually more. The whole idea of not cramming every available square inch with track, structures, and the like is foreign to many modelers. But as I do the final planning or get the initial scenery completed on an �open country� scene I�m finding the less I include the more impactful the finished scene will be.
Two New England modelers, Mike Confalone (Allagash) and Jim DuFour (B&M Cheshire Branch) are prime examples of how state-of-the-art New England modelers are approaching modeling our favorite region and railroads in 2014.
As I continue building, and rebuilding, my layout I�m finding that less is usually more. The whole idea of not cramming every available square inch with track, structures, and the like is foreign to many modelers. But as I do the final planning or get the initial scenery completed on an �open country� scene I�m finding the less I include the more impactful the finished scene will be.
Two New England modelers, Mike Confalone (Allagash) and Jim DuFour (B&M Cheshire Branch) are prime examples of how state-of-the-art New England modelers are approaching modeling our favorite region and railroads in 2014.
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Another, perhaps less well known example is Randy Laframboise�s Rutland. Randy, along with his friend Mike Sparks are, it�s safe to say, experts on modeling not only the Rutland but Vermont.
If model railroading can be an art form (and I think it can be) then we need to approach it like an artist. And one thing an artist must have is a respect for his or her subject. Some, or perhaps a lot of this, is about modeling �home.� Mike, Jim, Randy, and I all either lived in, or live in New England. And there�s some things that are very special to each of us about that region, it's history, and railroads that compel us to recreate it in miniature.
This isn�t fantasy modeling. By that I mean you won�t find dozens of overly compressed structures, most sporting an assortment of unusual (and often implausible) architectural elements scattered throughout the countryside.
But it�s not �rivet counting� either.
The buildings are, as a rule straightforward, purposeful, and close to scale size. The familiarity and respect for the subject matter extends beyond the trains to the buildings, fields, farms, trees, fencelines, and a host of other details.
Make no mistake about it. The trains and structures are, by their very nature, the stars of the show. But they are incorporated into the scene with breathing room around them.
You focus on one building in its natural habitat, and, as your eye scans the landscape some �negative space� - a stand of trees, or a field, or even a country lane � gives the eyes, and brain, some respite before you focus on the next �star.� All the while through this agrarian landscape you might catch a glimpse of a train.
Randy was kind enough to allow me to share a couple of photos to illustrate this post. These photos show the Florence, Vt., section of his layout. He estimates the distance between the street on the left and creamery building on the right is about five feet. When was the last time you saw a layout that had that much �negative� space? It is accurate to the prototype, as he measured the distance.
If model railroading can be an art form (and I think it can be) then we need to approach it like an artist. And one thing an artist must have is a respect for his or her subject. Some, or perhaps a lot of this, is about modeling �home.� Mike, Jim, Randy, and I all either lived in, or live in New England. And there�s some things that are very special to each of us about that region, it's history, and railroads that compel us to recreate it in miniature.
This isn�t fantasy modeling. By that I mean you won�t find dozens of overly compressed structures, most sporting an assortment of unusual (and often implausible) architectural elements scattered throughout the countryside.
But it�s not �rivet counting� either.
The buildings are, as a rule straightforward, purposeful, and close to scale size. The familiarity and respect for the subject matter extends beyond the trains to the buildings, fields, farms, trees, fencelines, and a host of other details.
Make no mistake about it. The trains and structures are, by their very nature, the stars of the show. But they are incorporated into the scene with breathing room around them.
You focus on one building in its natural habitat, and, as your eye scans the landscape some �negative space� - a stand of trees, or a field, or even a country lane � gives the eyes, and brain, some respite before you focus on the next �star.� All the while through this agrarian landscape you might catch a glimpse of a train.
Randy was kind enough to allow me to share a couple of photos to illustrate this post. These photos show the Florence, Vt., section of his layout. He estimates the distance between the street on the left and creamery building on the right is about five feet. When was the last time you saw a layout that had that much �negative� space? It is accurate to the prototype, as he measured the distance.
miðvikudagur, 30. apríl 2014
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