Good enough: Thoughts on the dangers of "how-to" dominated hobby

It is not often acknowledged, but model railroading is a difficult hobby. Our projects are complex, time-consuming, and diverse in scope, requiring of us to be planners and engineers, carpenters and electricians, and artists and sculptors. We seek to create a miniature built environment within a miniature natural world with increasingly complex interactions and diversity. To even come close is just shy of a miracle, and only accomplished by very few among us. 

Because of this reality, there are prevailing modes of how to best accomplish the various aspects of railroad building. These come from pioneering individuals or those with considerable experience in the form of simple how-to's. As a result, we as modelers we do not engage with the meaning or why of a project. We do what is considered best practice, no questions asked. Certainly, I do not mean to discredit or downplay the importance of the wealth of knowledge that is exists in the hobby, but have become aware of the danger of approaching our projects (entire railroads or individual models) with attention solely on the execution.
 
 As I have progressed in construction of my Cascade Subdivision Railroad, I have worked through numerous challenges, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, relying on the extensive wealth of knowledge that exists in the process. In no way am I discouraged by this. Struggle and challenge is often what forces us to achieve at a higher level and develop as craftsman. Longtime followers will notice that my workflow is punctuated by week long spurts of progress throughout the year. This is a function of life at the moment, however, has provided the opportunity to plan and think through many aspects of the railroad and projects next on my list. It is rare that I enter a weeklong work session without a list of projects and materials guided by a few defined goals. This approach has been arguably successful and has allowed me to  work quickly and efficiently, most of the time. As time has gone on, the nature of the projects on my list has shifted from straightforward tasks (benchwork, wiring, trackwork, etc.) to thought-provoking challenges (scene composition, terrain, backdrops).

By far the most significant challenge for me on the railroad has been painting backdrops. This may come as a surprise given my extensive posting on the subject, however, with time I have recognized that this project has stalled progress elsewhere on the layout. I know dozens of ways of how to paint mountains and trees and have developed multiple techniques of my own, however, with each iteration, my painting became more detailed, more complex, and most importantly, more time intensive. I had taken what should have been  an exercise in simplicity to a level of complexity that was unnecessary.

Where I had gone astray was in attempting to literally paint the Cascades tree by tree, a task that even the most talented artist would find daunting. And so I redefined my goals. My backdrops are to simply provide an overall illusion of depth with color and shape and select details in some scenes where necessary. They simply must function as a reminder of the setting and feel of the place I am seeking to create, but not actually be that place. They just need to be good enough, and my scenery work will do the rest.

And so, I have become more than comfortable with good enough. My backdrops will not win any awards, but they will serve their intended purpose. When operating trains they do not distract from the foreground scenes and the main actors in my mountain railroading drama, but rather provide the foundation for the set within which these actors will play. Over time I may return with my brush and paints, to add a few details here and there or enhance some areas, but I can finally sleep easy. It has only been in taking a step back and considering the why of my approach backdrops within the scope of my vision for the railroad that I have been able to move forward: my backdrops are good enough for now...

Some examples of my work: 

Above: Current Backdrops in Oakridge. These were painted in a few hours over a couple of evenings and after adopting a simpler approach.

Above: My first attempts at backdrop painting. I lacked confidence and kept things simple. This turned out to be the secret! 

Above: Where I left my ambitious rendition of the Cascades...all 16 or so inches of them painted in 5-7 hours, I've lost track. Visually impressive, but not a sustainable method.

Above: Current backdrops near Pope and Talbot Mill and Salmon Creek. This image best captures my goal to provide depth and a foundation for 3D scenery. The painted scenes invoke the essence of a gray day in the Cascades, but are not distracting from what will be in the foreground: a mill, river, bridges, and trees!