View Blocks and Scene Dividers Presented by Dave Salamon

View Block What is a view block and its purpose? How can we check their effectiveness? Examples

My Definition of View Block Hills, trees, bridges or tall buildings or a combination thereof to hide the train on the other side of the peninsula or from direct view from a person of average height or even a staging track, going through a backdrop or entrance to a staging area.

Scene Divider What is a Scene Divider and it s purpose? How can we check their effectiveness? Examples

My Definition of a Scene Hills, trees, bridges or tall buildings or a combination thereof to break two scenes next to each other creating individual scenes by use of scenery so as to draw your eyes to look between them without the use of a backdrop or physical divider between scenes.

How can we check their effectiveness?

How can we check their effectiveness? Using your camera

Normal View Camera View

Let s look at some Examples View Block View Block with Scene Dividers Scene Dividers

Through a backdrop This example is on Rich Gibson s layout, and the mainline departs one town, exits the scene behind a building and goes through the backdrop. The opposite side is a shallow shelf on a curve and the train enters on a covered bridge built into the curve of the backdrop.

A sketch of the problem area

Mainline is behind the building

Here is what you can t see

Other side of the backdrop

Additional view

From a different angle

Another Backdrop Situation This example is also on Rich Gibson s layout, and the mainline departs one town, exits the scene through a mountain and goes through the backdrop. The opposite side is a city scene in which there is an industry with an overhead walkway concealing the hole in the backdrop.

Another Problem Area

Through the Mountain

How it looks from the Aisle

City Side Hole through the Backdrop

Another Angle

Overall view

The Whole City Scene

Mainline through the wall to staging Steve Waldvogal disguised the mainline going through the wall with an overpass Used a photo to extend the mainline tracks in the scene Buildings to conceal the opening from different angles

Mainline Through the Wall

Mainline under Overpass Note the use of a photo to extend mainline past the overpass

Scene from an angle

Building as a view block

Buildings acts as a view block

Backside of view block Staging

Another Mainline Through the Backdrop A Scene on my earlier DRS layout. View Blocks on each side where it goes through the backdrop, one is a structure with a walkway, the other side has a road that disguises the hole in the back drop Trees along the rode act as a view block to hide where the road disappears into the backdrop An additional View Block from the grain elevator hides the overpass so you can t look straight through it and also creates a scene divider with the town on one side and farm scene on the other

Passageway between buildings blocks opening

Looking down on Passageway

Track and Overpass are Blocked

Looking down on Overpass

Looking down on the View Block/Scene Divider

View Block/Scene Divider

View Block on Jim Ronda s Layout

View block on Jim Ronda s layout

Another view

Don t even see the track

Overall view Block

Backdrop/Mainline/Branchline Steve Waldvogal has many things going on this area. A mainline that ducks under the scene to go to staging A backdrop to divide the layout in half down the middle A branchline that went up and over the mainline

Backdrop/Mainline/Branchline

Mainline under Branchline through the backdrop

Low angle view

Load In/Empty Out Through Backdrop On Steve Newton s Portable Operational layout some operations were incorporated which included a Load In/Empty out Scenario going through the backdrop. Concealed the one side with a power plant the other a coal mine.

Load In/Empty Out Through Backdrop

Coal Mine Scene

Power Plant Scene

Interchange View Block I use a low hill with trees to hide my Frisco Interchange track Track is accessible from top Hidden from normal viewing angle

The area with the staging track

Looking down on the staging track

View behind the hill

Normal viewing angle

Scene Divider examples The next couple of slides are from Rich Gibson s layout and show a river scene divided by a hill with trees to transition from one scene to the other.

Scene divider between bridge scene and town

River and Bridge Scene Note the use of a mirror to extend River

Town and River Scene divided by tree covered hill

Transitioning to a narrow shelf The next few slides will demonstrate how Rich Gibson transitioned a portion of his layout from a wider scene onto a narrow shelf. The low hills and trees break up the scene, divides them into individual scenes and inconspicuously transitions onto the narrow shelf.

Scene Divider onto Narrow Shelf

Transition to a narrow shelf

Trees act as a divider

Viewed from a different angle

Looking down at the transition area

Scene Divider and View Block Here is another Scene on Rich Gibson s layout where the mainline transitions from one scene to the next One leg of his mainline departs the town in the same area as the mainline above but it goes into a cut then tunnel The trees in the area create a Scene Divider yet when viewed from the other angle create a view block and you don t even see the other mainline or where it disappears

Scene Divider & View Block

View Block

Branchline over Mainline Scene Divider Steve Waldvogal used a Branchline going over the mainline and ending at the facia s edge where our minds continue it on to the rest of the world. The trees around the track on fill help to create a scene divider between the interchange yard and a farm house scene.

Branchline over Mainline

Branchline Creates a Scene Divider

Trees help divide the scene

Separate Scenes next to each other My previous DRS layout was small so I had to use every trick I could to make it seem bigger. The hills with the creek separate the scenes to create their own, yet they are right next to each other. Used to transition from one type of scenery to the next to create change of elevation in the mind by type of scenery yet there is no grade

Two Scenes next to each other

Overall view

Stamp Mill Scene

Creek and Bridge Scene

Scene Divider Change in Scenery

Town Separated by hill, type of trees change

Mining Scene next to town

Grain Elevator Scene Divider On my current DRS I used the Grain Elevator to divide the scene of the Frisco Interchange and the town of Green Valley

Grain Elevator Scene

The Grain Elevator

Frisco Interchange Scene

Green Valley Scene

Thank You I d like to thank all those layout owners over the years that have given me ideas to use on my own layout. Special thanks to Rich Gibson, Jim Ronda, Steve Newton and Steve Waldvogal, who s layouts I took photographs of during a visit and used in this presentation in addition to my own layout. I hope that you will look at your layout a little differently when composing scenes or doing scenery work after seeing this presentation.