Dickey Backdrop Transition Part 1 Looking East toward the Mighty Blue

[Mike Trent]

One of the sparse handful of advantages of being confined to a small space for my railroad is that I am no longer tempted to grow either my rolling stock or motive power rosters. Which means that I no longer have to worry so much about spending some money on scenery needs.

In 2016, my brother and I visited the Dickey siteand were able to determine where the railroad came in from Breckenridge and where the coaling trestle was aligned at the South end of the reservoir. One of the things that struck me there was the close proximity of Jeff Young like Willow brush along the Western bank of the Blue River. Thick enough and tall enough, in fact, that the river itself (such as it is) is not even visible. So my interest was tweaked last September at the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Denver by a new offering from Scenic Express for "Tall Bushes" that I thought could be used to represent these bushes along the backdrop from my section house and the enginehouse. I bought three packs of green bushes (the only color available) at the Convention. When I actually got around to opening them up and trying them out, I was sure this would be a good way to go, but I also realized I didn't have nearly enough. So I checked the Scenic Express website, searched Tall Bushes, and found that they had only brown color. Excellent! I held my breath, and tried to order 4 packs and was successful. They arrived yesterday. So I mixed in three packs of green to the four packs of brown, and was able to complete just over a 5' run bring the mighty Blue to life here in Dickey. Of course you can't see it, or fish in it, but it's there, just beyond those willows.

They aren't nearly as nice as Jeff's, but they are passable and, I think, effective.



       

[snapped_bolt]

Wow!

    Finally; my theory is proven!

    Never did care for the available backdrops. In the 80's I imagined enlarged photos taken at the same location I was modeling. However, modeling in Western Washington, I soon realized I needed to have clouds. I thought about using overhead projector "continuous" film to roll in the clouds, and KEEP them rolling. The projector film rolls would have a "clock drive" that would accomplish that. Still, the sky, even though in motion, would lack the changing quality of a stormy/cloudy sky. Perhaps large monitors could do a better job, providing a large "live" background, to compliment the action on the tracks!

   But back to reality. Any chance you have background shots on Boreas? That is where I am beginning. Any good pass will have never-ending scenarios of why you can't get the train through on time!

     Cheers,

       Stan

[Lee Gustafson]

Mike,

That scene looks great. You have captured the area with the combination of the scenic express material and the photo back drop. The fact that your space is limited is not a limiting factor but advantage. Thanks for sharing your use of materials and ideas.

Lee Gustafson

[Mike Trent]

Also at the convention, Clint Crow's display caught my eye with a sample of an HO Scale UP design snow fence. In HO Scale, they are small, but small is good for me as backdrop transitions looking up the Valley to the distant divide. I've planted a number of Conifer trees on that end which breaks up the scenery, but also hides about three feet of my mainline which is good for a number of reasons. So I really didn't want to put anything there that would disturb the feeling of that long view to the Northwest, which just happens to be the direction the winds would come and wreak havok on the little depot at Dickey. So, yes, I know they are too small for scale, and I know that they appear to be aligned with each other improperly, and there weren't really any snow fences in the wye at Dickey, but dang, they fit the bill to hide to bottom of the backdrop in a space I really needed them. I used 12. The total distance covered is something about 24". And, UP design ain't a bad thing for C&S.

They are white metal, and pretty much just push together. I'll weather them soon, but there really isn't much weathering going on up there this winter.



     

[Mike Trent]

Stan, I don't know if I have anything from Boreas, but I'll look. Search this site for Backdrops, and you'll see how a number if us have done ours. This one is actually Dickey from 2 years ago, and pretty much what you'd see if the reservoir wasn't there today.  

[snapped_bolt]

Yep

   those HO fences seem to add to the illusion of greater distance.  I cut my own scale lumber- snow fences always seemed to be a good place to use those "odd" pieces. By the looks of the fences in the photos, they didn't seem to go out of their way to get high-quality lumber- just about anything that will cause the snow load to drop out of the wind is satisfactory.
   Some spots of the railroad really only HAD snow fences for added interest. I really see no way to avoid them-at least not on the pass.
   Your snow fence scene is quite plausible!

    Cheers,

     Stan

[Jeff Young]

Looking good, Mike!

[Don Peterson]

Mike
Your backdrop sure looks a helluva lot better than the one I painted for Darels Dickey module. Darel you should ditch that backdrop and borrow Mikes file. How deep is your scene?

Don Peterson

[Mike Trent]

Hi Don, thanks.

Wow, I'd hate to see Darel ditch that. Lots of work in there and looks good too.

The main section is 36" deep. The L behind the depot is 24" deep, but looks like 10 miles.

With the development of digital technology, it's a new world. Hope you're "Doin good"!

[Darel Leedy]

Looking good Mike! My idea also for the river treatment.
You're a bit hard on yourself Don. The backdrop looks fantastic to me: "http://coloradosouthern.blogspot.com/2015/08/backdrop-completed.html"

[Mike Trent]

Thanks, Jeff. Your contributions to this have been invaluable.

[Mike Trent]

Daryl,  if I thought I had the talent to pull off a painted backdrop I'm sure I'd have tried. It probably would have resulted in trying to convince Don to come to Alabama for a couple of weeks, and possibly a kidnapping charge when that failed.

Thankfully Jeff took time to capture the images I needed and I found a really good place to print what I asked.

[Don Peterson]

Funny stuff, Mike   I'd actually work for beer or a nice single malt. Although 'Bama might be quite  a slog. I long for the days of all night work sessions with the guys, Pizza and beer. Though that was many miles and many kids ago (quite a few amongst us). Its all fun to me.

Don

[Mike Trent]

Me too, Don!

[Chris Walker]

Thought you'd appreciate this view, as sobering as it might be.



Summit County Historical Society

[Mike Trent]

Thanks, Chris. I've never seen a picture from this angle. Very interesting. The view appears to be toward Dillon from the South (East) End of the yard. The dark rectangular structure seems to be the coal docks with the ramp removed, looking up what is left of the main line. The section house is to the right. The Blue must be behind the section house. The angle of the ridge on the right looks deceivingly close. Great find. Thanks.

[Darel Leedy]

Indeed. Great view Chris. But the dark rectangle structure is the water tank Mike. I’ll cut you some slack since you probably hadn’t had your coffee yet

[Mike Trent]

Yeah, no coffee and I was looking at it on my phone. Obviously, the depot had been razed by this time.