Info Page for the Paint/Grass Photo Tour
American Rock Railroad


backwall.JPG

This picture shows the back wall with the new rocks and grass. The rock sections are painted, and have been cut out and held back in place with one or two screws. All sections of rock can be easily removed to get behind them. The waterfall and river are new. Back


backwallrocky.JPG

This picture shows the HO yard looking towards the Rocky Mountain corner. The rocks on the lower level are flatter, like rock canyons, and the upper rock formations are more of a layered type. This change in rock formations from HO to N levels helps give the illusion of being further away. Back


california.JPG

This picture shows the entire California loop, looking into the river canyon, from the coastline in front to the Hollywood mountain top back. We see Three Rock Harbor at bottom left, a farm barn and road, Bruce Wayne's castle above that, and mountains and Hollywood behind all that. All three removable sections are in here. The waterfall castle at right sits below a Z scale around-the-mountain-top loop. Back


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This picture shows Laguna Beach in the foreground, with the boardwalk and Pacific Coast Highway. The winding road winds up the mountainside to the N scale line, and above that is Hollywood in Z scale. The mountains. The grass on the mountain on the right is lighter than the rest of the grass, which was replanted to make it brighter. It may currently be slightly too green, but with time and dust, it will all fade somewhat to resemble the burnt grass of southern California in the summer. Back


californiariver.JPG

This picture shows the California loop from the canyon. Laguna Beach it to the right, and the harbor is to the left. This canyon, yet to be officialy named, starts with an inlet to the ocean at the bottom, with a small pier. Above that the road goes up and curves over the river (not yet blue) and up the hill and out of sight into the Batcave. THe farm with tractor and cow is farm country, and the castle on right is a waterfountain. The two mountain tops have Z scale loops arount them, which go back to hollywood. The Sunset Strip is the road above the barn and below Hollywood. Back


californiawideangle.JPG

moving out to a wide angle, we see the entire California loop. Three rock harbor at left, and Laguna Beach at right, and the valley in the middle. The Pacific coast line follows around the entire loop. The blue ocean used to be bigger, but I had to cut off about 2 inches to make more walk space. It was necessary, but hurt. Back


calzfantasyloop.JPG

Zooming in to the Z scale mountain top fantasy loop, we see Bruce Wayne's castle at left and another mountain top at right. The Sunset Strip, a pull out section with wire attached, is in the middle, and Hollywood in the background. The flat far C shaped peice is for the Tiny Train layout, which is TY scale (1:900). If I can find a "Magic scale" (1:450) train, if will go between the Z and TY. Back

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circus.JPG

This picture shows the St. Louis circus section that faces out the left garage door. The rock face along the bottom hides the HO loops, so we only see the N scale here. The mountain at left is Lookout Mountain in Georgia, where the "See Rock City" tourist attraction is located. The Z scale loop goes around the mountain, and back to St. Louis. A small river and waterfall will be built on Lookout Mountain. In the background we see the far corner and wall where New York City is. Back


controlpanels.JPG

This picture shows the control panels at this point. The N scale panel at left, the HO in the middle, and the Z at right. The N and Z panels are on barn door hinges so they can swivel in and out, and the HO in on hinges that allow it flip over. Eventully we will redo the HO panel to match the N and Z panels. It is finished, with lights, but is too complicated. Back


curve.JPG

This picture shows the curve going into St. Louis. The fresh grass is very green but will fade in time. The brick retaining walls have been installed, calked, painted, ink washed, and highlighted. The rocks have replaced the cardboard walls and it's ready to put back the buildings and stuff. The school & bus and church are glued down to the pullout section. Back


downtown.JPG

Downtown is pretty vacant at this point. Only cardboard cutouts and a few building remain. It was all removed to put the grass down. In the back we see the opening to access the Z background. A section of background will replace the opening, and a lot more reduced cardboard cutouts of zeroxed buildings will soon pop up in the back. Back


harbor.JPG

Here we see the harbor from the left garage door opening. The warf at the bottom will harbor many ships, and above that is the N and Z loops. A Z train is seen on the very top. Eventually this will become San Francisco harbor. At top right is Bruce Wayne's castle overlooking the ocean and harbor. Back


harborwide.JPG

Moving back we get an overall view of the harbor and castle above. In the background we see the far wall which is the Rocky mountains. The HO loop is hidden behind the removable rock faces. and there is a hidden HO line that goes into the Batcave underneath the Castle. This means Bruce Waye can escape his castle in HO, N, or Z scale trains. Back


lookoutmt.JPG

From above Lookout Mountain we see the valley inside it, and the Z loop going around the top. The loop crosses over itself and heads back to St. Louis in the background. The waterfall will come down the front of Lookout Mountain from a river that will flow through the valley. The Z layout for St. Louis is not yet done, but the landscaping and grass are ready. Back


nturntable.JPG

This picture shows the N scale turntable looking over entire area with California loop out of sight just to the left. On top of the far plateau we see the airport (It's still green) and the curve of the tracks as they go around or through the mountain. Below is the area for the HO turntable, which is not yet installed. The entire turntable area can be removed, as well as the rock faces around it and the rock faces of the mountains behind it. This allows easy access to track and wiring underneath. Back


nyard.JPG

This picture shows the N yard at right as it curves into the mainline to the left. Below we see the area reserved for the HO turntable, and the branch from the HO mainline into the HO yard. All rock sections seen here are easily removable to access the track underneath. Back


rocky.JPG

This picture shows the Rocky Mountain corner with HO track at the bottom, a reverse switchback road leading up to the N scale yard. From there another switchback road leads up to the Z scale section. At right is the Z scale turntable, and in the distance is the Z Rocky Mountain layout. Everything is easily removable, including the entire Z Rocky Mountain corner layout. You can also see the three different rock patterns as it progresses from HO to N to Z. Back


rockyfar.JPG

Stepping back, we see the Rocky Mountain corner from a distance. The HO yard starts at the bottom, and even the Tiny Train section is visable behind the top Z layout. Back


rockyz.JPG

Zooming in on the Rocky Mountain Z layout, we see a train traveling around the figure 9 loops. The N yard is below, and the removable road switchback above that. The Z layout is behind that, with the Tiny Train layout around the far back Back


rockyzclose.JPG

This picture shows the same Rocky Mountain layout from a closer angle. The rock faces on the Z layout are finer detail, as compared to the N rock faces of the pullout section. Back


stlouisbigfoot.JPG

This picture shows the St. Louis loop with Big Foot lake in the foreground and St. Louis old town in the middle. The Z layout in the back is not yet built, although the shape is ready for all the loops of track. Back


stlouisrocks.JPG

This picture shows the rock faces that wrap around the St. Louis loop. They are from a mold with rounder shapes that give is a more relaxed look. The same mold was used to make all the rock faces around the N/HO scale parts of St. Louis. We can see the airplane mobile hanging above. The crane is sitting on the corner of a pullout section, and the old town buildings are on another pullout section


threerockharbor.JPG

This picture shows Three Rock Harbor on the California loop. The three rocks are built into the rocks of the layout, and have that ocean front look with holes in the rocks. Very Laguna Beach-ish. Behind the three rocks is the road going into the batcave, which is below Bruce Wayne's castle on top of the mountain. The rocks for the harbor were found on the beach at San Pedro, below the park that looks over the ocean. There are a lot of rocks like these along the Southern California Coast, and they look generally like the beachfront rocks up and down the coast. Back


waterfall.JPG

This picture shows the new waterfall along the back wall. It's the Rocky Mountain wall, and it was pretty boring until I decided to cut out a section and build the waterfall. It drops from the Z line on top, past the N line (where the yellow engine is) and below the HO tracks into the pool of blue water. The water then flows underneath the HO yard. Of course it's late summer and the waterfall has dried up, but stay tuned for winter, when the falls will be flowing. It's called the "Rock City Falls' after a real location in up state New York. Back

Contact Ruben Mac Blue, chief engineer of the Rock City Railroad Co. at 213-461-6600.