Draw Distance

There is often talk about how far out to model, and like most things it's all down to user preference.

Here you can see that I have modeled out about a mile and really that is more than far enough. From a drivers point of view most of the time it is not needed, but the detail level out that far is not fine and I have added it so that the scene looks full.
I find it is best to keep the detail close to the track and do less and less as you move away from the track. I never have a hard edge to my world, I always try and fade the details out so that the scene looks more natural.

I am lucky that much of my route is full of scenes like this, building Darlington and Durham will prove more challenging but the same rules apply. Bishop Auckland and surrounding villages will be modeled in full (generic housing and buildings where I don't have any good reference material)

Here is a shot of Etherley Tip

My time frame is a little earlier than depicted in the flickr image, and I'm not exactly sure what the scene would have looked like in the mid 50s but I guess this will do for now. Once I have modelled more of Etherley Station and Witton Park the scene will be an interesting contrast to what is at Bishop Auckland.

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