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JUNE,
2004
(Continued)
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It appears that a fresh crew is waiting for
the shift change in this picture. (I’m not sure if mines really work this way, but
usually I never see people in layout mining scenes and I thought it
might make for an interesting scenario.)
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There is always room for additions to every scene. I remember
reading in a modeling magazine how important it was to have lots of
people in scenes, and then, for every person present, to have at least
100 trees on the layout . . . ! . . . Additionally, it is obvious that
“perspective” plays an enormous assignment in modeling . . .
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For instance, to the hobbyist viewing this picture, we see the
scene maker delicately placing a small, but important figure into the tableau . . .
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But to the little “mining folk”, we realize that we are actually
witnessing . . . DAVE-ZILLA, ON A DEADLY VIRULENT RAMPAGE, CRUSHING HELPLESS PLASTIC PEOPLE IN THE JAWS OF THE DIABOLIC TWEEZERS OF DEATH!
. . . |
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(Ahem.) Back to the tunnel issue . . . I have, besides the long
tunnel under the oil terminal, only two other tunnels, both short and
both lined. (The Oil Terminal tunnel is behind a removable panel that
can be easily detached in the event of a major underground catastrophe.) Track #2 “cuts a corner” under the upper tier on the
bottom of the “J” . . . |
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This Mantua brand ConRail GP-20 enters a short 16-inch long
tunnel and . . .
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. . . pops out for a short span on the lower inside loop of the
layout . .
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. . And twenty-four inches later, the train exits below the
MINE. Both tunnels are straight and easily accessed for retrieval, if
the need arises. I actually use a chicken wire frame for the tunnel walls. When I build the short tunnel on the corner below the MINE, I
will photograph the step by step procedure I use to make a very effective, “chipped wall” appearance down the tunnel block. . . .
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But wait. Back under the HIGHPORT mountain there seems to be a
mystery tunnel portal. This imposing portalis seems especially sinister and ominous in the darkening pallor of nightfall. The track
goes in . . . but it doesn’t seem to come out anywhere! ( Twilight
Zone music up . . . )
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Ok, actually it’s a hidden holding yard. Remember, I like to run
lots of different trains, already made up, and basically, Track #2 only has two sidings present on the outside: One at the oil terminal and
one at the freight depot area. I have three tracks “underground” where
I can hide some trains until I want to bring them out . . . ( I know:
Shake your heads sadly, “He’s not really one of us . . . this is just .
. not . . right . . “ . . . )
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It appears that the WONDERFUL WIFE WHOM I HAVE MENTIONED EARLIER
has just decreed “time out” for my real life . . . . or maybe supper . . . or perhaps, A HELPFUL CHORE . . . Nevertheless, gotta run for now. More later.
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Page
1 - Box Canyon Layout
Page 2 - Any Time, Any Spring Disclaimer
Page 3 - Starting Over, December 2003
Page 4 - March, 2004
Page 5 - June, 2004
Page 8 - Layout Design
Page 9 - August, 2004
Page 11 - January, 2005
Page 16 – January, 2005 Redux
Page 17 – First Day of Summer, 2005
Page 20 – August, 2005
Page 21 - In the Farmland, February 2006
Page 23 - Layout Potpourri, February 2006
Page 25 - In the Cornfields, 2006
Page 27 - July, 2006
Page 30 – November, 2006
Page 33 - MARCH,
2007 –
A Break In The Action
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