DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN

SEVERNA OBZORJA - STVAR NAKLJUČIJ

 

Tukaj, v stari, dobri Evropi, bi predvideval da se 95% modelarjev ukvarja z izdelovanjem lokalnih modelov in maket. In ne dvomim, da bi bilo kaj drugače kjerkoli po svetu...Tudi v moji domači državi so lokalne železnice najbolj popularne, kar je precej logično in tudi sam nisem bil nikakršna izjema - tako je moja sploh prva maketa v sistemu HO predstavljala lokalno impresijo. Pravzaprav nikoli nisem niti pomislil na ameriške železnice, kot možnost zanimivega modelarstva.

Dokler nekega dne... Pravzaprav je bilo čisto naključje. Pred štirimi leti sva bila s kolegom na službeni poti v ZDA, kjer sva nekega poletnega dne, na nekem parkirišču čakala, da se srečava s svojimi ameriškimi kolegi. To parkirišče pa je bilo oddaljeno od železniške proge dobrih 30 metrov. Med najinim pogovorom sva v daljavi zaslišala zamolklo grmenje. Spraševala sva se, kaj naj bi to bilo, medtem pa je grmenje postajalo vse glasnejše. Čez nekaj minut se je pokazal tovorni vlak, ki je peljal po progi mimo parkirišča. Nič manj kot sedem mogočnih dizelskih lokomotiv je vleklo ta vlak, dolg kot ponedeljek - tla so se dobesedno tresla kot ob močnem potresu, nizkotonsko grmenje pa je bilo nekaj neverjetnega za naju, ki do tedaj v živo nisva videla ničesar podobnega. Pri nas doma vlaki niso niti približno tako dolgi, ponavadi pa jih vleče ena sama, ali največ dve lokomotivi. Najini bradi "sta padli dol", skoraj tako kot v filmu Maska - saj se spominjate znamenite scene - in ostala sva brez besed še dolgo potem, ko je vlak izginil izza ovinka. Moj kolega, ki drugače nima nikakršnih afinitet do železnic, je samo rekel: "Vau, človek...".

Takrat me je zadelo. Zares. Nikoli nisem pozabil tega doživetja, in še dolgo po tem dogodku, ko sem upravljal svojo HO maketo (ki je, mimogrede povedano, predstavljala švicarsko SBB tematiko), sem imel v mislih tisti vlak. Nekako samo po sebi je prišlo, da sem pričel kupovati knjige, revije pa tudi videokasete o ameriških prototipnih in modelnih železnicah. Globlje in globlje sem padal v to "luknjo", vse dokler se moje ekskluzivno zanimanje za srednjeevropske železnice ni povsem transformiralo. Pravzaprav si nikoli nisem tega želel z nekim namenom. Pač, zgodilo se je. Eno leto zatem pa se je (zopet, po naključju) zgodilo, da so pogajanja z ostalimi člani družine, glede selitve moje železničarske sobe v večji prostor v kleti, prišla do uspešnega konca. Moja švicarska maketa je bila precej majhna (2,30 x 1,30 m), prostor ki pa sem ga sedaj dobil na voljo pa je meril 4,20 x 3,50 m. Pravzaprav kompromisna rešitev je bila, da sem moral prostor deliti s pečjo centralnega ogrevanja hiše (brezplačnega kosila, kot vsi vemo, definitivno ni), a kakorkoli, vseeno sem imel na voljo prostora za štirikrat večjo maketo kot doslej. Verjetno ničesar spektakularnega za ameriške pojme o velikosti makete, a pri nas to velja za precej velik prostor za maketo. Kar pa je samo po sebi vseeno irelevantno, kajti ni velikost tista, kar naredi maketo veliko, temveč kako je narejena. Mar ne?

Ker smo doma ta prostor uporabljali za shrambo vsega mogočega, je generalno pospravljanje (v glavnem odvoz na smetišče) bil prvi korak h gradnji. Stene sem popleskal svetlo modro (resnici na ljubo presvetlo), hkrati pa sem naredil montažno steno iz iverke, ki pregrajuje peč od ostanka sobe (ki ima tako ali tako dvoje vrat). Razlog temu je bil ta, da je enkrat na leto potrebno očistiti dimnik in peč, to pa je precej umazan posel, prah in saje pa niso preveč prijazni do delikatnih mehanizmov miniaturnih lokomotiv.

Toda preteklo je več mesecev, preden sem resnično pričel z gradnjo - pravzaprav se dolgo nisem mogel odločiti kaj naj naredim - ali naj preselim svojo, precej dobro izdelano maketo, ki je bila predmet člankov več modelarskih revij, ter jo razširim, ali pa naj začnem z gradnjo popolnoma nove makete. Naključje je hotelo, da je SBB maketa našla svoje mesto kot razstavni eskponat v lokalni trgovini za vlake, upanje da bi jo nekdo morda kupil, pa se je tudi uresničilo manj kot eno leto pozneje.

Ko sem pričel premišljevati in načrtovati svojo novo maketo, je samo po sebi prišlo, da bo ta imela ameriško tematiko, ne da bi o tem kakorkoli posebej premišljeval. Izdelava načrta je trajala nadaljnih nekaj mesecev, kajti v tem času sem prebral praktično vse o ameriških železnicah, karkoli mi je uspelo priti v roke. Preštudiral sem tudi dobesedno na stotine ameriških maket iz različnih revij in knjig. Očitno je namreč bilo, da je pristop h gradnji makete v ZDA precej drugačen kot tukaj v Evropi, kar me je zelo veselilo, saj menim da njihov pristop vodi k mnogo bolj realističnim izgledom, tako scene, kot prometa.

Seveda je dejstvo, da imam na razpolago štirikrat več prostora za maketo kot prej, povzročilo, da so v moji glavi nastajale nekakšne čudežne makete gigantskih razsežnosti, realnost pa me je kaj kmalu postavila na trdna tla. Ko sem pričel z resničnim načrtovanjem sem dojel, da bi verjetno potreboval letalski hangar, da bi lahko vanj spravil vse to, kar sem si zamislil. Kar seveda pomeni, da sem bil prisiljen narediti marsikateri kompromis, če sem hotel realizirati vsaj del svojih idej.

Toda vseeno. Obstaja nekaj striktnih pravil, ki se jih pri gradnji makete držim zmeraj in od katerih ne odstopam: najprej, sovražim tirne načrte "evropskega stila", ki so kot krožniki s špageti, kar pomeni da je potrebno skriti vse tračnice, ki bi očitno in na prvi pogled izdajale dejstvo, da vlaki neizogibno tečejo v krogu. Hkrati to pomeni tudi oprijeti se pravila "drži se enostavnosti", kar pomeni poskusiti se izogniti pasti, da bi bilo preveč vsega, kar lahko tudi dobro izdelano maketo pretvori v igračo. In ne nazadnje: vsekakor poskusiti, da maketa ne bi bila prenatrpana z vlaki. Kljub vsemu je bilo še vedno premalo prostora za vse ideje, zato sem se odločil, da bo proga potekala v dveh nivojih (zadeva, ki sem jo pozneje morda tudi malce obžaloval). Želel sem narediti dovolj veliko urbano območje s precej industrije, hkrati pa tudi odmaknjeno, gorato območje. Ker je po (še enem) naključju zaradi pregraditve sobe generalna oblika makete postala podobna "vprašaju", je to bilo izvedljivo - na eni strani mestno območje, na drugi pa gore...

Nedvomno gre v mojem primeru za ti. "free-lance" oz. svobodnjaški (imaginarni) načrt, ki se ne spogleduje z nobeno resnično lokacijo. Osebno imam tovrstne načrte najaraje, ker se mi zdi, da omogočajo večjo svobodo in kreativnost ob gradnji.

Izbira teme moje makete je bila stvar naključij, kot tudi nepretrgane evolucije. Namreč: v dosedanjih treh letih gradnje, sem naredil vsaj tri generalne spremembe situacijskega načrta, pa čeravno maketa še zdaleč ni bila dokončana.

Na maketi sem si želel nekatere značilnosti, kot je majhno ribiško pristanišče, večjo industrijsko cono in bolj metropolitansko območje, ki sem ga tudi želel vkomponirati v "svoj svet". Ta dilema me je še dodatno zavrla ob mojem začetku gradnje, kajti ena od mojih značilnosti pri gradnji makete je, da ne delam z vnaprej točno določenim načrtom. Delam bolj po intuiciji in trenutnih prebliskih in so moji "načrti" bolj podobni skicam neke generalne ideje, ki jih rdeča nit poveže med seboj šele ob dejanski gradnji.

V toku mojega raziskovanja ameriških železnic se mi je najbolj priljubila družba Denver & Rio Grande Western - ne prav velika družba, ki je bila "stisnjena" med velikimi sosedami: Union Pacific in Southern Pacific. Njihov slogan iz sredine prejšnjega stoletja - "Skozi Skalnato Gorovje" ("Through The Rockies") me je povsem prevzel, saj je lepo ponazarjal pionirski in svobodnjaški duh te železnice, ki je namesto okoli ali čez Skalnato gorovje, kot mnoge druge, šla naravnost skozi (z gradnjo mnogih tunelov) divjo in veličastno pokrajino.

Tako sem, bolj ali manj po naključju, prišel do teme in železnice, ki naj bi jo ponazoril v svojem izmišljenem svetu. Seveda lahko vidite poleg voznega parka Rio Grande na moji maketi tudi vlake Union Pacifica ter Southern Pacifica, ki se križajo ravno tu! Časovno obdobje, ki ga modeliram je zaenkrat še nedoločeno. Kar naprej se izogibam tej odločitvi, kajti rad imam tako parne, kot dizelske lokomotive. To sicer ne bi bil prevelik problem, saj se lahko odločim za pozna petdeseta, ko je na tirih bilo mogoče videti oboje, a "hudič" mi še vedno ne da miru. Tako je zaenkrat maketa postavljena v nek brezčasni vakuum, in morda bo tako tudi ostalo... Ali pa ne...

Pravzaprav ni enostavno narediti maketo z ameriško tematiko, če živiš tako daleč. Čeravno si vsi mislimo, kako dobro poznamo ZDA skozi vse filme in TV oddaje, ki smo jih videli, pa vseeno ne moremo kar stopiti ven in pogledati kakšne so zadeve v resnici, če nam kaj ni jasno. Sam sem bil velikokrat v ZDA, pa sem ob gradnji kljub temu ugotovil, da je moje poznavanje zelo pomanjkljivo, tudi pri nekaterih elementarnih zadevah, kot so npr. cestne oznake in podobno. Zaradi tega in zaradi moje želje, da bi zadevo naredil kolikor je mogoče realistično, sem porabil skoraj enako veliko časa v raziskovanju in branju, kot v dejanski gradnji.
 

Gradnja
 

Ogrodje za maketo sem konstruiral kot "T sistem L nosilcev" Linna Westcota. Osnovna plošča je 8 mm debela vezana plošča, mestoma pa tudi plošče iz stiroporja. Pokrajina je izdelana kot kombinacija mnogih tehnik, pač glede na "lokalne" potrebe - od žičnate mreže in lupine iz gaze z gipsom, do uporabe skal, vlitih v odlične gumijaste kalupe Woodland Scenicsa ter mestoma kombinirane z uporabo pravih skal, ki sem jih nabiral kjerkoli sem lahko. Podlaga za tračnice je Woodland Scenicsova penasta podlaga, ki se je izkazala kot odličen material, zelo enostaven za uporabo in ki resnično prihrani mnogo časa. Prav tako sem na mnogih mestih uporabil njihov sijajen Subterrain Lightweight sistem nosilcev iz stiroporja, še posebej ko sem delal dvige ali spuste proge. Maksimalen naklon proge sem obdržal striktno na 2%,in tega nisem nikoli obžaloval, četudi taki dvigi proge vzamejo enormno veliko prostora (za dvig proge na 8cm, potrebujemo 4 dolžinske metre proge!). Minimalni uporabljeni radij je 50cm, kar je največ, kar sem si lahko priviščil na maketi te velikosti. Razen kretnic, je celotna proga položena s fleksibilnimi tiri, z uporabo Pecovih tračnic s profilom koda 100. Moje izkušnje iz gradnje prejšnjih maket, so mi namrečnarekovale da je uporaba visokopresečnih tračnic precej bolj ekonomična, a hkrati tudi veliko bolj zanesljiva pri vožnji.

Ker je precejšen del proge pokrit, s čemer sem nekako zamaskiral dejstvo da gre za krožni načrt, sem pokrajino konstruiral tako, da so štirje večji deli premični - za primere iztirjenja, ali pa za preprosto vzdrževanje proge. Preprosto jih lahko dvignem in imam praktično vso progo na dosegu rok. Posebno pozornost sem namenil "maskiranju" tistih delov, kjer se dvižni deli stikajo s fiksnimi, tako da praktično nihče ne ve kateri deli to so. Seveda je to zahtevalo izjemno natančno in vnaprejšnje načrtovanje celotnega sistema, kar ni prav lahko na začetku, ko imaš pred seboj le golo ploščo z množico tračnic in si moraš vse ostalo "izrisati" v glavi.

Vozni park, ki ga uporabljam, sestavljajo lokomotive (v glavnem) treh proizvajalcev: Kato, Life-Like Proto 2000 ter Bachmann Spectrum, flota vagonov pa je iz najrazličnejših virov, vključno z našim lokalnim proizvajalcem Mehano. Kjerkoli so obstajala, sem plastična kolesa zamenjal s kovinskimi, enako pa velja tudi za sklopke, ki so sedaj unificirane po Kadee standardu. Ti dve modifikaciji sta prinesla prav neverjetno izboljšavo v vožnji in zanesljivosti.

Vse lokomotive z oznakami Rio Grande sem prebarval in postaral sam, saj nisem imel niti ene same tovarniško izdelane lokomotive te družbe. Z uporabo nalepk Microscale je bilo to opravilo en sam velik užitek. Sicer imam še nekaj lokomotiv, ki jih želim prebarvati v Rio Grande, predvsem Rivarossijev UP Challenger 4-6-6-4, a to še čaka na pravi trenutek inspiracije.

Kot sem že omenil, je že v toku same gradnje, maketa doživela tri transformacije, ki so lepo razvidne iz načrtov. Kot bi delal tri različne makete. Vse tri so mi bile pravzaprav v nekem trenutku všeč, vendar pa imam grdo lastnost, da nikoli nisem povsem zadovoljen s svojim delom, po drugi strani pa sem v toku dela ponavadi prišel do boljše ideje ob nepravem času in sem brez milosti razdrl že do konca narejeno in detajlirano sceno, ter izgradil novo. To vsekakor ni ravno najcenejša tehnika izdelave, ki bi si je ne bi upal priporočati...

Ponavadi se to zgodi tako, da mi kakšen del scene ni povsem po volji - nekako se mi zdi da ni pravi, a tudi nisem povsem prepričan, kako bi naredil prav. Ponavadi del, ki mi ni všeč, pustim pri miru in vozim vlake vse do trenutka, ko se mi "nad glavo prižge žarnica" in me ideja preprosto "zadane". Običajno je posledica tega prebliska in "žarnice" to, da začnem takoj razdirati (verjetno zaradi strahu, da bom morda pozabil tisto novo, boljšo idejo).

Zadnja inkarnacija (ki pa tudi še ni končana - na nekaterih odsekih še vedno čakam da se mi "prižge žarnica") je nastala, ko sem opazil da sem na nekaterih področjih malo preveč zapletel tirno situacijo. Poenostavil sem jo tako, da sem celotni odsek že fiksiranih tračnic podrl in odsek zgradil ponovno, kar mi je dalo prostora, da sem nekatere, po mojem mnenju preostre ovinke, poravnal. Tako je sedaj celotni izgled, ko po tirih peljejo dolgi vlaki z velikimi lokomotivami, mnogo bolj naraven in realističen. Hkrati, pa sem si omislil gorsko lokomotivo Shey, ki jo imam za najboljšo in najlepšo lokomotivo moje flote in sem zanjo naredil posebno progo, visoko v gorah. Ta del ni povezan s spodnjim delom tirnega kroga, in sedaj imam pravzaprav na eni maketi dve. Ta sprememba je doprinesla dramatičnosti celotne scene in dokončno dala pridih železnice Rio Grande s strmimi pobočji in skalnatimi masivi. V ta namen sem tudi izdelal visok lesen most, tipičen za ameriške železnice iz zgodnjega obdobja, ki mi je bil tako všeč, da sem takoj zatem zgradil še enega, v pokrajino pa vsekal kanjon, katerega naj bi ta most premostil. Bojim se, da mi je to postalo preveč všeč in da bom naredil še kakšnega (vse je odvisno od žarnice)...

Celotna maketa je digitalno vodena z Digitraxovim Chief sistemom, ki se je izkazal za zelo zanesljivega - celo občasne (moje) neumne napake mu ne morejo do živega. Digitrax se ponaša z "domišljenim" ročnim upravljalnikom z dvema potenciometroma za uravnavanje hitrosti, tako da en sam operater brez težav hkrati upravlja dva vlaka.

O višini makete sem precej dolgo premišljeval, in se na koncu odločil za povprečno višino ca. 110 cm, in sicer iz nekaj razlogov. Najprej zato, ker ko upravljam svoje vlake, ponavadi sedim, kar pomeni, da imam maketo skorajda v višini glave. Drugič, imam sinova, ki občasno prideta pogledati akcijo očijevih vlakov in bi jima previsoka maketa delala preglavice; in nenazadnje, glede na to, da maketa ni "bogve" kako velika, moji načrti pa so, je zelo možno, da bom nekega dne naredil še eno nadstropje oz. nivo in se mi je tako zdelo pametno pustiti nekaj prostora v višino. Za vsak slučaj.

V osnovi, to je zgodba o železnici Rio Grande, ki sreča Hollywood. Kot lahko ocenim, je pred menoj še nekaj let dela, še posebej, če se mi bo "žarnica nad glavo večkrat prižigala". Čaka me še precej detajliranja, pa tudi izdelava precejšnje količine dreves in grmovja (čeprav je že sedaj na maketi ca. tisoč dreves). V vsakem primeru sem prepričan, da evolucija še ni končana. Vse dokler ne bom zadovoljen z zadnjim kvadratnim centimetrom na maketi, le-ta ne bo končana. Ne bi stavil niti, da ne bo načrt te makete čez pet let povsem drugačen, kot je danes. Morda se bom čez nekaj let vrnil s povsem novo zgodbo, kajti gradnja te makete me je naučila veliko, predvsem pa je drastično razširila moja železničarska obzorja - skozi vse svoje makete sem napredoval od lokalnega železničarstva preko srednje Evrope na ameriško tematiko, sedaj pa se je moj železničarski interes povsem internacionaliziral. Nekega dne bi res rad naredil maketo, ali pa vsaj nekaj modulov, s tematiko Japonske ali Afrike... morda tudi Avstralije. Čeprav moja maketa še zdaleč ni končana, se tega že vnaprej veselim.

Se nadaljuje...

 

Erik Kalinski

 

 

 

 

	Tip		ameriška
	Tematika		imaginarna godba o železnici Rio Grande, ki sreča Hollywood (free-lance)
	Merilo		H0
	Velikost sobe		4,2 x 3,5 m
	Status		nenehna evolucija
	Začetek gradnje		1999
	Konec gradnje		-
	Lokacija		Kranj, Slovenija
	Vodenje makete		DCC, Digitraxov Chief DCS 100, upravljalec DT400
	Tiri		Peco fleks tiri kode 100
	Kretnice		Peco
	Kretniški pogoni		Peco
	Min. radij		50 cm
	Višina		povprečno 110 cm
	Naklon		max. 2 %
	Ozadje		sestavljeno iz delov različnih plakatov
	Ogrodje		"T sistem L nosilcev" Linna Westcota; osnovna plošča: vezana plošča 8 mm
	Tirna greda		Woodland Scenics
	Scena		različne tehnike - glej tekst
	Dekoderji		Digitrax, ESU
	Sklopke		Kadee
	Posipi		Woodland Scenics, lastna izdelava
	Drevesa		lastna izdelava, Woodland Scenics
	Lokomotive		Kato, Life-Like Proto 2000, Bachmann Spectrum (vse dodatno lastno detajlirane)
	Vagoni		najrazličnejši
	Stavbe in objekti		predelani in prirejeni kiti Atlas, Bachmann, Heljan, Woodland in drugi
	Figure		Preiser (lastno pobarvane), Woodland
	Cestna vozila		Busch, Metal Works, Trident
	Tehnike staranja		suhi čopič, izpiranje barve, krede, spreji, air brush...

 

 

 

DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN

NORTHERN EXPOSURE

 

When I was writing about my last, Swiss HO layout (covered in CM, Feb.2000), I have finished the text, saying that there are still a lot of dreams. For instance, to have a bigger space than some 2m... I was thinking many times, when operated my old layout, all what I could make if the place would be just slightly bigger.... Well, it happened that I succeed to negotiate a larger room in the basement of our house, where the heater of the house is placed. And that room is about four times bigger than my previous space! So, my imagination just bursts out, painting all those magnificent layouts in my mind... Finally, I can make my American layout in a king size. You know what I mean? Sure, after a few days of cooling down, I start to think a bit more rational, and started really to make some plans, what to do it, and how I can do that. At first, the fact that the heater and the chimney were in that room didn’t make me sleep well. I know that once in a year there should be some cleaning of the heather and the chimney as well, and that’s a dusty business. And all that dust and ashes are not very compatibles with the delicate mechanism of the precious locomotives and rolling stock. So, I decide to make a real, wooden wall, to separate the room in two sections, with separate entrances, so to avoid any complications in the future. And, when a while after I saw what’s left for my layout, it didn’t make me very happy. Oh yeah, the space allows me still to make some four times bigger layout than the old one, but this kind of “question mark” shape makes me wonder can I do that at all... Later on, it turn out not to be that bad, but for the moment, it was a nightmare. Well, just imagine - we all want to build a great layout, which, in this size would cost as a good second hand middle class car, and we’ll spend all that money plus several thousands of working hours, and not to be satisfied at the end? Anyway, to make the long story short, it took me several months and about hundreds of drawings, to make a plan, which would satisfy my wishes. In meantime I have cleaned and painted the room, and at the same time ordered and read just about every book anybody has written in the Universe about a layout planning, hoping to find anything similar, which could do me some help. No, I didn’t found layout shaped like that, but I have found a couple of dozens of really great plans, or at least ideas which might be incorporated into my idea, and that makes it really complicated. We, people are really strange, sometimes. If there’s not any choice whatsoever, we do suffer, and if we have a lot of choices, our life is a misery. The point is, that, as usual, I wanted far too much from the space I got. I want a big city. Yeah, you know, skyscrapers, boulevards, a real highway... And a good-sized industrial district, with a lot of short lines, serving the industry. And I wanted most of all, really spectacular mountain scenery, with a reasonable size of a river plus a harbor (well, I allow here, that the harbor could be of a smaller size...just enough to make a nice bridge and a fishing pier). Oh, I almost forgot - there’s no reasonable layout without at least two switching yards.... Sure, all that should incorporate two main lines, allowing some long train to pass by, and I wouldn’t mind some branch lines as well, serving the remote villages...(did I said I want villages too?). At that point, I haven’t even consider the question, can I make that at all in really high-end manner, and can I justify all the work and costs with really a beautiful piece of modeling? All that thinking took me another few months, before I have even started. Of course, the cruel reality cools my head down quite soon, and unfortunately, I was forced to reject a few really beautiful plans for a railroad with purpose and idea. But, these were simply not possible to be done, at least not in that room.

 

Anyway, to give a few credits to myself - I wasn’t prepared to compromise - I wanted the layout to looks not crowdy, not a bit as a spaghetti bowl of tracks, and I was committed to make the best scenery I can achieve. So, without any mercy or emotions, I have dropped some really nice ideas, if I found that it would compromise the reality of the scene or the general appearance of the layout. Namely, as I see it, on the model railroading hobby, it is in a way quite similar as making movies. What we try to achieve (well, at least some of us), is an ultimate sense of realism. And many times we need to fake some things, just to make the things looking real. Sorry to say, but operating the layout is not my first criteria! If some of the readers would remember, when I was describing my old layout, I have said that I love to watch the trains (longer is better) passing by. From that point of view, it is indeed easier to make the layout. But, for any case, I have still included some provision for some switching and operational fun - just in case. You know, people are changing, and who knows...? And also, if I’m allowed to say, I just love to do so-called free-lanced layouts. From my point of view, it is quite a challenge, and it seems to me, that it is harder to achieve the sense of real realism and to make such a layout really believable, than making one based on a real, existing prototype railroad. I’m sure, a few of you will object that quite strongly, as some of my fellow modellers are doing when we are discussing those matters, but I really think, it is easier to make a copy of the real thing, especially if one have a chance just to go out and take a look on it... By freelancing, we need to make it up. From scratch. And to make that fantasy, imaginative cities and scenery believable, a real miniature copy of the nature is really quite a challenge. Especially, if that is placed on another continent! Now we are coming to the other point - I just love all the readings, investigating (what a nice word) which is needed, if I want to achieve that. Well, that’s a challenge, isn’t it? Of course, I have never imagine, that it wouldn’t be as easy as I have thought. You know, making American layout should be easy also for non-Americans - as a starting point, we all know America, watching all these movies, TV shows, knowing almost all about it.... But, do we, really? Well, I was in the States quite a few times so far, and when I have started with the layout, I realize that I don’t have a clue of so many things, that it was embarrassing. So, now I’m stocked with an idea for free lanced, American layout, which I call a Northern Exposure Line. As a big fan of the Universal’s TV series “Northern Exposure”, it seems to me a logical step, to use the name for my imaginative railroad. Even more - the next step will be to create the miniature version of the town of Cicely, which will take life on the layout in some later stage of building. But I’ll come to that later.

 

So - it took me several months from the Day 1, before I have decided about the track plan and all other things related to that. The benchwork I’ve made is a T-girder construction, which is as same as more known L-girder construction, only the girders are in the shape of the letter T, obviously. Actually, I’ve started with L, but then found out that the T-shape would be somehow more versatile later on. Since it was obvious that I will have some space problems, I have decided to make the benchwork wall-mounted, using iron triangled bracket, made from quite heavy, 5x5cm U-profiles. The brackets was made by my father-in-law, who knows how to do such things and it proved be very stable and strong, allowing at the same time a lot of room beneath the layout for storage for all sort of things (first when I have moved from my previous room to this one, I have realized how many things we got in possession during the years, all related to the hobby...In fact, the entire space under the layout is now full with just about everything, although I did some general cleaning and I had filled up the garbage container outside the house completely…). This way allows also easier working under the layout, but it has it’s own limitation - the depth of the layout can’t be unlimited. With strong metal brackets, I think it shouldn’t be a problem for carrying some 110cm deep layout, which, from the other hand, should be quite OK - it is not smart anyway, to keep the depth of the layout more than one can reach by hand (and that is less than one meter, generally). I was thinking quite a lot about the height of the layout, but then decided, to make it 1m high – in the matter, most of the time when I operate the layout, I’m sitting in my chair, so I have a straight view, not looking from a bird eye position. That’s also much more suitable when my kids are joining me. And also, here’s another moment – maybe one day, I will want to make a double-deck layout, so I actually left space for the second deck, if it will be made one day… From the very beginning, I was trying to keep several things in mind by constructing the benchwork, and later the layout itself - and that is, to try to estimate and not to forget the “emergency exits” - a places, where I can reach just about every part of the track, whatever the reason for that might be. For that reason, I have incorporated quite a few movable parts of the top level (see plan #2), and some other parts are reachable from the underside openings. Next, I was trying to position the scene in a way, that it can be photographed.... It is maybe funny, but having the photo in mind in advance is really an advantage later! I’ve had some experiences from before, from my old layout and in general too, when I’ve seen or made some really nice scenes, but which was impossible to be captured on a film as it should be or as I would like to.

 

When the construction of the benchwork was finished, I have started with the track laying. As a base on complete right hand part of the layout, I’ve used a Styrofoam, treated on the top with the Woodland’s latex and Foam putty. Under the tracks I have used their Subterrain lightweight system of risers and inclines. It is made of extremely strong Styrofoam and proved itself as a very reliable and strong. All the elevations of the tracks are 2 % – what a nice benefits if one have an enough space to do that….

 

The roadbed is (again) Woodland Scenics one, which I found far easier to be work with than a cork roadbeds, I’ve been using so far. It can be curved smoothly; it is not even necessary to tear it apart for sharper curves. All the tracks are Peco, code 100. There is a reason for that – it is much more forgivable if one makes some mistake than code 83, after the tracks are painted and weathered the difference is in fact quite hard to be seen and the ride is smoother, no matter what kind of wheels the cars and locomotives are equipped with… And nevertheless, the price difference is quite significant, considering really large amount of tracks and turnovers I have used. On the whole layout there are just a few sectional tracks, and that only curved ones for the sharped curves I have. And those are minimum radius 2 and 3, which means no curve is sharper than 420mm, which allows me to run also some bigger engines without any problems and without to look nasty. Therefore, the complete track work is basically made by flex-tracks, which I found the ones made by Peco extremely good – perhaps the best on the market. The major point is actually their flexibility – these aren’t as flexible as the ones I have used from other manufacturer. And this is a big advantage, when most of the track work is done with flex tracks, with really mostly very broad curves. In this case, when you slightly curve the flex track, it stays like that, almost without any nails, which should keep them in the shape as one wants. With many other tracks, which was too flexible it took much more time to make it proper… Peco’s-tracks are in fact semi-flex… And that is the best thing about these.

 

Using the higher numbered frog angle turnouts was not as easy, since the space is still quite limited for using the broadest ones, but I still succeed not to use the sharpest turnovers, except in just a few occasions, and even that was done on some branch lines, not on the main lines. What I admire most by the Peco’s turnovers is their ingenious mechanism, which is not only almost invisible, but also very reliable, and I have faced much less derailments than with any other turnover types, caused by the imperfection of the turnover itself. Of course, the only possible problem with that is, if you forget to turn the turnover for the right way you want the train to go (if coming from the opposite side, of course) – there will be a derailment without exception if the turnover is not in right position (that’s not the case with the Roco’s turnovers, for instance – the train will go smoothly over the turnover even if that is not thrown correctly…). It seems the spring in the Peco’s turnovers is much more rigid and strong and don’t allow the points to be moved by the wheels of the engine or the car. But, in the matter of fact, that is not really a problem – one just need to be a bit more careful with the positioning of the turnovers… Actually, I found myself, when I was operating my old layout, that many times I have abused that thing, and just let the trains run through incorrectly thrown turnovers, but at the end of the day that leads to damages on the turnovers itself…. Here again, I would like to emphasis, how much troubles one can save to himself, if the track laying is done with a great deal of patience, and with unlimited amount of trials with the most difficult car… I’ve seen quite a few very beautiful layouts with poor running possibilities, just because the track laying was done too fast and without enough care. Yes, sure, we always are convincing ourselves, well, if something will be wrong, I still have my accesses to the all part of the layout…. But that is not an excuse for poor track laying in no way… That means, before I have even touched the layout regarding the scenicking and detailing, I was running two trains for a month or so on the bare benchwork, and fixing everything, which was not correctly done. But the result of that, trial period was actually in other area: I didn’t like the track plan as it was done on paper! I have tried to imagine how the scene will looks like after finishing, and I was not very happy. So, it takes another month, to change some 70% of the track plan. Some changes was minor, but some was really major – to move the complete switch yard, for instance…. And I was doing that all the time, until I was running the trains for two weeks, without to say to myself, “this is not what I would like to have on my layout”… To be honest, I am not so sure even now, that everything is perfect, but after I’ll finish the layout, and have enjoyment for some time, there will be always a possibility to change something… After all, the real railroads are doing that either. And let’s not forget, there’s no such a thing as a finished layout – even if it is finished, what we gonna do next twenty years?

 

The major point, if we want the layout looking believable and realistic is to understand what a real railroad is doing, and how they are doing. For instance – they are laying tracks according to the terrain. We’re doing opposite by the nature of the things – we’re laying the tracks first, and then making the scenery. But that means, we have to consider the real thing – it must looks like the tracks are following the terrain, not opposite! And by making a plans, that should be strongly considered! It is quite the same with the tunnels and bridges, which are giving some life to the layout indeed. But we cannot just put a tunnel just because it looks good – we should take a minute to think – would the real railroad also make a tunnel there, or would they just blow the hill out!? What we must never forget is, that all the things on the layout have to looks logical and with some purpose. Otherwise, it won’t help even if we can achieve the most beautiful scenery in the Universe… Well, at the same point, I have to admit, that in a couple of cases I had compromised this, just because of lack of space. Many things has to be undersized, just to make them fit to the space we have… After all, if I take that my layout is some 10 meters long in total, if I would really like to copy the nature, it would be hardly enough just to make some modest sized railway station…. Referring to my thought, that making a layout is similar to making movies, I would say, that’s the point, where we have to do some tricks to make all the thing to look bigger, more spacious and to fool the observer… Moviemakers are doing also all sort of tricks to achieve the realism, which we, viewers suppose to see. By-the-way: have you ever thought, how they are making the sound of the large explosion? Which appears so spectacular in the movie theatre? One thing is for sure – they are not taking simply sound recording of a real explosion! Nobody would believe that! Do you see my point?

 

So, let’s move on. The benchwork is finished, the tracks are layed (not even closely to the original plan…), and we’re even satisfied with it… Now I have painted all the tracks. Here I have heard so many stories about what kind of color should be used, and I honestly think all that discussions are wasting of time. First, if I simplify the thing, I would say that any very dark brown, almost black color would do the job. Mine was mixed from brown and black paint, until I thought, well it is close enough. The point is, the colors on the layout depence so much of the angle of viewing and of the lights in the room, that it is really not very productive to spend days for creating the right nuance, which we’ve seen on the real railroad tracks. I have even heard the stories, that there were guys, who was actually scratched the rust of the real tracks, and tried to make a paint out of that! The result was of course unsatisfactory. Because the colors on such a tiny things as scale models looks different in different lightening conditions… And finally, when we’re finishing the tracks with the ballast, it again looks different… Basically, I believe that the colors we’re using on the models should be a bit darker than original, if we want them to looks like real thing. Otherwise, when we’re making a photo with all the spotlight on, it will appear much lighter than it suppose to be (remember my comparation with movie making?). After the cleaning of the tracks, one can’t see the difference of ad-hoc made paint to one that was mixed very careful and time consuming. In the matter of fact, I didn’t calculate the amount of paint I need for the tracks very precise, so when I used all of the paint, I was forced to make a new one, and of course, I didn’t had not a slightest idea how I made the first one. So I tried again, which was, let’s say, close enough. The difference in the nuance was obvious before the scenery was done. But after that, I’ve asked some visitors if they see the difference in the color of different part of the tracks, and result was none of them noticed that…. Even more – they have actually though that I was using code 83 tracks…

 

In my modeling I’m always using acrylic paints, whenever is possible. I like these much more than an ordinary paints. Acrylics are covering well, are water-soluble and much more user friendly. When painting the trucks, I use some bigger brush, so at the same time I paint the rails and the ties. Namely, the plastic ties looks, well, like a plastic ties. So a good coat of paint makes them to look a bit more realistic. After the ballasting the track, I also do some cleaning with some metal brush, which add some extra weathering to the ties. Choosing the right color of the ballast is a bit more complicated than painting the rails, but still it should be considered, that not all ballast in the real life are the same color… It depends a lot of the use – is that a main line or branch line, and also there is different types of rocks used for ballast etc. Therefore, it is probably the best choice to make an own blend of mixture…. That’s the way I did it. Mostly I’m using the Woodland ballast for N scale (I think the ballast most manufacturers are making for HO scale is actually oversized), combining it with the ballast for HO made by a local manufacturer here, in Slovenia. That way I got a nice combination in the size of the rocks, plus it is just a bit darker than it should be, which makes it (in my eyes, of course) just right when making a photo. The ballast was glued down with diluted white glue (40:60), generously purred with an eyedropper. Before gluing, I have sprayed the ballast with “wet water” (water with a few drops of liquid detergent added). After drying, there’s no sign of any glue, and the final appearance is perfect. For my mountain ridge I’ve used all variety of materials. Most of the rocks were made using the Woodland rock molds. There was some trouble finding the right type of plaster, which was fine enough for that (I didn’t knew at the time that not every plaster is good for modeling). The best results came from their Hydrocal, but it’s also the most expensive solution, at least over here. I have also used some Noch rocks, made by polyurethane foam, which wasn’t looks very bad, although it wasn’t easy afterwards to blend them by color into the complete scene. There are also quite a few real rocks I’ve used. That’s of course the cheapest (it’s for free) material, and also looks very good – the only problem is, to find rocks with such a fine grain and amount of details, which would be OK for HO scale. I think the best place to looking for is a seaside… At least, in my case. With the paint job I think I have succeeded to blend all the different rocks together, so no one can see the difference. Basically, the scenery is done using the plaster cloth, which nowadays is sold by many manufacturers, laying it on a chicken wire base. The rocks that were added later were glued with a few drops of CA super-glue, just to keep it in place, and than fixed with ordinary carpenter glue. The rocks were wash-painted with heavily diluted black paint and using a lot of the “wet water”. In general, I think that the spray bottle (for household use) with water & liquid detergent is one of the most useful tools in our hobby anyway! There is couple of wood areas on the layout, and I have made all my trees by myself. I have never liked the trees one can buy already made. These are looks anything, but not as a real trees. Basically, for the trees in the foreground, I have used the natural material by Noch and Busch, using their lichen (item nr). It looks by far the best solution. Of course, one can always use also some material picked outdoors, but in fact there are not many species of vegetation, which has so small details, suitable for HO scale. And also, the Busch natural material is chemically treated by the factory, which means it can’t be broken just like that, and the time doesn’t do any damage (natural materials has tendency to get over dried, and if you just breath too heavily, it will break…).

 

Most of the trees I have at first painted with a dark brown spray paint, and then using a spray adhesive, sprayed these lightly and put the lichen on. And here the recepy – less is more is becoming very useful. The realistic appearance of the trees is done id you can see through it, just like in the real life. So, not overlapping it with lichens makes these to look really nice. And one can make hundreds of them in just two afternoons. Most of the trees are planted using CA or white glue (depending on what the base is made from – CA is not very friendly with Styrofoam…). For some bigger (older) trees and for the (smreke), I’ve used the tree trunks from Woodland. Some of the (smreke) I made myself, out of balsa strips and toothpicks. Painting the trunks is also quite important, since I’ve seen that most people are painting it brown… And if we take a look around, we will notice that most of the trees has dark gray trunks, sometimes a bit brownish, but mostly more on the green side… Having in mind, that I have two different kinds of scenes, an urban area and a mountainous part with the river, it turns out, that the “question mark” shape of the layout is quite suitable to blend those two scenes nicely together. And also, there’s my wish to have a look over the entire layout from my seating position. There is lot of buildings on the layout, which were all made from commercial kits from all sort of manufacturers. But there’s almost not a single one, which was not modified, sometimes even made something completely different than was the intention of the manufacturer. The buildings are all painted and weathered, since I think that not a single piece of plastic should be left unpainted – you would notice the plastic shine from a mile away… I also have used a lot of DPM metal kits, which are offering unmatched amount of details, and there are also some structures I have made from scratch, using all sort of material. All the background buildings on the wall side of the room are without back walls – in the matter of fact, the back walls are made from paper or carton, which allows me to make some 35% more structures from the existing kits. Having the structures made completely, including the back walls, which no one will ever see, is wasting time and money.

 

Since I’m a great fan of digital control, also this layout is controlled with a DCC system. I have tried a few DCC systems before I’ve decide, and was most satisfied with the performance of the Digitrax Chief set. Despite the fact that the user’s manuals are far too complicated (I mean, using such an advanced system is not very easy on the beginning anyway, but the manuals are superseding it by far!), it is a great joy to use their system. The handheld controller is incorporating two throttles, which is a great idea, and also the whole variety of possibilities offers really a good way of personalizing the system. In the later stage I’m planning to include my PC in the control system as well.

 

As you can see from the plans, there is some one third of the layout still to be finished. I believe it will take a year or two more, to finish the layout – in total, I’ve started in the fall of 1999, but the effective work took me some half a year so far. For such a large layout done by one man only, it seems quite fast, but my principles are simple – when I’m working, I’m working fast. And as you have seen from my previous words, there’s no plan. There was a plan, but abandoned quite early. It is not a praxis I would recommend to anyone, but it works in my case. Before I’ve started, I have read a lot about many beautiful layouts based on American railroading, and I’ve found many brilliant ideas… In fact, it was a great deal of help, taking color photocopy of some scenes I found in magazines, which I have put it on the door, just not to forget the idea. Of course, it is simply not possible to steal and use other’s people works, but some ideas was really pleasing me, and I try to achieve something similar, incorporated, of course, in my own idea. Also, I need to include some several hundreds of petit people more; the lightening of the structures is still missing, and a lot of other electric work. It is not something I really look forward to, so I hope some of my friends will give me a hand on that. And finally, there’s a lot of work waiting to me on personalizing the engines and the cars. I’m looking on some nice paint sheme for my Northern Exposure Line, and I’ll repaint most of the cars and locomotives to the new sheme. I have all the freedom in this, and I’m looking forward to that part. There are also a few parts of the layout, as mentioned before, which are removable. The main idea was, not only to allow the access to the covered part of the tracks, but also to make different scenes, which I might exchange it if I like…. That will give me a lot of chances to make the layout looking different in many ways. If I’m getting bored, I’ll just replace some of the parts with another one, and it will create entire different appearance. The new parts are also made in a way, that these are blended well with the fixed surrounding. And the first “replaceable” part I’ll make will be the city of Cicely – It took me many hour of watching the videotapes with the episodes of the TV show, so I have made (at least, I think I made it) a correct plan of the city. Of course, all the structures will need to be scratchbuilded, so it will be quite a challenge. Of course, there wasn’t any railroad in the show, but anyway, both the show and my layout are pure fiction, so the city of Cicely on my layout simply will have a railway station. Of course, it can be seeing from the pictures, that also the complete city scene waits for me, to be done. The problem is, that I just wait until I get the right inspiration – until I don’t see the part of the layout in my mind completely finished, I don’t touch it. There are so many other things to be done, so it will come one day too… I will use also quite a few mirrors, for the effect of making the layout larger than it is. I have done that by my waterfall, and it comes out very nice indeed. Here I use all the good advices from the master builders – the mirrors must be placed always in a way, that the observer is not able to see himself in it, and never to use it parallel with the tracks… I have tried, and it really works perfectly! I would also like to make another “layer” of superdetailing on the entire layout…. Well, in some two year I might show you the final result. And I guess, it will be quite different than I think right now...e

 

To be continued...

Erik Kalinski