Thank you John, I appreciate the feedback, I'm a big fan of your layouts(s) and of your thoughtful approach to modeling.

Thanks again. You made my day.

Thank you.

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the layout. Yes, Tangent 86' Auto Box Cars are incredible, and the older Walthers 86' models are very nice as well.

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the layout tour.

Thanks for introducing me to your layout.

Thank you!

Thanks!

Thank you.

Thank you very much for the kind words, your thoughts are most appreciated.

Thanks

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the track plan / layout.

Thanks, I'm glad the video opened up some layout planning possibilities for you.

Thanks for the very positive feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed the prototype features of the layout. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the presentation. Yes, researching the prototype is half the fun.

Thank you! I greatly appreciate your comments, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video/layout.

Thanks! I greatly appreciate your comment. I'm glad you connected with the East Side vibe. Yes, additional weathering on I-94 is in the works.

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the layout/video.

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the presentation.

Thank you PI. I appreciate the suggestions and for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the walk around. Yes, I think prototype locations for the backdrops add to the "sense of place and purpose" to the layout. Google Earth is a great place to start planning both foreground and background scenery.

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the layout / video.

Thanks

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the layout.

Nice!

Thanks for the feedback. Yes the backdrops are from prototype location photos and Google Maps | Street Views.

Thanks!

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the video / layout.

Thanks for feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed the layout.

Thank you. The Bill Bonds (Action News) billboard is one of my favorite details as well. It's a remnant of when the layout was set in 1981, but can't bring myself to switch it out with a more contemporary one. Sure, I would be glad to help in any way that I can. BTW: I have included some prototype operating reference starting at 7:54 mark of the "The Lycaste Job | Conrail Detroit Shared Assets Area 1997 - 2007" episode.

Thank you Kevin, I greatly appreciate the feedback. Yes, I use both Google Earth and my on location photography for the backdrops. I print them out in 8.5 x11" sections on my desktop printer with matte paper. Then I close cut all the outlines with a hobby knife, before spraying them with 3M spray mount. I finish the process by touching up the rough edges with tiny dabs of sky blue latex paint, this helps blend the edges.

Thank you.

Thank you! I appreciate your very thoughtful and detailed feedback. I just subscribed to your channel. You've done a great job with it and I look forward to seeing it develop.

Thanks for your feedback. Yes the overpass at 7:10 is modeled after the Mack Ave /Jefferson North Assembly Plant overpass. However it is situated on the layout further 'north' due to space constraints. For that reason it is labeled as the "Mt.Elliot Street Overpass" on the layout. Which era does your friend model the DTRR? Originally my version was placed in the final days of the DTRR, circa 1981. In fact a number of industries from that era remain (fictionaly) on my Conrail era layout. Those rail served industries include: Detroit Edison Conners Creek, Detroit Brick & Block, Monroe Paper, Chrysler Detroit Axle Plant, Budd Thyssen, Lear Corp.and Aaro Waste Paper.

@@detroitterminalrailroad1467 , modeler's license - your layout your rules. Honestly I wouldn't have known if you hadn't said so. LOL!

Thanks!

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the layout. Yes Zug Island would have been very nice, but to do it justice I would need another basement. I try to focus on the Auto Industry. Steel, maybe next time.

Outstanding! Your plan sounds fantastic! I hope you get a chance to realize it.

Thank you! I greatly appreciate your comments. In response to your questions: Due to space constraints I choose to model the Mt. Elliot Street Overpass rather than the Mack Avenue Overpass. I very much wanted to model Jefferson Ave. circa 1980 (with the original Jefferson Avenue Assembly Plant). In that era the crossing was much more interesting and vital to the DTRR's operations, but to do that justice I need much more space than I had to work with. Yes I transplanted the Budd Plant up the route, and compressed it significantly. It now is situated across from the Detroit Axle. Compression and compromise is part of modeling, my goal is to represent the overall feeling (vibe) of the area. Monroe-Toledo sounds like a cool area to model. What era, road, industries do you model?

@@detroitterminalrailroad1467 My apologies for not answering your questions earlier, but internet issues kept me from interacting with many people. My approach to modeling the Monroe-Toledo area shows my formative influences (I was born in 1957) of what I refer to as the "Dayton School" of model railroading. Allen McClelland, Jim Paine, et al; showed a realistic world with a fictional railroad running through it. As a consequence, my Detroit, St. Louis & Gulf runs through the area, interchanging with the railroads formerly known as the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton, Ann Arbor, Toledo Terminal (many trackage rights for other railroads), New York Central, and Wabash. As to the era, my philosophy is taken from a bar I frequented in Hamtramck, Michigan back in my youth: Lili's21, which would have "theme nights" on Thursday evenings with cassette tapes (this was in the 1980's) of various musical types, etc. This practice leads me to operate with different eras, e.g. I might declare tonight I'll operate the railroad circa 1973, etc. At the same time I do want to stress that my layout is still in the "Plywood Pacific" stage with very little ground cover and much bare wood! Kudos for your very nice scenery. I'll end my "dissertation" at this point, with a concept: If you should decide to model the area in the 20th century, a model of Philadelphia's Independence Hall would be a nice stand-in for the offices of the Budd Plant on Charlevoix between Conner and Conner Lane.

@@crownprinceofgroovy First off I greatly appreciate your "dissertation", I found it full of great information regarding your layout, "theme nights", and modeling philosophy. I will need to look into the "Dayton School", Allen McClelland, and Jim Paine. Yes! The Budd's "Independence Hall" was on my list of signature buildings when I was considering the 1980's to model the Eastside.

Thank you. Yes, the backdrop images are from photos I have taken and from Google Earth Street View.

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the layout. The current configuration is 32' x 15'

Thank you. The layout is 59" high.

Awesome! I'm Building Shadow Box Modular and I got them at 55ins.@@detroitterminalrailroad1467

The backdrops are from prototype location photos and Google Maps | Street Views printed on a desktop printer.

@@detroitterminalrailroad1467 can you give me a short tutorial on how I can go through this process? I know how to use Google maps, I'm trying to figure out how to set backdrops for printing.

​@@mzyvettecrenshaw9670 From Google Maps - Street Views find the angle that matches your foreground, then take a "screen capture" (or screen grab) of that view. From there crop and scale your image, again to match the foreground. Look for objects like telephone poles that you can determine the correct size when scaling the image. From there it's basically trial and error to find the best image.

@@detroitterminalrailroad1467 thanks, I tried that on my phone, it wouldn't let me, so I felt I had to do it on a desktop. also the photos I found had copyright infringements. I found another website that allows me to download images for printing. Thx again.

@@mzyvettecrenshaw9670 You're welcome, I'm happy to help and glad you found a solution.

Thank you.

Thank you!