The C&D Railroad - Pacific Division is a fictitious RR located in the foothill and coastal redwood regions of northern California.

It has an interesting hisory, which I will share at a later date and now primarily supports the logging, wood products and coastal industries of the region.

Today I would like to introduce you to the harbor town of Grant's Landing, which serves the nearby lumber industry.

Residing on the seacliffs below the redwood forests, Grant's Landing has great views of the town of Diablo Falls across the bay,

which can be seen from almost every place in town.

All photos and comments by Gregg Wenzl

I will be sharing the continued development of this approximate 20'x12' HO/HOn3 layout in coming months, including the towns, railyard, logging and mining industries, rivers and nearby dam. This project is well underway and will provide many more years of building enjoyment.

The continued growth and development of northern California was not without it’s challenges. The annual flood damage to crops and industries had to be controlled. Water usage, that made the San Francisco Bay too salty and the water undrinkable, needed to be managed. Plus, inexpensive electric power was in high demand. To address these concerns, the 1921 California legislature took action and created a comprehensive water plan that became know as The Central Valley Project.

At this same time, the owners of the Redwood River Railroad were struggling to survive and looking for a better solution. That’s when they learned about a new dam to be built on the Redwood River and took their gamble of a lifetime. Since materials needed to be brought in to make the dam and they wanted to be the shipper of those goods, they locked up rail contracts for sand and crushed stone with customers near Diablo Falls and the dam building contractors in the new town of Damsyde. Since the needed steel would be shipped into the nearby harbor town of Grants Landing, they secured the rail contracts to make the upriver haul. Most importantly, they found low cost sources of gypsum and limestone out east a ways near Cimaron and formed a partnership with the Cimaron Railroad. This assured an unimpeded rail line to haul all needed materials to the dam, as well as an expanded customer base for their redwood materials on the return trip east. Thus was the beginning of the Cimaron and Damsyde Railroad, with its Pacific Division operating out of Diablo Falls.

Several years have past, the dam is built and the Central Valley Project is now expanding. All concerns of a declining business ended when the C&DRR signed rail contracts to support the next two dams. Their redwood operations are flourishing, plus they have many new customers in the towns of Diablo Falls and Grant’s Landing. These are good times for the C&DRR.

Yes, this harbor town is definitely getting that foggy salt air feel.        I'll be outlining the RR history and details in future posts.

It has been satisfying watching my ideas come to life.

I was lucky enough to have a friend build these scrachbuilt boats for me. I do not have the time, skill or patience to equal his work. Here is another shot showing a couple of the boats

One of my initial design concepts was that each layout section would also work as the backdrop for another section. From a photographic perspective this was a must and it seemed like it would be a very simple task. I later learned that this is much more difficult to do than it seems. As it turns out, to make this work the scenes must "flow" from a visual perspective (led to rejecting many layout designs), plus every foreground structure must also work as a background structure (reduced the number of structures I can use). You would be surprised at how many structures do not meet these criteria. The area you mentioned is the river outside the town of Diablo Falls, built to provide a visual buffer between the two towns of Grants landing and Diablo Falls. The river looks like a coastline from a distance providing the needed flow, while the Wrisley, L&G and Houligan's builds magically appear to be small and distant (many angled walls and small windows are a couple of the keys to making that work). I will post some pictures of that area later. For now, here is a shot looking at the harbor from the ocean (layout entrance) side. You cannot see it in the photo, but the railyard (center) and mountain/redwood forest (right side) are the backdrops in this scene.

Here is a slightly different overview shot showing those boats. It is interesting how a few inch change in camera angle provides a completely different view, highlighting completely different scenes. In this photo you can see many built craftsman stucture kits. The harbor town list of kits includes:

- FSM Stuffy's Brewery
- FSM Jefferies Point
- SRM Prototype Currier & Sons main mill.
- FSM Bailey's Produce
- Kit-bashed SRM Whitney & Bent
- Modified FSM Emporium Seafood
- Crow River Products Saybrook Lighthouse
- Bar Mills Wicked Wandas
- FOS Varick Furniture
- FSM Station
- FSM Brick Watertower (from the John Allen Kit)
- FSM Chippy Hollow
- FSM Chester Rawlings
- many other small structures

Yes, quite a few structures in a fairly small space to give that busy harbor feel.

Here are a few more harbor shots. These perspectives will look even better once the mountain, source river and dam are complete and in the background.

Upper Grant's Landing not only provides the locals with wonderful views of trees and the distant hills, but is where you will find the train station, always a center of activity. I still have much work to do, but these pictures will give you an idea of what this area will look like.

The docks are always alive with activity and the constant movement of boats, trains and trucks. Here the fog, salt air and sounds of seagulls and fog horns embrace you.

Wood product businesses are everywhere, including Currier & Sons

(Bob Van Guilder's scratch built prototype for his kit's main mill structure).

Whitney Bay Furniture (a SRM Whitney & Bent kitbashed with a bend on a pier)

Emporium Seafood (modified FSM kit on a pier) anchors the harbor entrance

where the lighthouse helps guide the many boats to safety.

The Foothill and River Regions

Across the way from Grant's Landing and below the town of Diablo Falls, you will find oak covered hills and a river. Not part of the original design, this area was added to provide a needed visual buffer between the two towns. Though far from complete, I thought I would give a preview. Here are a few pics which give an overall perspective.

The river starts high on a hill flowing around the town of Diablo Falls. Some of the industries and mills you will find along it's path include Martin's Machine (SRM kit) and Lamson & Goodnow Cutlery's Western Mill (kit-bashed SRM kit).

It continues down the hill past Wrisley Paper (kit-bashed SRM kit)

My track plan needs to be updated to indicate recent changes, which I will eventually find time to do and post. In the mean time, here is a shot that gives a sneak peek at the river area that feeds the harbor. The river is not yet in, but the bridges help give a perspective. This area is still in a rough stage, but already shows much promise.

Gregg, I've just been browsing through the entire set of outstanding pictures of this thread. Your layout is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. The detailing, everywhere, is great and yet not overdone, there are many spectacular points of view - did you have photo shooting in mind when you designed the general shapes? I won't comment on all the scenes, but let me tell how interesting the penultimate is, with the lumber schooner being loaded by cable.
 

 Frederic Testard on 09/19/2008

This layout has so many unfinished areas, but already has life. I'm glad you like it too. Yes, one of the primary design criteria was to have photo opps from every angle, well as many as possible. That seemed like an easy goal, but turned out to be much more difficult than I imagined. Years past, I was away on business much of the time and very frustrated about not being able to enjoy my hobby. To help, I purchased a copy of 3D-Railroad and spent many evenings in hotels "planning my layout", trying to come up with a small (12'x20') layout design. That 3D-Railroad computer program allowed me to visualize various options and rough out a design. I remember planning and zooming in to see the view in the picture below. It's really fun to see the results all these years later.

The track plan seems to be in high demand. As mentioned above, I need to find time to make an update showing recent changes and then post. Originally two loops, (a lower HO scale loop with associated sidings and an upper narrow guage loop), I made a change after my lighting project, tying the two together and making the upper loop dual guage. Anyway, I promise to post the plan, some day.

Every day I get a little done somewhere. I spend 30 minutes on one thing, then another and at the end of the week these small efforts add up to a feeling of accomplishment. At this rate, I ought to be finished in about 20 years, give or take a decade.

I made a quick attempt at updating my track plan (3D Railroad program). This program does not lend itself to quick and easy updates, but this should give you a perspective. (Recognize that some is roughed out and not all is to scale.) The track plan is based on two loops, an HO loop with associated sidings and a dual gauge loop with associated sidings. (This was originaly an HOn3 loop, but I decided to bring HO up to the top level.) I used this plan as a "guide" and made changes and adjustments while building, so things have changed some. Here is a photo of the plan.

As you can see there will eventually be three towns, a yard, two rivers, a harbor and a dam. There is a minimum 22" radius on the HO main line and a minimum 18" radius on the dual gauge loop. All grades are 3% or less. The hidden track under the town of Diablo Falls is all accessable from the back side. The hidden track in the mountain is easily accessable from the wide interior access space. As with all track plans, this was an exercise in compromise to work within space limitations. I'm sure I will be making some modifications, but so far things seem to be working out.

Although this planning software does not lend itself to easy changes, it was a very valuable tool. It allowed for setting and testing grades. I was able to print out a full scale plan for cutting the plywood track beds. It provided needed elevation heights for rough placement of the track beds during construction. But most important, it gave me a visual guide to my planning, allowing for many corrections prior to building. Here are some photos of 3D printouts I made 5-7 years ago of the design, along with similar shots of the layout. First is a shot of the foothills and the town of Diablo Falls. The hill in the background is under construction, so hidden in the layout photo

Next is a shot of the harbor town of Grant's Landing and the source river canyon. The sawmill operation sits up on the hill behind town, visable from the other side of the layout

As you can see, some things have changed, but I pretty much stuck to the original plan/vision. This program was also helpful in deciding on the roundhouse position. The shot below is one of three I compaired and selected from. The roundhouse ended up where shown, although the other structure placements changed and the track is changing

Gregg

It's amazing how much you have packed in. The plan v actual shots show just what a master you are - the plans look good but the real thing just blows you away. The plan has a small feel to it but the actual layout looks open and spacious - a real accomplishment in any layout.

I hadn't realised you were planning viewing on all three sides as well as internally. Even more opportunities for modelling and photography!

Just a quick couple of techie questions: what's your maximum grade and minimum radius?

Thanks for sharing.

Kathy

The minimum radius' are 22" (HO) and 18" (dual gauge). The max grade is 3%, although I will exceed that for some of the narrow gauge work.

Questions  which I will try to answer.

Would you attribute the number of scenes and amount of dioramas to your use of varying elevations in your layout plan? -

The number of available scenes are due to several factors including the varying elevations. Another factor is the use of varying angles and curves in the layout design. By eliminating 90 degree angles, you can see more and farther and gives much more layers and depth. By keeping the aisles fairly open allows for camera positioning to take advantage of these opportunities.

You also appear to use the NOLIX concept to change elevations in your layout? -

Hmmm. I do? I'm not sure what the NOLIX concept is. If you mean Not Observing other's Lessons In Xhibiting a good design, then yep, I kind of winged this one. Although I observed and read much and this was always in the back of my mind, I really just created to meet my goals, surely making design mistakes along the way.

I do not see any staging area per se in the track plan. -

I have ample staging room under the hills on both sides of the yard, as well as in the cabinet behind. You do not see it yet because location is dependent on final scenery design. In the end, that 3'x12' cabinet behind Diablo Falls will give lots of staging with an easy feed into the back of the yard.

Is that do to your concentration on modeling and scenery over train operation? -

 No, per above the missing staging is a timing thing. That said, my primary goal was to create an asthetically pleasing layout. With all the compomises, this factor always won out. For example, the track design on the right side, going up the canyon and circling around on both sides was to give the proper feeling of height to the harbor town, to get the station well above the docks. Another example is on the left side where I pushed the tracks back and in, so I could add the foothills to give the needed separation between the two towns of Diablo Falls and Grant's Landing.

Does your use of elevation prevent use of a multiple deck layout concept where perhaps a lower deck could be used as a staging area? -

Yes the staging can go under the hills, but I am cautious of distrubing the trolls under the hills!! Actually this gets at a key element of this layout design. As you know I am leveraging elevations, but that means more that what is obvious. I intend to model the underground mining tunnels and shafts under both mountains, which will provide many unique scenes, probably adding 50% more photo opps in the same amount of floor space. Looking at the surface you only see a small part of a mine. This layout design gives me the opportunity to model much more. You will eventually be able to explore the lighted tunnels and mine shafts and see the significant below ground activity. This was just one more way for me to get maximum use of the space available. In fact, some of the tunnels are started in the harbor area. If you look closely at the Emporium Seafood photos you will find that the back access is through a tunnel. (enter the tunnels on the left side of Emporium. This is also where they have their cold storage lockers.

Gregg
 

You can see one of the tunnel entrances behind Emporium Seafood in this shot. (It is behind the gas pump.) The fish cold storage lockers are back there.

As you can see on the layout drawing, the sawmill is fed by rail, which was originally going to be all narrow gauge. By making that upper loop dual gauge I now have the option of bringing HO to the sawmill to pick up loads or take the lumber out via narrow gauge and transfer at another point.

Regarding the dual gauge line, I really hesitated going dual guage, verses leaving the upper loop solely narrow gauge, but in the end decided I wanted the option of getting the HO equipment up to the upper tracks.

Regarding the ship loading, I agree the wire chute scene will add much, plus is a significant part of our California coastal lumber industry history. There were several wire chutes used on the Mendicino coast in the 1900-1940 period, so I just had to have one on may layout. This scene was a key design element and it was quite a trick to get everything to fit right and make possible in my limited real estate. Here is another test shot, looking towards the mill.

Regarding wire chute operations, based on what I can tell from about a dozen photos and the limited writeups I have found, the cable was anchored off the coast and floated on a boey. The awaiting schooner would lift the cable up with it's boom and position the vessel so the cable crosses the loading deck. (You can see the cable running well beyond the raised ship's boom in all the various photos.) The cable house then runs the lumber loads out to the ship and the ship uses it's boom to lower and position the load. Here is another prototype shot, one with the cable house built on a platform out on the cliff like I will need to.

I am still researching and should know more by the time I finish the scene. The whole concept is pretty ingenious and much safer than bringing the schooner in closer to shore. Even then, these unique steam schooners designed for the California coast did not survive long working the waters with the many storms. Most were shipwrecked in less than 10-15 years. The one I show in my test shot is the Newsboy. The one that will go in this final position will be Alcatraz which shipwrecked in 1917 (although I am modeling in 1930, but what's a few years). It is modeled with the boom up and in position for wire chute operations. That larger triple decker on the docks is the Wapama, which is the last remaining California lumber schooner. It is presently docked and being restored in Richmand, CA by the California Maritime Museum.

Gregg, you are creating a layout which I'm sure will become legendary! I'm simply stunned and demoralized after going through all these fine pictures over and over! You have managed to create a wealth of separate scenes with opportunities for composing fine pictures, and the overall appearance is airy and natural. As a landscape painter I wish such a place really existed... I'd never run out of subjects to paint.

Troels Kirk
Näsum, Sweden
 

Gregg,
While others are heaping their praise on your layout, I have a complaint to add to the mix.

Many weeks ago I placed an order for some fresh fish and a couple hundred feet of lumber for we in Alaska have this bridge to build.

I received the fish in a timely fashion and I will say there is nothing better than fresh fish right off the grill.

However, I am still waiting on the lumber and now I see it just hanging there in mid air.
Will it ever get on the schooner and get to Alaska?

All kidding aside, the picture with the lumber being transferred to the schooner is one of my favorites and shows off not only the incredible modeling but the very creative way this layout will be presented to the world.
Keep up with posting these great pictures for I study every one of them for ideas.

John Bagley

The lighhouse is a built Crow River Saybrook Lighthouse kit and I agree it is a very nice one. You should be aware that you need to choose locations for it wisely, for it dominates a scene (dwarfs other structures). I really like it where it is on my layout, but that is about the only place near my harbor where it would work.

I do enjoy water and the life it brings to a static scene. Your comments also get to a point that is often overlooked. These layouts we create are a form of art and as such provide much more than simply visual interest.

Here are a few more pics of the lumber schooner Alcatraz.

Hi GreggW,

I've been continuing research on model ship availability. Not much out there. What I have found is that the basic hull type is that of a fishing trawler. The Great Lakes ships modeled by Sylvan includes a ship outfitted as a 20" lumber freighter HO-1115 for $169.00 done in resin. It assumes loading from a pier w/crane as there are no masts and spars with appropriate rigging per se. This type of boat is also called a 'lumber hooker'. It would still need some kit bashing. Speaking of ship details, I found a company called 'Cornwall Model Boats' (UK) that represents a host of model ship kits and a list of detail parts (literally thousands) that will blow your mind away - davits, ballards, small boats, working rigging parts (brass, wood or resin), etc., etc. The site has USA prices as well.

If there is another site out there, besides custom builds, it has elluded me to date - and I spent most of last night cruizing the Internet. I don't really see any way out of a scratch or a kit-bash build. It seems odd as there were literally hundreds of these type ships working during the late 19th and early 20th century. Ships of sail w/steam (paddle-wheel) or sail (i.e. two and three-masted schooners) preceded these types of ships. I suspect tugs and barges are used today for inter-coastal movement and container/freight ships are used for ocean transport.

Regards,
Trent

I have been making progress on the Redwood River Canyon. Here are a few update pictures with two of the three bridges in place and with a photo mock-up where the dam will eventually be in the background.

The yard area is still a work in progress. The challenge is to build to maximize operation capability, within the limited space available. This is a head scratcher when you see how the yard enters out of a tunnel on one side and a river canyon on the other, which you can see in this birds-eye photo set which I took when I started the effort.

This needed to then be modified to not only fit #6 switches, but meet the available space and have a natural flow up into the river canyon. I next expanded the plywood base about 10" angling in on both sides. This is a size which appeared workable, leaving the required walkspace for this high traffic area. (Whatever my final track solution is, must fit within this space.) I was very concerned about the AD track and switch leads coming off the river canyon side of the yard and how they would interfer with the first bridge. So I decided I needed to get the canyon built first and shifted efforts accordingly. The canyon is now about 80% complete. You can see this expanded plywood on the left edge of this photo, as it angles out for the yard. You can also see the remaining aisle area.

I have been working on the foothill region, that area that was green foam, and took a few test photos to make sure the shapes and rock placements seem right, before I continue with detailing (trees, turf, grass, dirt roads, bridge, fencing, etc.) The transition sections near South River Mills (Thorndyke kitbash) turned out pretty good, as you can see in this photo.

The access road, rock outcropping and hill blending all turned out pretty good. Hard to believe there is a canyon with tracks hidden between those hills. You can see this again from the Wrisley Paper side.

I like this view of the road climbing up to town behind that hilltop rock outcropping. And the hills blend so well, hiding that canyon and track.

Here are a couple closeups of that foothill area that was green foam. First is the transition section behind the South River Mills (SRM Thorndyke kitbash). Here you can see the office parking lot with the new section with access road and hills.

The road forks, with the left road dropping down to the main mill and the right road heading up the hill, across a bridge (just visible) and then up the opposite hillside to town. This view turned out better than expected. I like the flow, the way the hills blend, hiding the canyon and views of the rock outcroppings. The bridge (piece of cardboard for now) can be seen better in this shot of the transition section.

I have been studying this last set of test photos and decided that the steep hillside, behind Thorndyke, just below town was too rough and rocky, not giving the right ridgeline view. So, this morning, with putty knife in hand, I removed all the top rock castings, added more hydrocal to round out the hill, then painted and added turf (a fix that had to be done now before the caulk holding the castings set). The results are good, blending the hills together and giving a much softer and natural landscape view. Below is a shot showing the results. I still have a lot more work to do in this area.

Most of the waterfalls do not need any support to build on, although the larger ones (with a thin saran wrap backing) and high drain pipes (with premade silicone strings) do. The trick for all is to make your waterfalls in a slow step by step building process. Add a little silicon, let dry, then perhaps add a little paint then a little more silicon, etc, until you get the look you want. It is all about using light reflection and refraction to make the falling water feel deep and airy. You cannot get this without clear and defined layers

I swear every time I look at your layout I find something new to discover. Each structure kit dio can be isolated in your photographs to show only that dio. Swing your camera right, left or up and you get a completely different view either of that dio or one or more of the other dios as background. The various layout elevations appear to be used to isolate (to some extent) each structure dio or allow each dio to act as background for another shot. I think that is what gives your layout the illusion of greater size, although 12' X 24' is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

I also can appreciate the use of photography in the layout design and structure placement. It really makes a big difference. Most large layouts that wind around a large room are mostly flat to some extent and do not use primary strucure kit dios as background. Many are small widths where there is a front and a back (24" to 30" apart) with a backdrop. You use the three modules, the impressive structures and the layout itself as your backdrop. I think it is a masterfull design methodology for RR layouts that I personnaly think is unique to the hobby - though I don't get out as much as I used to. I am begining to understand, I think, your layout design process. I'm sure others have picked up on this sooner, but I have always been a little slow.

Regards,
Trent Mulkern
 

I not only use hills to create "distance" but valleys too, such as the one in the center of the down of Diablo Falls. Here is a shot looking across town, including the unfinished part of town that I have not yet shared. You can see my new Ludlow-Spencer Toy Company build sitting roughly where it will be planted.)

I use this same technique for areas of anticipated close-up shots, where rocks, trees and small mounds are used for the partial separation needed to give a feeling of greater distance

Gregg,

I have enjoyed seeing your diormas on the forums but until today I did not knwo you have been incorporating them into a layout.

Again, as others have said, fantastic work.

Darryl Huffman
Anchorage, Alaska

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