While refining the front and back boundaries of the layout scenes using the above diagram, I gave some thought to which scenes will depict the Monongahela River and which ones won’t.
In Homestead, Rankin and McKeesport, the tracks move away from the river as they go around the steel mills. This means that within the boundaries of my scenes, the river would be far enough away that it won’t be modeled in those scenes.
From West End to Hays, just the southern shore of the river will be modeled, along the front edge of the layout. At Hays, it will exit the scene on the front of the layout, and won’t be seen again (south of there) until the bridge between Homestead and Rankin. The river will enter the scene at a slight angle from the front of the layout, pass under the bridge, and disappear into the background. The river crossing is the smaller of two scenes that could potentially feature ship, boat or barge models.
In Rankin, the river will be blocked from view by Carrie Furnace, and the tracks get close to the river again between there and Braddock, before pasing behind Edgar Thomson Works.
Somewhere in Braddock, or in the space between Braddock and Duquesne, the river enters the scene again, modeled fully from shore to shore as it bends around Duquesne, which will consist mainly of a backdrop or low-profile depiction of Duquesne Works. I’m calling the scene Duquesne for now, but technically, only the shallow background of the scene is in the City of Duquesne. The majority of the scene will consist of the river and P&LE yard on the front edge of the layout. Once I find out more about the yard, I may reconsider the scene’s name. This is the larger of the two scenes that could potentially feature ship, boat or barge models.
At McKeesport, the river will be hidden behind National Tube Works, which will be depicted with low-relief structures and a backdrop. At the other end of McKeesport, the full width of a short segment of the Youghiogheny River will be modeled under the railroad bridge, just before the river and tracks disappear behind the scenes.