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Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Modeling a Model Railroad - Some Revisions

Rarely does anything survive the first pass without some tweaks and that has certainly been true for Warehouse Row. My original concept of drawing right on the model didn't work out as well as I had hoped it would. The foamed PVC sheet is soft enough that it scribes really easy making it difficult to make changes. I'm back to drawing the track plan on graph paper, which is just much easier to deal with.

I have also gone back and reconsidered what this benchwork will actually need to look like. I decided that I needed something that was going to look a bit more finished, more display like. While exploring the MRH forums about foam benchwork I came across a design recommend by Prof Klyzlr, created by Keiran Ryan, that would create a much more finished look.  I'm leaning towards using foam core as the benchwork but I'm toying with the idea of using blue or pink insulation foam as well. The local HD stocks 1/2"x4'x8' sheets and the price is attractive. I will probably still use at least 1/2" plywood where the two sections need to come together. 

Here is the revised plan along with some options on the location of the viaduct:

Revised plan, simplified

With the viaduct on the right

The issue with the viaduct on the right is switching the industry on the right side.

With the viaduct on the left

The issue with the viaduct on the left is it covers some complicated trackwork.

Visually I think the viaduct works better on the right than the left. If its on the left I think it splits the layout up to much.




2 comments:

  1. I have to say, I really love the tiny model, both as a tool and how it looks. I think that it would be interesting to finish it bit more and keep it as a display piece. (and maybe that would be a way to "build" other tables you can not practically get to)

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    1. I'm definitely going to do a fair amount of finish work on the model. Its big enough to experiment with colors on the buildings and roadways and give a pretty good impression of what things could look like. Right now I'm definitely enjoying the freedom of experimenting without committing dollars to a failed experiment.

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