Backdrop Dilemma

I find your topic, Jay, is an interesting one. A few thoughts come to mind. 

First, that 1.5 foot space may not be that noticeable to your audience, especially if they are 10 feet or more away from it. I have that issue for a space about 9 inches wide, in which the viewer is only 5 or 6 feet away. It doesn't bother me because I think it's not very noticeable. I will try to find a photo to demonstrate.

Secondly, you might consider a clever way to disguise that space. Maybe turn it into a removeable river or body of water.

Also, you may be able to hide the space to some degree by putting structures or a hillside in front of it, but they must not be too big, so you can reach over them to get to the track to deal with a derailment, etc.

Arnold

Here is a photo. Again, the 9 inch space is between the wall and the far edge of the plywood table, and the table is 4 feet wide:

I don't think the space is very noticeable, especially with the victorian house, other structures and trees in front of it.

Another consideration is the height of your train table. The higher it is, the less noticeable the space. My train table is 48 to 50 inches above the floor, which is fairly high. Incidentally, in the above photo, I'm standing on a couch or chair when taking the picture. 

I'm not a careful, scale modeler. I've been told that my approach is to make caricatures of things, rather than scale models, and my approach works for me. I took a lot of Rube Goldberg like-shortcuts when building my layout.

If you want maximum realism, you may want input from careful scale modelers on how best to deal with you 1.5 foot wide space. Arnold

Thank you Arnold for your suggestions. My theme is postwar Plasticville and I’m not so much concerned with precise scale dimensions. Like your layout, mine will also be 44-48” high. However, upon entering the room it will be very evident as your gaze goes to the right. But my brain will keep churning. Or like Curly once said, “I’m thinkin but nuthins happening “.

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Thank you Arnold for your suggestions. My theme is postwar Plasticville and I’m not so much concerned with precise scale dimensions. Like your layout, mine will also be 44-48” high. However, upon entering the room it will be very evident as your gaze goes to the right. But my brain will keep churning. Or like Curly once said, “I’m thinkin but nuthins happening “.

 

Hooray for post war Plasticville and not so precise scale.  

 "So I don’t know what to do about the wall space from the bottom of the backdrop to the floor."

Installing curtains around the layout may help to block the view from certain areas. On the other exposed areas, I would simply paint the bottom 1.5' in the same dominant color as at the bottom of your photo's - preferably a dark color.

Richie, thank you very much for the excellent idea. I was going to skirt the layout anyway. I’ll just have a section that goes across the opening with an easy on and off attachment. Plus I will use the darker paint.

 Thanks again,

Jay