Black Diamond Railway

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CEO Rich Battista
City, Country Ashburn
State/Prov VA
Scale
O  
Name of Layout Black Diamond Railway

This is the Black Diamond Railway which is a 33'x13' O-gauge hi-rail model railroad. The layout has three levels and uses MTH ScaleTrax track and switches and MTH buildings. It took one year to build the room including lighting and shelves, three years to build the original layout and one more year to build the extension around the outside. The trains are from MTH, 3rd Rail, Atlas and Lionel. One MTH Z4000 transformer powers the entire layout which can run from 4 to 8 trains at one time. The MTH DCS system controls the trains, switches, signals and accessories using one MTH TIU and 2-AIU's. The MTH remote is also used to control the TMCC equipped engines. As you can see from my photos, without the backdrops, this layout would just look like trains on a platform in the basement. The backdrops bring the layout to life and provide realism and depth making you feel like you are outside. It helps create the "WOW" factor. They are also excellent for creating realistic photos and videos of your layout and trains.
My walls are constructed from oridinary drywall. The angle portion
We used backdrops from BackDrop Warehouse       Member - BackDrop Warehouse Customers

The backdrop may look washed out but this is due to lighting used for photography. Visually it is much darker. (note from BDWH)

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Layout Size 33'x13'
Feet of track 500+  feet
Era & Place Modern and 1950's
Control type DCS
Prototype Eastern coal town
Contact Rich Battista
URL http://www.toytrainsontracks.com
Motive Power - Steam 20
Motive Power - Diesel 22
Rolling Stock 100+
Buildings & Structures owned 40+
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My walls are constructed from ordinary drywall. The angled portions are made from 1/8 thick masonite. The angled piece of masonite on the left side is also hinged allowing me to gain access to the another door behind it. The backdrops were all mounted using rubber cement over the entire surface behind the backdrop. This prevents air bubbles from occurring during changes in humditiy between seasons. I use a paint roller to apply the rubber cement, and another dry one to press on the paper as I roll it out. For painting the uncoverd area above the backdrop, I took the backdrop to Home Depot and had them match the color of the top part of the blue sky. It was not a perfect match, so I also found a swatch that matched then mixed the colors until I got the best match possible. I painted a small test area near the top of the paper and let fully dry before deciding if it matched. When the color match was close enough, I painted the drywall (and masonite) in the area above the backdrop where it does not cover (~18in) and also painted down over the top of the backdrop itself close to the tops of the clouds, then used an airbrush to blend. If you don't have an airbrush you can just paint down to the top outline of the clouds as I did on the front facing wall. Thats it, and occassionally I will have to reglue some of the top edges that start to peel. You can visit my website and contact me if you have any questions.
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