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PORTFOLIO— PAGE 2 |
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The Vinings Northern was a challenging layout to design. It had to fit in a relatively narrow room which had a part width extension at the far end. This created an outside corner within the room, a difficult design element to work with. This layout had prototype signaling, multi-level operation and highly detailed scenery. A classification yard in an attached room provides room for multi-train storage. This was the first layout to incorporate PMD’s High Trestle, a dramatic curving, super-elevated sweep across a valley. An interesting town on a hill, custom designed logo, highly detailed downtown city area, a marble quarry and a three quarter helix under the engine service area are other features. DCC control. Be sure to study the large photos to get a good idea of PMD’s attention to detail. |
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THE VININGS NORTHERN—ATLANTA, GA— 2002 HO SCALE |
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The Small Town and Marble Quarry Industry |
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The Curved High Trestle |
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Downtown at Dusk |
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THE BAY - VIRGINIA—2002—HO SCALE
Our Virginia client was not particularly into operations. Instead, he just wanted to see trains run through pretty scenery on a small looping layout. We designed a 4’x 8’ which was just a loop with a couple sidings. But he wanted a small ocean bay with the surf breaking onto many rocks. A stream and a small upland pond drained to the bay. Creating the heavy wave action was a challenge. An animated lighthouse overlooked the bay. 3 different bridges added interest. The end result was pretty and peaceful, just as he wanted. |
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Bruce adding detail to the pond |
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MINERAL POINT RAILROAD SOCIETY—MINERAL POINT, WI—2008—HO SCALE The railroad society in Mineral Point worked for years to raise the funds to restore the 1856 Milwaukee Road depot, the oldest surviving depot in Wisconsin. As part of the restoration and conversion to a working museum, PMD was commissioned to build an operating layout of the railroad valley incorporating a number of the historic structures during the hey day of mining operations around Mineral Point. This little town was bustling back in the day. It was the seat for the Southwest Wisconsin territory and at its peak, its population exceeded that of Chicago at the same time. Read more about Mineral Point [HERE] The structures PMD was to include were the depot, a hotel, a 3 story warehouse, a couple lumber company sheds, a large railroad windmill, a small turntable and the stone engine house. All the structures were constructed of local limestone but only half still existed. So some we were able to measure, the others we worked from photographs and plans. Using photographs of hundreds of actual stone blocks, PMD pieced together the walls for all the structures one block at a time in CAD. We then added the window and door openings and sent the completed walls one at a time to our Laser engraver. The laser is able to reproduce the actual stone block texture while it engraves the acrylic sheet stock used for these models. After assembly and hand painting, the result is very realistic. The layout itself is computer controlled using a large DCC decoder to power the track. This allows unmodified DC locomotives to be used. The train runs point to point to 4 different industries, shuttling continuously after startup. Custom oak cabinetry was built by our cabinet maker and a custom designed electronic touch switch on the front of the display starts the action. |
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3D CAD Rendering prior to construction |
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After Installation in the Museum |
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After Installation in the Museum |
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Almost Complete - Shop Photo |
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DENTAL LOOP—2011- NEW YORK—HO SCALE Our client came to us with an “impossible” request. He wanted an HO loop of track with scenery detail and operating animation features for his pediatric dentistry practice. But it had to fit, shadow box style, into an existing wall opening. This required 13” radius curves and the challenge of finding HO equipment that would negotiate N scale curves. Modified Bachmann switchers fit the bill and ran fine. This was a basic Silver (B) level layout with a very simple painted backdrop. |
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