So, what does one do when he doesn't care about watching football? (Yeah that's right, I said it!) Well, he works on his layout! Or to be more precise, he tears chunks out of it.......
Around these here parts, the saying goes "If there aren't any pictures, then it didn't happen", so with that, I bring you pictures!
Umm, sir, please close the layout behind you, your letting the cold in.....Now, sane minds would ask, "When you have 50 other more important things that you STILL need to complete before your next shakedown in two weeks, WHY are you tearing your backdrop out NOW?!?" Well, it's like this.....Ya know how certain things about your layout just bug you, maybe not enough for you to take action, because you figure that the aggravation of the time and effort of fixing it will probably overshadow the enjoyment you'll get out of it (at least I do!). That, and that it's always the one thing that EVERY SINGLE TIME you go into the basement and look at that part of the layout, it jumps up and down and points it's evil finger at you and says -
"Fix me, or when people come to see your layout, they will laugh and point at me and your shame will be eternal!"
"Johnny, what can you make out of this backdrop?
This? Why, I can make a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl....."
See, I told you it looked funny!.......I recreated this "before" shot to show you a side view of the "wave effect" after I pulled at it and snapped the plastic. The shadows that play across the backdrop as it bends doesn't help any, either!
Up until then, the joints themselves were attached to the 1x2's with double sided foam tape from 3M, brad nailed, and then the joints spackled. This is probably why I had to pry it lose, and it snapped as seen in the very first photo!
Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering what I used for the backdrop, and that's easy. It's a non-vinyl PVC material called Plas-Tex, made by Parkland Plastics - http://www.parklandplastics.com/polywall.shtml. It is sold as a backsplash wall material, and comes in 4x8 sheets. I ripped them in half long ways, and since it's decently heavy enough, it kind of supports itself, so minimal framing was required. One side is smmoth, and one slightly texured, and it's the textured side I put "out", and with some early paint tests, it not only took the paint well with no priming required, but also the slightly textured surface worked to increase the "depth".
Now, can you see why I thought this had to go? The "double wave" effect of the backdrop HAD to go. So, I guess I should explain WHY this came to be like this, hmm?
As you can see, I needed more depth here, and the only way to do that was to push the backdrop back. After I opened up the continuous run of the backdrop sheeting to get at the 1x2 wood framing, I eliminated the support framing, and pushed the one side of the backdrop up against the other. (sorry, don't know where the pix of that debacle are). This what caused the backdrop on the LV Edgewater Branch side to bow out. had I thought about that, I would have fixed the problem then. In fact, I guess it didn't bother me too much at first, because it's been like this for at least 4 years now! The effect of the bow is not, for some reason, objectionable to me on the CNJ side, go figure.
In the above view, you can not only see the new joint(s) where the filler piece was installed, but in the lower right, the darker piece of "filler" foam in front of the building that needed to be installed to close the gap once the backdrop was pushed back. Originally, the backdrop continued straight across and through where the freight house is now. All in all, I gained only about 3-4 inches, but that made a difference, not only in track length, but also visually to allow for the proper track alignment as per the valuation maps I have of this area.
Surely, you didn't do all this just to get 3 inches of room! I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.
So, here is where we stand currently, and where it will stand until after the next shakedown. It doesn't affect operation, and heck, it's like "The Invisible Layout", to put a positive spin on things. The job to fix this is gonna be a doozy, but it'll be worth it, 'cause I ain't gonna sleep well until I fix it!
And that's that......
Ralph
"Fix me, or when people come to see your layout, they will laugh and point at me and your shame will be eternal!"No you say? Never happened to you? Gee, it looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue....
"Johnny, what can you make out of this backdrop?This? Why, I can make a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl....."
OK, OK, I'll be serious now, no more Airplane references......I guess I was bored, and I guess I just didn't want to get involved in another more tedious project that night (dropping track feeders), so I took on the beast and pulled. Then, I said, well, now that I ripped it, let's go full out........
Here's the 'before" shot. As you can see, it appears to smoothly flow around the corner, but looks can be deceiving....
Here's the 'before" shot. As you can see, it appears to smoothly flow around the corner, but looks can be deceiving....
See, I told you it looked funny!.......I recreated this "before" shot to show you a side view of the "wave effect" after I pulled at it and snapped the plastic. The shadows that play across the backdrop as it bends doesn't help any, either!Up until then, the joints themselves were attached to the 1x2's with double sided foam tape from 3M, brad nailed, and then the joints spackled. This is probably why I had to pry it lose, and it snapped as seen in the very first photo!
Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering what I used for the backdrop, and that's easy. It's a non-vinyl PVC material called Plas-Tex, made by Parkland Plastics - http://www.parklandplastics.com/polywall.shtml. It is sold as a backsplash wall material, and comes in 4x8 sheets. I ripped them in half long ways, and since it's decently heavy enough, it kind of supports itself, so minimal framing was required. One side is smmoth, and one slightly texured, and it's the textured side I put "out", and with some early paint tests, it not only took the paint well with no priming required, but also the slightly textured surface worked to increase the "depth".
Now, can you see why I thought this had to go? The "double wave" effect of the backdrop HAD to go. So, I guess I should explain WHY this came to be like this, hmm?
When I was laying out the CNJ Henderson Street Branch on the other side of the back drop here, I found that I did not have enough room to all ow for the Jersey Ave. Freight Station tracks after the railroad made the bend around the curve of the layout. (see below)
As you can see, I needed more depth here, and the only way to do that was to push the backdrop back. After I opened up the continuous run of the backdrop sheeting to get at the 1x2 wood framing, I eliminated the support framing, and pushed the one side of the backdrop up against the other. (sorry, don't know where the pix of that debacle are). This what caused the backdrop on the LV Edgewater Branch side to bow out. had I thought about that, I would have fixed the problem then. In fact, I guess it didn't bother me too much at first, because it's been like this for at least 4 years now! The effect of the bow is not, for some reason, objectionable to me on the CNJ side, go figure.
In the above view, you can not only see the new joint(s) where the filler piece was installed, but in the lower right, the darker piece of "filler" foam in front of the building that needed to be installed to close the gap once the backdrop was pushed back. Originally, the backdrop continued straight across and through where the freight house is now. All in all, I gained only about 3-4 inches, but that made a difference, not only in track length, but also visually to allow for the proper track alignment as per the valuation maps I have of this area.
Surely, you didn't do all this just to get 3 inches of room! I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.OK, so I lied.........
So, here is where we stand currently, and where it will stand until after the next shakedown. It doesn't affect operation, and heck, it's like "The Invisible Layout", to put a positive spin on things. The job to fix this is gonna be a doozy, but it'll be worth it, 'cause I ain't gonna sleep well until I fix it!And that's that......
Ralph
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