Hozukyo and Sagano

More on the reference area I found on YouTube. My friend Rios Tam was VERY helpful - he gave me the direct name of the areas in my reference search so it's making reference photo searching SO easy!

Again, here we are in the model railroad world making friends all over the planet that are helping making the hobby even more fun and interesting.

The areas are called HOZUKYO and SAGANO in Japan and are now on my list of places to visit. They are beautiful areas and they have many aspects I would love to slip into the new layout extension area. While I won't be able to pack EVERYTHING in, these areas have some items that I'll include for sure. The trees and tracks winding through the hillside area is a must. Small detail elements that are in the area like shrines and water-side buildings might be included as well.

I'm super excited about this section now. Even more than I was already. Now I just need to come up with a name and story for the area. The hard part will be slipping the factory into the space. I want to have trees and nature, but I also want to have the factory area.

It turns out that the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant has the same "factory in nature look", so that's what I'll be referencing for my factory area.

Things are shaping up. I can't wait to get started on the section again. (After work, jury duty, the vacation away and a freelance gig I have rolling in.....)

This sort of reference image hunting is fantastic for a layout - especially with freelance layout planning. I'm able to sort of pick and choose what I'd like to include and what I don't. Some of the real areas make it far easier to plan things out because you can see what's really there instead of trying to just imagine what an area might be like.

The next thing I want to do it roam via GOOGLE MAPS to see if there are more reference images I can pull from from these areas or the areas around them. SUPER helpful.

Again, a huge thanks to Rios for spotting the area and passing the names over to me. It saved me a lot of guessing. :)