Month: January 2017

Blue painters tape makes good roads….

Now just mentally swap out the two wooden laser cut kits from Micro Trains with a big warehouse….

After yesterday’s post looking down at Toltec, I decided to download a basic photo editing app to rough in parking lots, roads, a concrete loading ramp and another warehouse…..no where near as good as I can do on my computer with a real editor, but it is an idea. As always, feedback is welcome.

In the past, I have climbed to the top of the local mountains to get a bird’s eye view of the Casa Grande Valley. Today I cleaned up the layout area and pretend to do the same, looking down at the semi-freelanced town of Toltec, AZ. Toltec does actually exist, it is on the Sunset Route between Casa Grande and Eloy, however it is just a passing siding.

The layout operates well, is fun to switch, but it leaves a lot to the imagination when it comes to scenery. I know that I want to add another warehouse and I might replace the grain elevator with a triangular, scratch built warehouse.

The fun part is placing roads and a little bit of greenery. I’m not sure where to place them. I started on the Pacific Coast Railway roundy round to help out with my scenery blues, however I am determined to have a finished layout. Until I just sit down and do it, I will just be having fun switching Toltec.

The search for a good photo of a Pacific Electric SW1 has been a fun exercise. I have been given a copy of a picture of 1011 taken in San Bernardino in PE lettering, but without poles. I have been told that it had poles, but I have not seen a picture. Many Baldwins had both the lettering and poles, as did five General Electric 44 tonner’s….

Thank you Joe for the picture below.