RGS 1st District Plan (Final)

May 15, 2025

For those of you who have been following the blog, the layout currently has a "temporary" return loop south of Matterhorn that I have referred to as Trout Lake. The loop was installed in order to delay the installation of a "lift out" that led to a truncated version of Lizard Head and a staging yard on a shelf above Ridgway/Dallas. Since there wasn't enough room for the Lizard Head Wye, the plan also included a provision for a hidden return loop inside the dispatchers office to turn helpers.

Over time, I decided against the lift out. After looking at several alternative, I decided on the following plan. The temporary reverse loop was replaced by a more accurate representation of Lizard Head, including the wye, and the staging yard is now located on a shelf above the loop between Vanadium and Vance Junction. While the Trout Lake scene was lost in the revision, I think operations will be enhanced when it comes to removing helpers at Lizard Head, turning them on the wye, and running light back to Ridgway. While there will be room for more, the three Rico/Durango staging tracks three should be adequate to start with. They are arranged to eliminate any reverse curves.

Vance Junction Scenery

May 16,2025

After some pretty nice weather, I finally got back to working on the scenery around Vance Junction. For the last couple of weeks, I have spent most of my time setting up my new Costco greenhouse. All the pink foam is in place and I should be able to finish off all the cardboard lattice this coming week and get the red rosin paper glued in place.

Looking north towards Vanadium.

Looking south towards Ophir.

May 17, 2024

Most of the cardboard lattice got installed before I ran out of hot glue. The scenery should really slop downward towards the San Miguel River on the far side of the tracks. Unfortunately the lack of space made that impossible. The hill behind the track serves as a view block. The Bridge 45A and Ophir scenes are on the other side.

May 18, 2025

Here is the red rosin paper glued in place. While this step probably isn't necessary, I like to do it for two reasons. First, it gives me a pretty good idea of what the final terrain will look like and second, it reduces the amount of plaster cloth and Sculptamold needed to hide the card board lattice work.

May 19, 2025

The red rosin paper covered by plaster cloth.

I buy my plaster cloth on Amazon. A 12-pack of 6"x180" rolls costs around $32 including shipping (Prime). That works out to about $2.60 a roll or about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost for the same coverage with products from Woodland Scenics or Scenic Express. I cut the rolls into individual sheets about 8" long. I normally apply it two layers thick. The Amazon vendor is "Airgame".