Making use of a corner of the layout

I had to come up with several corner vignettes:

This odd area sits above a book case in my train room.  A Walthers (now Atlas O) oil pump fits in nicely.  Couldn't help but add a trash dump.

Found this Ertl material handler at a local store.  I had to find a place to use it and this spot was empty.

Every layout needs an oil distributor.

Another find from a vacation we took.  It sat in its box for years until I built this coal yard.

I made this field from a piece of corrugated cardboard.  It fits well with my rural area.

Tom

I filled an available corner of the 15x19 L-shaped layout with an attraction inspired by my great-grandson's interest in dinosaurs. The area has a Dinosaur Park with beasts, keepers, and onlookers; also a corral in the corner for juvenile dinosaurs, their keepers, and onlookers.  A nearby siding is provided for a Lionel Dinosaur train with dinosaurs and dino eggs on aboard - "for transportation to their summer feeding grounds" according to Matthew, now age 8.

Mike Mottler   LCCA 12394

A couple of corners. Sloping ceiling added to the challenge.

OGR store front buildings.

Nice topic. I am thinking of giving each of my three grandsons a corner on the new layout and letting them put whatever they want in those pieces of real estate.

Paul

Three corners to address on my 4X8 layout.

Front right is a small Ameritown factory building served by a spur. Half of the back right corner is visible as well.

The other half of the back right. The spur serves the local scenic excursion railroad.

Back left corner is also a hillside with a road going through.

@Mike CT posted:

OGR store front buildings.

Mike, That's one heck of a curve to navigate! 

What would that radius be called?

@Allegheny posted:

Mike, That's one heck of a curve to navigate! 

What would that radius be called?

Elbow Bend?????

@Allegheny posted:

Mike, That's one heck of a curve to navigate! 

What would that radius be called?

Surprisingly on an O54 layout, one of the few O63 curves pictured. 

stangtrain - An excellent topic.

Corners present an opportunity to create scenes on a model railroad. The best scenes on my layouts are in the corners. First four photographs show the corners of my 10’-by-5’ layout with O-54 curves. Next four show the corners of my 12’-by-8’ layout with O-72 curves. An observation – the larger the curve radius in a corner, the more area in the corner…

MELGAR

@Mike CT posted:

Surprisingly on an O54 layout, one of the few O63 curves pictured.

I think he was referring to the shelf above Mike.

Great stuff, everyone.

Great topic.

Lots of great ideas and the skill level is fantastic!

Thank you for all who posted!

Peter

After only reading the title of this topic, I thinks it's a great subject for the Forum. Arnold

@Railrunnin posted:

Nice topic. I am thinking of giving each of my three grandsons a corner on the new layout and letting them put whatever they want in those pieces of real estate.

Paul

Great idea!

Let's not forget that a mountain with tunnels that trains run trains through could be good for a corner:

Arnold

A lighthouse and the Polo Grounds in another corner:

Corners are great opportunities for creativity IMO. The possibilities may be infinite. Arnold

A backdrop can enhance a corner of a layout:

Not the most realistic backdrop in another corner, but one with tremendous sentimental value for me:

Well @Stangtrain, this is a super topic, we all have corners in our lives and our layouts do also. It seems most of the folks pictured above my post have a corner on the market, well displayed, great attention to detail. And beautifully scenicked. Here’s a few of my corners for your review. Happy Railroading Everyone

This elevated plateau and mountain cover the entire east end of my layout.  On the northeast corner  of the plateau, I created a logging camp using a Plasticville log cabin that I bought used.   I've also used a photo background as a backdrop.  The elevated plateau supports the single track Mountain Division which runs through the mountain.  On the southwestern corner I installed my Lionel blinking aircraft beacon light.   The mountain actually covers the two lower level mainlines which are 054 ( outer loop ) and 042 ( inner loop ) and hides the overt overhang of my scale GG1, scale steamers, and scale passenger cars.   With the west end of the layout I've done a similar thing of covering the entire end of the layout with an elevated city scene. The trains disappear under the city on a 042 curve which hides the overhang of the aforementioned locos and passenger cars.  Pics of west end to come later.  

I try to put operating accessories and/or hills with trees on my corners.

On my old layout I had many corners to fill, this was my favorite vignette of them all. My grandfather grew up in a family that lived from cutting firewood, and used a steam tractor to pull the wood wagons. This was my tribute to him.

The scrap yard has been a great corner filler for many years. What you see behind the scrap yard is a mirror reflection.

The rear corner opposite the scrap yard is taken up by a grouping of smaller size skyscrapers and is a great backdrop for photographing trains leaving Union Station in the great city of Christopolis.

Another corner in the Christopolis city scene is occupied by a city road that dead ends into a mirror as do the buildings along the road and the zoo. The use of mirrors can give the effect of doubling your layout size.

I think this photo of another corner of my layout is the best for me. It appeared in the Photo Albums section of a model train magazine.

What I like best about it is the way the train and scenery blends in with the painted backdrop:

This one is a little nicer IMO, and could be a scene along the Old Put:

You have me in a corner on this one..

In following up on my previous post:  Here is the northwest corner of the lower level of my layout.  I've created a MOW scene.  I've used a several pieces of track,  protruding from the tunnel portal,  representing a spur that has been overtaken by brush.  In this scene track workers are clearing the overgrowth from the spur.  This scene is the interior of the next picture which gives the exterior overall view of the corner.  

Exterior shot of northwest corner of layout and the corner of the elevated Westend neighborhood.  I used a large rock on which I have an Artista figure playing a guitar ( he's my rock guitar player .. lol! ).  I also used a variety of fence ... some wrought iron fence from Dept 56, an insert from a pack of new socks is to the left of the wrought iron fence, and to the left of that is the beginning of a makeshift fence made from Gargraves cross ties.  I would see this kinds of hodgepodge fence work alongside railroad tracks throughout my travels.  

The northwest corner of the Mountain Division.   Here is where a siding ends and the mainline of the Mountain Division makes a hard O42 curve.

Another view of the same area as above.

A broader view of the northwest corner of Mountain Division.  I use real stones and rocks.

Trumptrain,

Please stop posting these most excellent scenery pictures. 

(They make be wanna take a sledgehammer to my layout!)

Mannyrock

Outstanding corner scenery and structures, Patrick.

Some corners on the Warrenville Railroad:

@Mannyrock posted:

Trumptrain,

Please stop posting these most excellent scenery pictures.

(They make be wanna take a sledgehammer to my layout!)

Mannyrock

Manny -  Thank you for the compliment!   I was hoping that in some small way my photos would be inspirational not expirational. LOL!!  Please don't take a sledgehammer to your layout!   I'm sure your layout looks terrific!!  

A nifty place for the Lucky Silver Mine, Shaft #1:

Then, there's the Water Tank/Sand House at Marmaros:

A rough farm road leads off-layout but connects to the vehicle access for the Notch Junction Tower (and also occasionally provides an escape route for errant horses).  In the background, Marmaros Tower (MT) commands the switch joining the town/mine loop with the hill line leading down to Notch:

Then, of course, there is the Notch Junction Tower (NO) protecting the Notch yard lead:

Southeast corner. DPM models.  Sprues for piping, Plastic pint bottles extended with cardstock for tanks.

Northeast corner.  Bear in pup tent. Sedam trees.  Billboard from soft drink 24 bottle carton

Northwest corner. Far left Menard's Hotel, Pioneer Valley scale size hotel, building with horizontal windows scratch built using thin plywood and dental trim. Storage building with one curved side and REA Transfer Building are scratch built using foam core and 'building' behind the free standing water tower is a flat.  'Water tank' is a painted mustard jar atop a metal frame. John

This corner on my 8x9 layout was a prime spot for the Woodland Scenics Cabin. This is a tribute to my brother that passed away in 2018. He had a cabin in upstate NY that sat on a hill with wildlife abound. The cabin is a great replica of that cabin.

Mountain scenery and other side Hobo camp with a watch tower

Well, a bit of a cheat. since basically I *covered* two corners of the layout when I built the tunnel across one side of the layout (the actual corner, the floor of the tunnel, I just coated with rock dust), but I did add a cell tower on one end, and a picnic area/farmers market on the other: https://youtu.be/Ax32p7LTUmM

The other corners are currently rather barren:

There's not a lot of room, especially with the rounded corner, but perhaps some of the other responses will spur some creativity!

My wife worked for a California home builder, so we dedicated this corner to him and his beautiful homes.

There isn’t much room between the tracks and wall

Can’t fit much in here, let's see what we can do in CAD

Alternative is to go up with a tunnel through the wall

Building in white using dimensions from CAD for all pieces

Finished with details, looks like plenty of room now.

Couple of mine ....

Richie, Eliza's Corner camp site is great, has everything in a small area. Getting hungry for a hot dog.

@sidehack posted:

Richie, Eliza's Corner camp site is great, has everything in a small area. Getting hungry for a hot dog.

Hah - thanks, Ray.

Like someone else suggested, I let the grandkids "design" some of the corners and this is what my 9 year-old came up with.

027 track on my Toy train layout, does not leave much space for corner displays as wider radius track curves do.  I have really enjoyed the larger super done corner displays by all posters.

I have 4  small corner displays and one larger one.

A hobo camp.

A homemade water tower, based on Lionel design.  See how little the space is.

A small Dad made station from my childhood layout.  This space is larger as there is the straight track of a Marx switch in the corner curve.

A Plasticville Frosty Bar, the cutest Plasticville building of all. 

The large item is the Textured paint covered mountain, with two tracks in and four track out.  One out track is hidden, shown in second picture.

I also have another hobo camp in the center of my Wye.

Charlie

Hobos around a campfire feeding a hotdog to a hobo dog,

Couple more of mine ....

My only finished and therefore favorite corner.

Looking through some old pics, found I had some corner shots.

The mountain takes up a large portion of a back corner, had to put an access hole in it.

Every train room should have a napping corner.

@Mayor Magoo posted:

Every train room should have a napping corner.

I gotta say -- that takes the prize for "Best Use of a Corner" IMHO!

@Mayor Magoo posted:

Looking through some old pics, found I had some corner shots.

The mountain takes up a large portion of a back corner, had to put an access hole in it.

Every train room should have a napping corner.

I knew I forgot something in my hobby /train room. Darn !

Needed extra engine storage for a large loco so a dead end faux tunnel in a tall mountain above a canyon seems to fill the corner nicely.  So I removed some pictures and glued 3/4" cut-off scrap from a recent mountain framing job and  framed it out for the metal lath scenery base.  Boy my executor is going to have  fit.   This home  would eventually be a  great buy for an 0 scale model railroader.

Great scenery corners !!!

Thank you all for sharing.

Are your scenes mounted directly on the benchwork or are the scenes mounted on a removable base ?

Thanks in advance !!!

CB&Q Bill

@CBQ_Bill posted:

Great scenery corners !!!

Thank you all for sharing.

Are your scenes mounted directly on the benchwork or are the scenes mounted on a removable base ?

Thanks in advance !!!

CB&Q Bill

Mine are built on the layout with a couple of qualifications.

The Ameritown building can be lifted off for repairs. And the corner tunnel was built as a diorama and placed on the layout since it's in a difficult spot.

Bob

@CBQ_Bill posted:

Are your scenes mounted directly on the benchwork or are the scenes mounted on a removable base ?

Well, I'd guess most of the posted corners have been more or less permanently incorporated into their respective layouts, with a few notable exceptions.

As to my layout, since posting last year I've filled in one of the two previously "open" corners, adding a motion sensor to trigger one of eight "camping" audio files, and creating an abandoned campsite with animals featured in the audio files to cover the embedded speaker:

Here's a video I shot *before* I added the animals and extra landscaping, demonstrating the motion sensor and audio files:

Made changes last year to a corner of my layout, page 1 has before photos. Made on sawhorses then I put in place. Always fun making changes. Nice photos all

@Steve Tyler posted:

Well, I'd guess most of the posted corners have been more or less permanently incorporated into their respective layouts, with a few notable exceptions.

As to my layout, since posting last year I've filled in one of the two previously "open" corners, adding a motion sensor to trigger one of eight "camping" audio files, and creating an abandoned campsite with animals featured in the audio files to cover the embedded speaker:

Here's a video I shot *before* I added the animals and extra landscaping, demonstrating the motion sensor and audio files:

Can you please give us a link, Id like to purchase something that stores and plays sounds, Gary

@The TrainBoard posted:

Can you please give us a link, Id like to purchase something that stores and plays sounds, Gary

Sure:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's a pic of the package I bought:

Inset at the bottom right of the pic is the circuit board (showing the control buttons and the micro SD card slot), the other side of which also appears at the top left, connected to the other components. Directly below that is the white hard-shell speaker, which is just above the white domed motion sensor. The included black battery case (3 AAA or AA batteries, I believe) is at the top right.

There are a whole lot of recordable audio players out there (many for use in DIY audio greeting cards), some quite a bit cheaper than this bundle, but I selected this package primarily for its inclusion of the hard-shell speaker, which I was able to bury in the foam under the sheet of paper-backed grass roll I'd used as a surface layer for my layout, without worrying about having to protect it from damage (I *did* throw some aluminum screening across the speaker's 'pit' as an additional precaution, though). I also omitted using the battery pack, instead plugging a micro USB cable into the board and running it to a USB hub connected to line power (it turns on and off with the rest of the layout main power).

To prevent passing trains from activating the motion sensor, I fitted it into an empty section of caulk tube (decorated as a water supply tank/hot tub!), with a thin film of translucent used packing tape over the top to conceal the sensor (I considered disguising it as a roof vent instead, but wasn't sure if painting it would interfere with the sensing, and needed it to be near the camping scene, rather than on a building!). The 'hot tub' is the only visible evidence of the installation, with all other components and wiring secured under the layout or buried into the surface.

The package comes with a single audio file on the board, but you can use a micro USB cable to plug the board into your computer, and download a limited number of additional/replacement files into the on-board memory. You could also use a separate micro SD card (not included) in the slot on the board to add virtually unlimited capacity for audio files. I ended up with eight camping-related audio files that all fit comfortably in the on-board memory, so I didn't need to go that far.

The bottom line is that I ended up with an audio feature that activates any time someone approaches or passes that corner -- it still manages to catch me by surprise sometimes! The sound files are consistent with the 'natural' corner of the layout, so succeed in adding a bit more 'realism' to the scene, all at a modest cost in parts and effort. I think a similar installation could be customized to add an audible component to almost any scene, and provide a bit of unexpected enjoyment and verisimilitude for your visitors! Good luck!

@Sitka posted:

Nice looking corner Mark.

Where do you get those great looking evergreens ?

@Steve Tyler posted:

As to my layout, since posting last year I've filled in one of the two previously "open" corners, adding a motion sensor to trigger one of eight "camping" audio files, and creating an abandoned campsite with animals featured in the audio files to cover the embedded speaker:

Nice Steve .       I like the sounds # 5 , 6 znd 7.

@RSJB18 posted:

The Ameritown building can be lifted off for repairs. And the corner tunnel was built as a diorama and placed on the layout since it's in a difficult spot.

Bob

Great solution to the corner Bob.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Nice looking corner Mark.

Where do you get those great looking evergreens ?

Thanks Dallas, bought from scenic express some years back have some nice stuff, along with people.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Great solution to the corner Bob.

Thanks- like I said, access was an issue....

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Nice Steve .       I like the sounds # 5 , 6 znd 7.

Thanks, Dallas. I'm partial to the mosquito myself, but you can only hear it if the trains are not running!

@Mayor Magoo posted:

Looking through some old pics, found I had some corner shots.

Every train room should have a napping corner.

Maybe not everyones " cup o tea "  Steve.........but where's the fridge ?

@Steve Tyler posted:

Thanks, Dallas. I'm partial to the mosquito myself, but you can only hear it if the trains are not running!

Not a fan of the little mosquitoes Steve................got over a near end of life relationship👻 with one in 1969.  A few weeks on the hospital ship Repose got me back " in country ".                ( however , a great looking corner country scene like yours would certainly be lacking if it didn't have the little critters bzzzzzzzing sound around . )

Dallas Joseph, it is truly a travesty that I do not have as much as a mini-fridge in that space!  And to add insult to injury, I have to walk down to the 1st floor to get to the liquor locker!

Here are a couple of corners on my layout.

Well, this is a great subject, an interesting topic and each of us with layouts has to contend with corners, some more than others. On my layout, because I tried to utilize all the room possible for the layout itself, we made the ends of the layouts with curves making it easier for folks to pass each other. The isles are 24 to 25 inches wide, easily maneuverable but the ends are much wider for passing each other. Great pictures everyone. Happy Railroading Everyone