# LNAC Model Railroad



## lhodapp (Feb 13, 2014)

Hello,

Here are a couple of pictures of my model of the Louisville, New Albany, and Corydon Railroad. This is a shelf style switching layout with the focus being the depot in Corydon, circa 1940s. It is about 24' long and has been under construction for a about a year. There is still much work left but it's coming along nicely.

Leo


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Really nice job blending the scene into the backdrop. Did you paint the backdrop yourself, or is that a commercial backdrop?


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## lhodapp (Feb 13, 2014)

I painted the backdrop. Simple mixture of Mars Black and Primary Yellow acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby.


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## lhodapp (Feb 13, 2014)

Few more pics.


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## vikramgoel (Mar 2, 2015)

lhodapp said:


> Few more pics.



I liked your layout progress. Please keep posting as the layout progresses.

Regards,

Vik


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Sure is some good looking work. That backdrop is amazing.

Don


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Ditto to the thumbs-up on the backdrop. Simple paint scheme ... but very, very effective perspective.

TJ


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## lhodapp (Feb 13, 2014)

Thanks for the compliments on the backdrop. A couple of additional notes as to how it was created.

The original choice of color was a little more of a pale blue. However, on July 4th last year, the sky here in Southern Indiana (not far from Corydon) was a brilliant blue color and I really wanted to try to replicate on the layout. So I took a picture of a building with the sky in the background then used an app from Home Depot to create a mix of the shades of blue. After applying the combination of old and new paint added some nice depth as well as an effect that looked like faint stratospheric clouds in the distance. 

The technique I used for the tree line was copied from a YouTube video by Andy Lyons. Like I mentioned in a previous post, it's just a combination of Mars Black and Primary Yellow acrylic paint. When mixed together they create a number of different shades of green with a yellow tint. 

Regards,
Leo


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## lhodapp (Feb 13, 2014)

Random photos of the layout.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I really like that turnout 'indicator'. It is so appropriate for your
layout era. Is that a 'manual' throw or
remote?

Don


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## vikramgoel (Mar 2, 2015)

Leo,

Is the turnout indicator a commercial product or is hand crafted?

Regards,

Vik.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

DonR said:


> I really like that turnout 'indicator'. It is so appropriate for your
> layout era. Is that a 'manual' throw or
> remote?


Two more questions about the turnout indicator.
(1) Is it functional -- i.e. does it turn when the points move?

(2) For the uneducated... What does the red vs the green signal mean?
To a train approaching from the left (in your picture), does red mean that the right fork is "closed" or the is the left fork "closed"?
Similarly for a train approaching from the right, how does the engineer know whether red means that HIS approach track is closed or does red mean that the OTHER track is closed.

P.S. I just had a thought, maybe the color indicator is meant to indicate only the track/fork that is on the same side as the indicator, leaving it to the engineers to figure out that the other track would be the opposite color. Is that how they work?


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## lhodapp (Feb 13, 2014)

The track used on my layout is Micro Engineering Code 70. The turnout indicators were included with the switches. I hate to disappoint but they are nonfunctional. 

With respect to the colors, in all honesty, I didn't put that much thought into what each means. In my mind, Green meant the turnouts were set for the main line, Red meant the divergent route. 

Now that someone has asked me about this, Yellow might have been the more accurate choice instead of Red. I thought that I had seen Green and Red on turnouts at a yard near my place of work and just applied what I saw. I might have been mistaken though and so I'm going to double check on that.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Seems to me that the colors on that switch stand have meaning.
When green is showing to the main line it is clear, when red is
showing the points are set to divert.

Don


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

DonR said:


> Seems to me that the colors on that switch stand have meaning.
> When green is showing to the main line it is clear, when red is
> showing the points are set to divert.


Makes sense. But what do you do when a mainline splits -- heading off to two different locations.


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