This is very cool, Cliff. Fun to watch.
Fwiw: I am also a fan of the 2D bar code approach.
Cliff,
You are my hero. Not only are you a perfectionist but you have determination. Two qualities i lack. This is so cool
I was thinking about that high density foam for a project and got as far as getting a quote from my local place supply house. It was eye popping how much a 4x8 sheet was. The sale guy even said in his 25+ years he’s only sold a few sheets.
I am glad I could be of service to you! 
Thanks for watching Jim, and the affirmation on the QR.
We’d just seen the tunnel site the day or two before meeting up with you in Carson, so it feels like you’re a part of this story.
Thanks very much Devon, I’m glad you find this interesting.
As for perfectionism and determination, thanks. Go OCD!! I never reach my goals (unlike many true craftsmen here), but it’s fun trying.
My new motto: “It’s amazing what you can do, once your priorities are sufficiently messed up.”
BTW, I have no doubt a laser cutter is in your future. 
There’s that cost, and the machine time for a 3-axis mill to cut it…
Now that I think about it though, a decent CNC 3D router would have done it… hmmm, maybe next time…
I decided to go all-in with the 1’ topo layers, and just finished tracing them. They’re all the green lines.
16,700+ mouse clicks later (I have a way to count all the “nodes” of the splines), I guess you can tell how I spent my day. The next step is to make all the patterns and eventually cut & glue them in.
Cheers,
Cliff
You got some serious issues man !!
Detail Freak!
Yep, that’s what my shrink tells me.
This morning I started with the in-between layers. All these panels are .04" cardstock, and here’s one of them in the laser.
After spray-gluing, each little piece goes into the model. I was able to complete 2 sections today:
Well, it’s back to my day job tomorrow, but I hope to finish this stage next weekend. After that will be filling & sanding for a while.
And for a G-gauge tie-in, I made this model last year of the Joe Douglass.
I recently found a newspaper article that mentioned this tiny RR (which only had this loco at the time) delivered supplies for the Sutro tunnel. Lots of mystery there, but that’ll have to wait. 
Cheers,
Cliff
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Damn!!! talk about something coming to life. That sets the landscaping bar to OUT of REACH. 
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Oh sure, lets see. I want a small thickness sander, a small CNC router, a laser cutter, a small metal lathe. . . .
Well, and those too, sure!
I guess what I mean to say is that since you took off so quickly with the 3d cad and printing, 2d cad and cutting will be a breeze for you. Someday.
Thanks very much Hollywood, I’m glad you like it!
that is so cool. I really do love that you are doing it right down to the real topography.
Now that is the ultimate 3D jigsaw puzzle. Looks great, Cliff.
Cliff I need to ask, just past the joint of the two sections at the cliff face — Is that a man made steps or natural formation that looks like a stairway?
Thanks for asking David, it sure does look like a staircase. But it’s just a steep path down to the mill site, like the one at the top right to the Sutro Mansion site.
The stepped appearance of the topo layer representation will be smoothed out by filler. My wife wants me to leave it like that and just paint it, cuz it looks cool. And it does give a nice sense of 1’ changes. But I’ve already promised to do scenery and sagebrush & etc., so… Filler Time.
BTW, there’s also a couple roads, the main one from the lower left, and a lesser one to the mid-upper right.
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