We had a lot of snow here on Friday so I had three days to devote to working on my scenery and really got a lot done. Took another 20 or so shots; mostly of the cars in neat places on the track. All posted under "My Photos".

Still much to do even in these areas; I've only begun to get some guardrail up (6d nails and weather stripping), more landscaping, and the occasional ambitious photographer. I also need to do some cleaning up. The track is functional again, but my boarders need some tidying up. I've built up my straight grandstands (visible in a couple of shots down the main straight) but still need to populate them. Also scratchbuilt a tower for the flag man which I'm unhappy with; gotta do something better there.

Over the next couple of days, I'll post a few more pics specifically focused on the background items; mostly in the concession stand area.

Enjoy!

Your track looks great! Two questions for you:

1. How did you do your parking lot or did you buy something and you just customized it some?

2. The bleachers along the front straight look great. Are those the ones from Mountaineer Precision? If not, please dish. Scratch built?

Thanks, Ligier. For the parking lot (and pits, concession area, etc., I laid down hardboard, spray painted it black, and used just enough silcone adhesive to bring it perfectly to track height. The lines are all white automotive pin striping and the tunnel was a black plastic drainage tube with the bottom cut off. The retaining walls are all cast plaster from a latex mold and painted. The lights came from the same eBay HK seller discussed in the recent string, "Cheap Track Accessories".

You have a sharp eye; Mountaineer Precision they are! (http://www.mpp-models.com/, listed under windows and doors). For better or worse, I first got turned on to these through an eBay seller who was listing 3 HO kits for $40 and that's what I bought. Had I realized they came in S scale, I would've rather had those for the few extra $'s. Except for the few steps down to the ground on each side (those were a real pain) the kits go together fairly easily they really do look very good. But S really would've been more to scale than HO.

Beautiful! I really did enjoy the pictures.
Bravo, congratulations.... what more can I say. Wow

1) Is that Tomy track?
2) How did you fix it to the table? you did an excellent job with elevations, both at chicanes - opposite turns are counter-banked and nice rises and downhills
3) Very nice overheads and bridges. What models are they? The pedestrian bridge in particular is great. Does it inlude the overhead hardware for a counter/timer?
Thanks for wonderful photos, enjoy it
-Christos

But S really would've been more to scale than HO.

Thanks for passing on that info. I've had my eye on them for quite some time but just haven't gotten around to ordering any.

I first saw them on the bay and tracked down who actually produced them. I hate getting taken for a ride when I can get something somewhere else for less.

Thanks, Christos.

1) Is that Tomy track?
It's Tyco.

2) How did you fix it to the table? you did an excellent job with elevations, both at chicanes - opposite turns are counter-banked and nice rises and downhills
Mostly, I used silicone adhesive. I tried not to overdo it as I hear the plastic expands and contracts over time and I didn't want buckling. Indeed, those changes in elevations are sometimes abrupt so I did need the odd nail to hold things down. Out of 95 feet of track, I siliconed in maybe a dozen spots with no more than 4-6 nails.

3) Very nice overheads and bridges. What models are they? The pedestrian bridge in particular is great. Does it inlude the overhead hardware for a counter/timer?
All the overpasses are HO train accessories that I adapted. Every single one came from Hobby Inc. The general overpasses are from Rix (they sell direct, but I bought them through Hobby Inc. anyway). They were fairly cheap, at least compared to the larger kits stone-like bridges. I don't really recall the manufacturers of each of those, but they, too, came from Hobby Inc. As did the pedestrian bridge which came already assembled and was the perfect size to accomodate the LED's for the lap counter. All of them can be found at Hobby Inc.

Thanks for looking.

Peacefield,You are going to be visiting Staten Island when I start landscaping my track.I didn't realise how close you were.Thanks Tom Stumpf

Stunning, absolutely stunning.

I'm green with envy-You should be proud of your accomplishment.Someday!!!:thumbsup:

Great scenery! So much to look at it's hard to figure out what I like best! :wave:

It's too bad you didn't work some details into it... KIDDING ! ! ! :eek:..... What a great track. Do us a favor and leave these pics up for a while okay? At least the new ones? Too much to look at all at once... senses on overload... must come back time and time again for inspiration. May I ask how long this took? Must have been quite a looong time by the looks of it... but well well worth it. Has a real nice feel to it. One of the best I've seen. nd

BTW: There are no paper towels in the men's room and the soap dispenser is almost empty too. ;)

You have a very nice layout...scenery is Fantastic!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g282/bobhch/CanAm_Double_Underpass.jpg

I have this tunnel overpass on my layout also but, mine is far from beeing finished as custom slot car builds seem to dominate my slot car time the most.

Some day.....some day, Bob...zilla

Simply stunning! :thumbsup:

Have you a cover or considered one to keep the dust out? I would think that cleaning the layout a possible nightmare.

Maybe it is time to start my scenics after all? What an inspiration! Thank you!

Thanks, everyone, for your compliments and encouragement.

A dust cover is one of my concerns. This is down in my basement and I do a fair amount of carpentry. It doesn't matter where I roll the table saw too, the entire space fills with dust. I think I'll only cover the track when I'm actively doing wood working and will need to find a way to drap a light plastic cover over it; maybe a few hooks hanging down from the celiing ot something.

My second shipment of 300 people came today so maybe by the end of next weekend I'll be ready to post some pics of the concession areas populated.

Thanks for the updated pic's. Once again your track shows perfection in every shot.
So about how many hours would you say you have into it.

Thanks
tycoarm

"So about how many hours would you say you have into it?"

Not as many as you might think. Especially if you subtract out lost effort owing to mistakes or re-doing things I was unhappy with, etc. I began this project maybe early November 2007. I usually get a couple of hours in over the course of weeknights and another 8 or so over the course of a weekend.

Some of the things that look like they might have taken some time really didn't. I bought latex rock molds and started working with those. Rocks coming out of those molds really do look great, but it would've taken forever for me to do as much as I needed at only 6 or 8 inches at a time, so I began heaping large amounts of plaster into crumpled aluminum foil and began banging out 2 foot sections. Not as handsome, but fast and still pretty darn good.

The real work, time-wise, went into the infrastructure: constructing the table, getting the elevation changes right, running my wire taps, getting the chicken wire and initial layer of plaster cloth down, etc. The stuff that adds the visual impact (planting trees, spreading ground cover, painting rocks, etc.) actually goes pretty quickly.

Although you're never really done, I'd like to think that the layout will be essentially complete in another month or so. I have some more guardrails to lay down, a little more landscaping, I want to redo my flagman tower, and I need to think about a backdrop. Then it's just a matter of painting and placing a few more people. :thumbsup:

PF, been trolling along here and I gotta say that your layout has some fantastic vistas and views. Like 'Nuther Dave, I been wearing out my "back" button and getting lost in your little slot world

The use of gradual elevation changes in the lower area "twisties" is really something. The tonal variation and quality of your flocking (upholstery), and the entire scape for that matter, invites the eye. You avoided the age old trap of trying to cram too much in a given modeling space.

Yer a darn good photographer as well. Perhaps this is why your forced perspectives and out of this world vanishing points really bring this layout to life. The way you "stretched" things on this layout trips is very inspring...dig it!:thumbsup:

Unreal. There are some great layouts from the folks here, but this one to me doesn't look like scenery put around a track - but rather a track laid down into scenery. The detailing is exquisite, nothing overdone and yet the scenery would be lacking if you didn't inlcude it. Really dig the structures. Well done all around!