Live sawdust location: A small area on a layout where structures and details are not glued down so they can be changed out for others to allow different scenes to be created.
Usage: Linda's layout included three live sawdust locations near the front edge.
Source: The term first appeared in the third instalment of Dave Frary and Bob Hayden's Thatcher's Inlet series that appeared in the Feb to May 1972 issues of Railroad Model Craftsman. They define a live sawdust location as:
These areas - usually about the size of a structure and in no case bigger than 3-1/4" x 4" - are set aside so that the structures and detail on them can occasionally be changed so as to provide a fresh look to the town.
They go on to note that these areas are usually flat and level, and are painted brown.
Why use the term "sawdust"? Likely because in the early 1970's dyed sawdust was often used as ground scatter material to give the illusion of grass, weeds, or soil. So, keeping it unbonded, that is, loose or live, made it easier to change the scene when the mood struck.
The live sawdust location is something of a variation on the changeable railroad idea described by Robert E. Gilbert in his June 1962 Model Railroader article called, A changeable railroad.
from The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms, 2nd ed., 1999.
This is a brilliant idea! BTW, I love these two authors, I didn't know they had articles in Railroad Model Craftsman. Of course the 70's, was before I learned about this fabulous publication.
ReplyDeleteI'm re-reading their two series: The Elk River RR from RMC in 1970, and Thatcher's Inlet from 1972. They are both fascinating layouts, and although somethings like scenic materials are dated, I think they'd still make for good layouts today. They were definitely groundbreaking projects.
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