We visited the insanely cool Disneyland replica called Castle Peak and Thunder Railroad in the backyard of local architect, David Sheegog in Anaheim. This was only a few minutes from our house in Yorba Linda, and we really appreciated the graciousness of the hostess, David's wife, who made us feel welcome and gave us lots of info and details. There were snacks for guests, a scavenger hunt filled with movies, figurines, and hidden mickeys to be found, castles, memorabilia, and, of course, TRAINS! We couldn't get enough and sincerely want to thank the Sheegogs for the great afternoon.
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For info on the designer, his inspiration, materials used, train operation, surrounding foliage, and maintenance, I’ve posted a portion of an article from Garden Railways Magazine below. Full article on their website, cptrr.webs.com
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Text from feature article printed in Garden Railways Magazine
October, 2009
Inspiration for garden railroads come from many sources, some expected and some by surprise. Many modelers have patterned or themed railroads after fond memories from childhood having grown up close to a railroad or from a fascination for a particular route. I suppose my story is no different. I grew up in Southern California in the 1960s in a newly built tract home surrounded by orange groves. If the wind was blowing in the right direction and you were listening for it, you could clearly hear the routine sounding of a steam whistle and the clanging of a bell signaling the coming and going of trains. The passengers of these trains however were not headed for a destination, but were bound for a “Grand Circle Tour“ around a new prototype of family entertainment, the theme park. This new park was Disneyland. After growing up within walking distance from “The Park” (as we call it); after working on the canoe attraction during my summer breaks from college, and after holding annual passes for 23 years, I guess it has rubbed off on me. I never intentionally set out to build a model of it at my home, but I have found that it has served as a wonderful theme for my back yard project, the Castle Peak and Thunder Railroad (CP&TRR).
Design
I wanted the design of this railroad to have more than just a theme. It should fulfill a predetermined set of design objectives in a consistent and integrated way. I started with a list of must haves. The overall feeling should be quiet and soothing, more garden than railroad. It should have music and the sound of water. The track plan should be such that you never see too much track at one time. It should not be obvious that the train is simply traveling in a circle. Each of the relatively few structures should be exquisite in design and execution, less is more. It should not feel crowded. Humor, drama and surprises should pop out to delight the observant visitor. And mostly, it should be fun.
Design Process
I knew from the beginning that this was going to be a long-term project and that it deserved adequate design time. I hope that you are sitting down and don’t laugh too hard, but I first built a scale model of the model railroad. This model was built at 1”=1’-0” scale and was a working design model. The overall yard is roughly 62’x 45’ so my model was 62”x 45”. It completely consumed our dining room table for about a year being pushed and pulled until I was happy with it. This model was the tool by which I worked out topography, sight lines for photography, track layout and major plantings. My wife was always supportive of the project, but she wanted to be sure that her lawn did not disappear as the railroad grew. This model helped her to see that she would still have a usable yard, and there was peace in the home. I drew the track plan and structures in a CAD program. I would print out the track plan at 1” scale and cut out just the track portion and lay it on the model. Structures were printed out at the small scale and little mock-ups made of each one in polymer clay. The rockwork was molded in non-drying modeling clay. This way I could push peaks around and make sure tunnels would work etc. The first two rock projects, Mermaid Falls and Big Thunder Mountain, were constructed using only this model as a guide. Not fully satisfied with the results, I could see that this rough model was not detailed enough to precisely guide the construction process. For the second two rock projects, Castle Peak and the Temple of Doom setting, I built much more detailed models of the rockwork from polymer clay at a larger scale. These two projects went much smoother. I found that if I had sculpted it accurately at a small scale, I could proceed confidently reproducing it at G scale in concrete.
12 сен 2024
