My first Layout - a 5' x 9' Modern BNSF Freelance


Dairystatedad, I made the backdrop myself. I used a combination of photos I took (The grain elevator next to CPs Shoreham Yard in Minneapolis) and pics I got online by doing various searches. The skyline is Minneapolis, mines a few tell-tale buildings such as IDS Center and Foshay Tower. I didn't want it to scream Minneapolis, since the big city side of the layout is supposed to be Mason City, named after my oldest son. I used Photoshop quite a bit, printed on 8.5x11 paper, and just double-sided taped them up. Pretty simple.

tootukumin, I don't speak Australian, you will have to translate. :)
 
Got it. I've been to Mpls, so I am sure that some of those buildings were lodged somewhere in my subconscious memory. Some of them also remind me of the skyline of Rochester, N.Y., although that's a *much* smaller city -- and I recall thinking that about the *real* Mpls skyline, too.

I see I am not the only one to name my layout locations for my kids :)
 
First one on the small town side....
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That's awesome. Is the backside of the building across the parking lot part of the backdrop, or is it a model? Either way, it's a great detail!
 
Thanks for the compliment. That is actually part of the backdrop as well. The only 3D structure in the shot is pretty obvious. Everything else is backdrop.
 
OK, finished the picture part of the backdrop, just need to add some clouds at some point.
The street out of downtown was TOUGH. Due to poor planning on my part (don't know if I had a choice really), the street ends at an angle against the backdrop. This proved to be too difficult to overcome if I wanted the street to just continue forward in a seeming straight line. (I did want that). So I decided to have a T intersection instead, and I think it came out decent. It seems like a short block, but hey, it's a model railroad. Everything is smaller right? The backdrop street does go off at an angle, instead of a perpendicular angle but with the traffic light there, it is obvious it really is a T intersection, and so I liked that.

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Lastly, added some patchwork to the roads. Pothole patches and crack patches. Easy to do and a nice enhancement I think.
I also corrected something that has been bugging me for over a year. When I first striped the roads, I ran out of my yellow stripe decals, and so I finished up with white because I'm impatient. Well, you don't have double white-striped lines on a two lane road, only four lane roads. So I finally went over the white with yellow dry transfer stripes. It's a little thing, but now it doesn't bug me anymore.

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Next on the list that never ends - fascia and clouds. Until next time...
 
Quite frankly, I don't know how you could have come up with a better solution than that T intersection. Had you tried to make the street appear to carry straight on, and even if the backdrop had been square on, there would have been only one viewing position where it would have looked right, this way you've avoided that completely and it's perfect. A real brainwave.

Are you sure this is your 1st layout?
 
Yeah, first layout. But man, I have made a ton of mistakes, and learned from them, and still can't figure out how to do some things right. My locomotives sure give me fits at times!
Thanks for the compliments guys.
 
If you're making mistakes and learning from them, then you're on the path (won't say track 'cause that would be a pun) to greater and better things.
 
Finally got the Fascia added and painted. The layout now has that "finished" look, though it's never really finished.
Just need to add clouds to the backdrop to really look finished.

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Geeez, I don't even have a facia yet. I still need to do that. Its been 3.5 years when I started my layout.

Very impressive for a first layout. I see you already know how to weather your locos & rolling sock.
 
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