Noone's ever been up here before! Yep, I've shot it from across the valley, but never set foot on the tracks myself! This is looking north on the third deck. The rightmost track is the main; the track next to it on the left is a long (16-foot) siding; the track to the left is also the main, in the other direction. There's still a lot of pink up here, but it will be a few weeks or months before I get up here. Besides, I'm thge only one who can see it!
Pete: That looks clean - do you ever have problems with little critters? I have my layout in an outbuilding and spiders you can't see delight in leaving small webs on and in the scenery. Al
A sixteen foot siding! Now there's a luxury most of us don't have! Almost like a double tracked section. BTW- That turf makes a very effective appearing corn crop. Boxcab E50
Another excellent scene; most of us are jealous of you having a 16' siding besides. BTW, I heard Pete has a big tarantula tied up in the front yard to scare the little ones off.
Actually, I haven't had much problems with critters in this train room. The previous train room, in the house, had plenty of critter problems, mostly mice in the long tunnels. There are very few tunnels on this layout. We do have a critter problem here in Albuquerque. Leave a door open for three seconds, and you're likely to see a mouse scoot in. If not a mouse, then a rattlesnake chasing it (no, not really!) I bomb the room whenever I suspect a problem.
Boxcab-- I haven't decided what crop is on the third level. I've painted it partially--that Astro-turf sure soaks up the paint! This deck is still in "Stage One" detailing--just the basics. It's also higher than Jeanne can easily work on--she's only 5'-3", while this is 5'-6" off the floor. [ February 08, 2006, 06:17 PM: Message edited by: Pete Nolan ]
Yep, seldom been to third base. But then again my layout has only one level. That's a nice looking top floor for your layout Pete.
Yep, Atlas 55. Helicon Focus adds to the squigglies. But you are also looking down almost 20 feet of track from this vantage point. When you get out over 10 feet, the squigglies get pronounced on a straight-on shot. They are not so bad if the track is angled a bit.
Well, kind of. After seeing Mike Skibbe's cornfields, these are a pale imitation made from Astro-Turf. There's more spay-paint than I'd like to admit on them. I was actually thinking alfafa--but I'm no farm boy, having grown up 12 miles west of Boston. OK, that WAS farm country in 1952; it sure ain't now. Stage 2 detailing will cut rows in the crops, and add some better color.
Well, you did a good enough job with the corn (OK, its alfalfa that looks like corn) to make this midwestern boy a bit homesick! I still remember the 5 AM run to the cornfield and the subsequent boiled fresh sweet corn slathered in butter for breakfast.
Oh, wasn't that great! While I grew up 12 miles west of Boston, that was corn country in the 1950s. And eating corn, not crop corn. White corn, not yellow corn. I grow my own corn. Late July and early August--yummy!
Ah! I just so happen to be a little bit of a country boy. If you call that alfalfa, don't cut rows in it. Also, if it's alfalfa, that is really pretty darn tall! So if the field was over watered and the farmer can't get his tractors out there to get it cut, you'd probably see a bunch of purple flower on it. It would probably look better as an early spring corn crop and cutting rows in it. But do you want to go through the hassle of cutting rows? Keep in mind, modern era farmers use GPS on their tractors when plowing/planting so the rows will be straight as an arrow!
Tarantulas are wonderful critters! That was right outside my front door. Totally non-venomous, and voracious eaters of bad bugs. Whenever I see a one-inch diameter hole in the ground, I'm betting that's a tarantula's nest. I believe, like scorpions, they are nomads without a proper nest, just overnight stays. I also think they can give a painful bite if disturbed.
I'm not sure to what you are referring. The green streak is a blade of grass that I didn't airbrush out. This critter was moving so it was a grab shot.
I think Fotheringill means we usually see a drab brown tarantula, or at least one in only one color, in the movies or something. I knew you didn't paint it because it wasn't standard freight car color with Carmer cut levers added.
