As I figured things out, I decided to work on a backdrop for the ultimate location of ‘Othello’ on my layout. Now, I had been really interested in art back in highschool and had done lots of painting. But after 20 years, I had forgotten almost all of it. My first mountains were a disaster, but one evening I got lucky and started to remember some tricks. What I ended up with (and did not complete for years) was what you see above.
You’ll note above this top level is the crown moulding and shelf the original model was supposed to run on. I even painted it somewhat sky blue up there. It ended up instead becoming a storage place for keepsakes. And yeah, I accidentally painted blue on parts of the crown moulding. Whoops. Will fix that.
I was also fortunate to come across plans for a CPR No. 3 Section house on the CPSIG website, as well as a kit form produced by a fellow named Geoff, which was available for a time at Central Hobbies in Vancouver. I made a few more houses out of styrene, mocked them up using plasticine, and placed them to help get a sense of direction. Over time I would take photos to try and match scenes from Steel Rails or other historical photographs, to check for accuracy.