Editor’s Desk
Sometimes it takes a mix of scales to make a cover
TI WISH I COULD SHOW YOU THE LAYOUT
that’s on the cover this month. It’s really a spectacular piece of model railroad construction.
Unfortunately it doesn’t belong in the magazine, because it’s N scale.
Now and again I like to “break the fourth wall” as it were and show people how we do some of the things around here. In that spirit, here’s how the cover came together.
When I heard the cover subject would be a set of Lionel Canadian Pacific F3s, I immediately thought of some of the great travel posters CP produced during the golden age of rail travel. Many of them depicted Rocky Mountain scenes. They really made one want to visit Canada by train!
The engines are similar to the ones belonging to George Schmid in his desirable Lionel no. 2296W outfit shown on page 34. His are safe with his set; we borrowed these.
But how to capture the essence of those posters in a cover shot? The answer was actually sitting in a hallway.
Some years ago Model Railroad Video Plus staff members built the N scale “Canadian
Canyons” layout – the ideal backdrop – maybe.
With some finagling, an O gauge stretch of track was posed in front of the layout to accommodate the F3s. Several shots later, we had a cover.
Besides being convenient, I was also reminded of a good modeling lesson. You can use smaller-scale structures, trains, and vehicles to give viewers a sense of distance and depth, even if your area is actually quite shallow. Give it a try on your layout.
Enjoy the actual O and S gauge layouts in the magazine. I think there are a few more modeling tips in here if you look carefully, too.