Planning scenery in North Albany yard

Sanborn Map (1972)

I had made a deal with myself that I wouldn't start on any scenery on my layout until I had the drop ceiling installed. With that completed in April, the path was cleared to begin work. But, by that time I was heavily involved in scratchbuilding cars for the MMR certification and didn't want to split my efforts between the two. So, I waited. But now, with all of my cars completed I could cast my gaze on the layout that was just begging to be worked on. Its bare painted plywood didn't motivate me to run trains, so it just sat there. I was ready to move on.

Another of the MMR certifications is Scenery, and in addition to actually constructing scenery on your layout you need to document certain things (indeed, the program seems split 50/50 between paperwork and actual modeling). However, this forced me to slow down and really think about what I wanted to accomplish. There were at least two new tools or techniques that I wanted to explore: (1) static grass, and (2) "Ground Goop", and I also wanted to install backdrops. That's a lot of stuff to learn from scratch.

This section is first and foremost a staging yard. It has evolved from what I thought it would be, and even while I was working on it my plans changed a little. This section was also going to serve as a scenic element in and of itself. By May of 1984 Guilford was removing this yard, and I have included some pictures from March 1984 that show this underway.

Diagram of how it existed in 1984 (right is north)

Because the viewer on my layout is always inside it, and north is always to the right when looking at the layout, in theory I am modeling the northern end of the North Albany yard and as the yard tracks branch out as you face south. However, the reference photos I am showing are actually of the southern end of the yard as it branches out north. I am making no attempt was made to model the track arrangements exactly, and since both ends of the yard with in similar conditions I drew inspiration for my scene from both ends.  

On the west, the yard was bordered by industrial buildings that were at one time served by rail. Some of them showed evidence of still being served in 1984. As this side faces the aisle, I may model them as shallow buildings so that operators and see and reach over them. As for the eastern edge of the yard, there was a row of trees and telephone poles and behind that was a road. Then, there were a couple of larger industrial buildings. My backdrop will be plain blue with the suggestion of a building on it in one area, and I will let the trees and telephone poles capture much of the eye’s attention as there just isn't a lot of space to model anything in the gap at the back.

In this scene from March 1984, looking south there is a gap between the active mainline (left most track) and the yard on the right. Several tracks are either torn up or are buried in weeds and dirt. Industrial buildings still receiving service are on the right. On the left is a tree line and telephone poles, and behind that runs a road. Those familiar with the area will recognize Huck Finn's warehouse on the very left, though it wasn't Huck's at that time. The green and gray building is Iroquois Millwork and it looks to still receive rail service.

In this view further south and still facing south, remains of the track are evidenced by the ties still along one area in a line. The tracks beside it are heavy with weeds, yet along the far right is the access track to the industries still receiving rail service. A long-unused track runs along the left, and spare ties have been dumped along the left. Note the colorful buildings along the left hand side in the back, which sadly I won't be modeling.

After drawing up a rough sketch of the area, I was ready to begin!