curt LeVan's CMR layout

[cteno4]

Curt LeVan, one of the members of Japan Rail Modelers of Wash DC is having a wonderful japanese layout built by Custom Rail Modelers of baltimore md (http://www.custommodelrailroads.com/)

Curt has posted a couple of short articles and pictures on the process on the jrm site

part 1
http://www.japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/curtlayout.html

part 2
http://www.japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/curtlayout2.html

photo gallery
http://www.japanrailmodelers.org/photos/kurtslayout/index.html

crm page on the layout
http://www.custommodelrailroads.com/cmr-train-tokyo.html

curt loves detailing things, but is not into the raw construction as much so this option works well for him. here is some of the detail he has done on ttrak and his unitram

http://www.japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/curtttrak2.html
http://www.japanrailmodelers.org/pages/reviews/unitram.html

check out the sumo museum with the people and exhibits inside the building!

cheers

jeff

[Bernard]

All I can say is WOW, what a beautiful layout!

[cteno4]

i cant wait to see it all in person! want to crack the bottle of sake across the first shinkansen run on opening day (although it may be hard to find an n scale bottle of sake!)

im looking forward to studying how they build stuff to learn some new ideas! they do cheat having a laser cutter though!

cheers

jef

[bikkuri bahn]

Best modeling IMO is the commuter station (side platforms).  Very nice scratchbuilding and use of space for establishments underneath the viaducts (very common in Japan).

[cteno4]

curt lived in japan years ago and has traveled back since. he has gotten cmr a lot of photographs to try and capture the unique elements of japanese scenes like this. this has been a good exercise for cmr as they have done mainly traditional us transition layouts in the past. they have risen to the challenge though, its a real pro shop.

cant wait to see the whole thing! i may see if he will let me tag along on his next visit to the shop to see it...

cheers

jeff

[Shashinka]

Curt's not on here is he?

[cteno4]

he is not sure if he signed up or not, but he's not too into the group thing like forums and mail lists that much. he has been wonderful about writing stuff up he does for the jrm website for me to post. not sure he will be logging in and answering questions or not. i can relay them to him if folks have specific questions if he doesnt. he is going to continue posting more articles on the jrm site as things progress and the layout is delivered.

cheers

jeff

[SubwayHypes]

wow thats a really cool layout.  are most of those ginza downtown buildings custom??  where did he get some of those!!  inspiring layout though...i love the harbor dock area, and how he has the city and suburbs in one. 

[cteno4]

A lot of the downtown is custom builds along with some tomix, kato and greenmax kitbashed some. CMR is a custom model making shop that does layouts, a lot from scratch. see his articles for some more info.

cheers

jeff

[KenS]

Excellent layout, with a nice urban/rural mix. I really like the artificial island with a container facility.

[SubwayHypes]

CMRs located in washington DC?   do they sell custom buildings?   if im ever out there i wanna check it out.

[cteno4]

Subway,

Just up the road in Baltimore. they sell some US earlier 20th century high rise kits in n.

http://www.custommodelrailroads.com/cmr-train-kits.html

I dont think they just do one off custom buildings unless you are getting a whole layout done like curt! the japanese buildings are a bit of a change for them. they usually are doing early to mid 20th century american.

cheers

jeff

[Kamiyacho]

Finally figured out how to log on to this forum...........

CMR might be willing to do individual custom structures if they could fit it into their layout production schedule (I waited nearly a year for work on my layout to begin). But if a lot of special work was involved the cost of a single N structure might be rather shocking.  The Wako Department store, for example, took a long time to build.  I dropped a proposed model of the Kabuki-za once I heard the estimated cost. 

Curt

[cteno4]

Curt,

hey glad you made it, think you will have a lot of questions from folks! welcome!

cheers

jeff

[David]

One question: What kind of track is being used - at the moment the ties and rails seem like they are some uniform shade of brown. Is it custom track that is going to be painted? What rail height are they using, and have they matched the tie spacing to Japanese narrow gauge?

[Kamiyacho]

It is Code 55 Peco; concrete ties in the city and wood in rural areas. The wood ties were painted brown the concrete ones left alone. After it was laid it was all air brushed with some rust and grimy brown.

Curt

[Bernard]

Curt - It's a great layout, my favorite scene is the harbor. What did you use to simulate water and what is the large structure (looks like girders/glass) at the the pier?

[Kamiyacho]

The water is paint, lacquer and healthy dose of CMR talent.

The glass building near the marina has an interior with a lot of open space and several floors with escalators.  Could be a convention center or a museum.  Only a thin sliver of land was available so the city authorities decided to let the architect's imagination run wild and build something unique.  I foresee a lot of figures enjoying the sun in the plaza between that building and the water.

Curt   

[scott]

Hi, Curt--nice to see you on here. You might, if you have a really good memory, recall that we met at National Train Day a couple of years ago. Anyway--I've really been enjoying the photos of your structures and scenery on the JRM site.

[Kamiyacho]

Thanks.  And yes, I remember.  Recently I've been cannibalizing my t-trak and Unitram to move things to the new layout.  While there is certainly a pleasure to highly detailing a small space, like a t-trak module, I found that running trams on 8 feet of modules just wasn't enough.  I think I have a good compromize now as there are many things still to do, yet the layout is finished enough to just sit back and enjoy watching the trains.