@geep07 Nice picture! I really like the contrast of the two fonts on the two engines. That actually overlapped in reality.
I still say that your use of photo backdrop is about the best I have seen, especially for very shallow benchwork.
In the 80's there was a company, Olfactory Airs, that sold railroad and industry based scents and a delivery system that would disperse the scents into layout scenes.
Not knowing the prototype area well, I thought it a very well done scene along with the great looking Frisco models therein. Whether the scene is supposed to be accurately depicting the 1950s, 1960s, 19-whatever isn't readily apparent to this viewer, so the scene is "believable" to me. As one that has tried on two different layouts to model a portion of the Frisco's Fort Smith Sub, I fully understand the challenges of prototype-based modeling. I think in order to attempt modeling a prototype and its scenes, the layout builder and the layout viewers must accept that there are going to be anachronisms, severe scene compression, and many other compromises that will have to take place in order to attempt fitting 1:1 scenes of a lengthy prototype into the typical space we layout builders typically have to work with. The end result, along with "viewer friendliness", is what is important, and within those criteria, John's Frisco-based layout is a dandy. For this Frisco enthusiast, John's pictures always evoke good feelings and pleasant memories of the Frisco for me. His layout photos look pleasing to the eye, make sense artistically, and overall John's layout is just a darn good layout effort. That's what I call "viewer friendliness" and THAT is when a Frisco-based layout is hitting the nail on the head for fellow Frisco fans: The layout evokes fond recollections of the Frisco. John's layout does this without fail for me. EDIT: It could be that, not being familiar with the area in mention, that there's an "inside joke" that's referenced that I totally missed. If that's the case, then my above comments will need to be viewed as a general observations concerning Frisco-based layouts and not dealing with a particular scene thereon. Andre
Here's a ground level view of the scene that John has depicted on his layout taken in 2006. The slogans are still there despite being faded. The structure behind it is the Interstate 44 bridge that was constructed in the late '60's/early '70's. Rich
Alright, Let's clear the air of foul odor here! The scene depicted on my layout is in fact a prototype scene that actually is still there and the overpass paint now is faded significantly. Anyone from this area can identify this scene and know what it is and where it is located. The depth of this scene is 12". I envisioned on what it looked like during my childhood bike ride in '62 + and what the channel looked like during dry weather condition. Yes foul odor was present during and after rain storms. The locals would refer it as " River Despair". Significant improvements on the sewage system has kept the odors in check Anyone interested in the history of "River Des Peres Stormwater Channel St.Louis, Mo" by going on line to any search engine. Lot of history on this and the Foul intended puns will be self explanatory. Thanks Rich (Pensive) for posting the photos! John
Ah HA! So there WAS a local inference to the smell of the prototype that us non-familiars wouldn't know about! I totally did NOT get that at the time of my initial posting, instead I misunderstood the emoticons and thought they were aimed at some inaccuracies of John's modeling or such. Thus I rushed in with guns blazing to support John's beautiful layout! (Sorry 'bout that. I'll holster them now.) And so now I learn of sewage issues? Whew. Must have stunk something fierce. I get the green faced emoticon now! Andre
Yeah, another slang name for the watercourse was "River des Pew" around that time. Enough digression; Let's get back to admiring John's layout. It is interesting John mentions that impressions from a bike ride through the area inspired his modeling. I have bicycled under that bridge many times with attention divided between traffic and trains!
I've read before that, statistically, model railroaders often migrate back to their childhood/youth years as their choice of era to model. (Which is the case for me, too.) If that's the case, then it could be his childhood/youth years memories area what led John to model the Frisco during the era he chose? Are we close, John? Andre
