Layout Details on the Piermont Division
Howard ZaneDescription
Howard Zane has been able to achieve incredible detail on his Piermont Division of the Western Maryland Railway. The secret, according to Zane, is observing life in reality before trying to capture it. Modeled after the mid-1950s, the streets are weathered and peppered with sewer grates and old cinders.
People mill about and have a weathered appearance. Water towers feature on the top of buildings, as well as old air conditioning units, many vents, signs, and billboards which appear everywhere. This was a time before the crackdown of the sign commission. Foliage comes out from sidewalk cracks and cars from the era crowd the streets.
All brick work is rubbed with pastel powder or layered with latex paint, then washed with India ink. The road juts out in different angles and directions to add interest on the layout. Zane used styrene, cantilevered it out, and painted over it with Flo-Coat concrete to match the plaster. After completion, it too was gone over with pastel.
An intricately detailed city stands where a scratch built lumber yard used to be. Zane was so inspired by another model that he ripped the scene up himself and started anew. He plans to build an even more impressive city on a new addition. All the structures have a fire tower on the roof which was very prevalent at the time. Many buildings are kitbashed with the tallest structure and acting skyscraper being the West Virginia Power Company’s corporate offices. Zane’s careful observation of real life has paid off on this stunningly detailed layout.
As you've noticed on this layout, the super detail is just incredible. Howard, what's the secret for these? Well, it's real easy, just observing life and reality and trying to capture that. What you see here is I've tried to capture the imagery of the middle fifties. So to do that, detail is very important. Okay. If you notice the streets are weathered I have sewer grates in here, there's old cinders in the street. All the people are weathered, even the women. There's nothing I like better than a finally weathered woman. Okay. Along here are old castings which I got from Fine Scale. It's actually 16 boxes of George Sellios' castings on this lamp. Okay. As we go up to the top you'll see those water towers, early air conditioning units. A lot of vents, signs everywhere. In those days before the sign commissions really cracked down billboards were allowed, and they're quite prevalent in this layout. Also as we come along here which really helps, are foliage coming out of the sidewalk cracks, vehicles of their proper era, and just people everywhere. And that really makes, as far as I'm concerned, it makes a really nice scene. A lot of my brick work I've tried various techniques. Here I've just rubbed pastel pattern into the brick. Now I'm using a combination which I've got from watching George Sellios' tape on just using latex paint mixed in which works pretty well. But here again is more of the pastel powder rubbed into the brick. Everything is washed with India ink. As you see the streets are kind of strange because they jut out in all various types of angles, they were done for interest. Prior to these angles being added, and these girders and concrete railings, it was a straight shot across and it was very boring. So it was very simple to do it, just cantilever's these out. It was all built out of styrene and I painted it with Floquil concrete to match the existing plaster then touched over the streets with pastel. Okay. It does add I think a lot of interest. And also if you notice the city buildings are on an angle, which again, breaks up the longitudinal areas of this particular spot. You're looking down the main street of town, one of the reasons I did these cantilevered streets out here is 'cause it's really wonderful to put a camera right at the end and shoot down. It just makes it look that much longer. And of course, up here, you can see where it goes into the upper area, which was built at a later date. At one time, the city did not exist. What you're looking at was a very, very large scratch built lumberyard that a friend of mine wanted to buy. And I was never gonna tear it down. I purchased Allen's tape on George Sellios, and I got about 45 minutes through the tape and I said, wow, that's it. I stopped the tape, came downstairs and started ripping the lumberyard out and started building the darn city. It looks a lot like Sellios'. Well I've been very much inspired. You know, it's the American way, plagiarized. But I had a ball doing it. As a matter of fact, in the addition, I'm going to put a 40 foot, maybe somewhere between a 30 and a 45 foot city going from the three foot level almost up to the seven foot level on a slant all the way up. And the structures you see are basically City Classics, Magnuson, some are kitbashed. Every structure has the old fire tower on the top which was very prevalent in the fifties, signs are everywhere. Vehicles help make the scene. And of course the people. Scenes have to tell a story and I've tried to achieve that, of course, these are not new ideas. I've captured that from watching a lot of videotapes and other people's model railroads. What you see over here coming into view is one of the City Classics kitbashed buildings, which makes a very, very nice mini skyscraper. That big brown building over there is four City Classics buildings bashed together, which I call the West Virginia Power Company, that's their corporate offices. I can only imagine what the new city will be like when Howard expands the Piermont Division. The level of detail on the current layout and the attention to common everyday items are exceptional. Because of his background in design, Howard is able to build quickly with no plans, the results speak for themselves. The Piermont Division is a great model railroad that has given the builder and his friends hours of fun and satisfaction. That, after all, is what the hobby is all about.
A work of art.