In this episode, Gerry finishes up scenery work and gives a tour of final touches he’s making to his railroad.
Getting to know Gerry Leone
Back on Track host Gerry Leone is just as clever as he is comedic! But even better, he’s a masterful model railroader who’s knowledgeable in numerous areas of the hobby. In his MR Video Plus/Trains.com series Off the Rails, audiences enjoyed learning many of the helpful tips and techniques he used to assemble various layouts over the years. Exclusive Trains.com video highlights much of his previous Bona Vista Railroad HO scale layout, and even examines specific details of his scenery construction in his Spaces to Places series.
With so many of Gerry’s talents at hand, we wouldn’t want any of them to go to waste! You can be sure to find him lending assistance in the construction of several other Trains.com projects, including work on the O scale (1:48) Olympia Logging Co., the HO scale (1:87) Winston-Salem Southbound, and even the N scale (1:160) Canadian Canyons.
If you’re looking to find some of the tools and supplies Gerry uses in his path to modeling success, look no further than KalmbachHobbyStore.com. There, you’ll be able to further examine and directly purchase products he and other notable model railroaders frequently reference in Trains.com videos!
I think I would put hard board up on the hangers and paint it Black or blue. That would tie everything together and give a finished look. That way you wouldn’t see the hanger at all.
P. J. Mattson MMR
I like your final plan Gerry. I’m just wondering why you wouldn’t paint that portion of the valance blue to potentially blend into your wall color and the sky in the background?
Your suggestion of the clothes pins holding the fabric skirting is something I definitely intend use on my layout. I also like the idea of the glad press and seal.
Your final blooper says it all. Plan, plan and then fail!. LOL. Onwards as I have heard said before. I like the idea of Steven Rigelhof above, basically a flat sky install but still need some small valance to edge it off. I did wonder about those 2x4s sitting up high and proud and what you were going to do to hide them. Nicely finally done. Lots of people I know that use the Gorilla Glue products find they do not hold as promised and yes, the Tough as Nails products seem to have a better hold capacity with a greater variety of materials.
So, now that you’re done, coming over to my place to help out….? I love your series approaches and even though you are far above my experience level, they manner of your explaining your thought processes on final design makes a lot of sense and sometimes, yes, you need to step away for a day and think on it. Thanks for this series.
Enjoy watching you series because it gives me ideas to work out on my own layout. I only have single level but do have dimable LED overhead lights. May in the future try to block the view of the overhead lights from the aisle. while still leaving view of the backdrop which goes almost all the way to the ceiling. Your idea would work on mine pretty well too.
Thanks for the series.
Bill
To James’ point above. I would think you will still see shadows. Maybe a crazy idea, but what about fastening masonite underneath the 2×2’s (flat)…then match the sky color from the backdrop. You wouln’t need to be too precise cutting it where it would meet the back of the valance. But you may need to be accurate cutting it along the back drop, unless you can have it go above the backdrop (i.e. if there’s a gap between the 2x2s and original backdrop). Then add LEDs for lighting the 2nd level. Just a thought. I really enjoy your videos!
Stephen — VERY interesting idea, and obviously one that I hadn’t thought of. But I’ll be honest with you: this episode was recorded half-a-year ago, so what’s done is pretty much done. I went with the 8.5″ valance and after a few weeks, got totally used to it. And the more scenery I added to the layout, the less I was apt to be looking up at the carpentry. So I sort of lucked out. Regardless, THANKS for watching the videos. There are some interesting scenery “deep dives” coming with my “Spaces to Places” series, so I hope you’ll keep watching!
Won’t there be a lot of shadow from the valance on the layout?
It appears very dark in the video with the 8″ valance
Hi, James — You’re right: without lighting behind the valance there would be a ton of shadows if I only relied on the track and ceiling lights. However, that’s not the case. I installed the exact same lighting system on the upper deck that I put in on the lower deck. See Episode 17. Also, something I’ve never really mentioned is the fact that the track and ceiling lights are dimmable. So I found I can dim those lights to exactly the same brightness as the deck lighting and totally eliminate any shadows.