Minneapolis Fork. Part 3. The setting.

As I said previously, I spent quite some time roaming the remains of the Plymouth Industrial Park Railroad in the summer of 2022. I found many interesting structures. Many are a far cry from the vast concrete structures that spring to mind when people think of modern industrial structures. There obviously wouldn’t be many buildings on “Minneapolis Fork”. But by looking at the reference material I have, I could create a realistic setting in the micro layout space.

This wall, I love this wall.

It might be a bit strong to say that I love this wall, but I saw this building every day for 10 years from my office window, so it is ingrained in my memory. I find the contrast between the stone courses and the corrugated siding above interesting. I have modelled this on two previous micros "Hamon Deltak", and another unfinished one that I forget the name of. See the photo below. I think this would sit nicely as the backdrop of Minneapolis Fork.

The building modelled on a previous layout.

Another myth that was busted for me while roaming around, was that industrial buildings use dull colours. Some do, but once in a while you'll see a bright colour that really stands out.

Bright Blue really stands out against grey concrete

An effort has even been made to two tone the walls for relief

Also, never take the flatness of a structures walls for granted. See how in this picture there’s an entrance door and stairway recessed into the wall. This is the same structure as seen in the first photo. In that one, the stone cladding courses reach all the way to ground level. Here, there’s a base of concrete block.

Walls are not flat

The image below really destroys the image of a grey, dull industrial park doesn’t it? Though this section is no longer in use. There were trees there when trains ran.

A tree lined avenue for your trains to run through

As I roamed around I was always on the look out for the unusual. This crossbuck arrangement caught my eye. It doesn’t look special. Until you realize that the centre of the crossbuck is barely six feet off the ground. Much lower than usual.

Small details like this low crossbuck could be incorporated into the layout.

As I look through my research material, I see plenty of little details that could be put into a little layout for realism.