NOTE: This was formerly a thread about a "micro-diorama," but it has mutated into one about a planned room-size, around-the-walls rendition of the Black River and Western Railroad in Ringoes, New Jersey.
Skip to Page 3 to pick up the beginning of the story. (The micro-diorama isn't all that interesting, trust me...)
It all started with some Zn3 track and an old photo. The track I'd laid back in 2010; the two bits of it were sitting in a drawer, neglected.
After facing all manner of difficulties building my home, I'd become acutely depressed. And I was actively ignoring an effective treatment: modeling. So, when I came across the Zn3 track, this image flashed in my mind:
The photo I'd found online shortly after I'd bought my property and was contemplating the possibility of building a 1:1 15-inch gauge railroad (which I've long since abandoned). I've no idea where or when the image was taken, but it captivated me, and together with the handlaid track it became the driving force behind the the diorama. The narrow-gauge rolling stock was equally captivating, and while I rather doubt I'll be able to do it justice in N Scale, I saw no reason not to build the diorama.
The real railroad heads off I know not where; my imagination allows me to envision anything I like.
I almost had to force myself to start modeling again. Depression, physical issues and a host of other (mostly contrived) reasons held me back. It was the editorial by Dave Vollmer about the health benefits of modeling that got me off my fat arse.
I call this a "micro-diorama" for what should be an obvious reason: it's tiny, 4 by 10.5 inches. The length was fixed by the combined pieces of Zn3 track, and the width was arbitrary. And I just so happened to have a scrap of foam insulation that was the perfect starting point. Here are the main ingredients posed on the foam:
Laying the track involved nothing more than some double-sided foam tape.
By sheer luck, I happened to have freight cars quite close to those in the photo, and by even bigger luck, they fit perfectly on the piece of Railcraft Code 40 flex cut to fit the base.
The next step is to fill in the terrain with ballast and Sculptamold. This is where things stand right now; stop back again to see the progress.
