Snooks Pond, a small lake in Fayetteville, NY is one of the spots of my family's lore from Central New York. The Deans moved all over New York State in the 1940's and 1950's as my grandfather's job with General Electric in the radar and sonar divisions moved from Syracuse to Schenectady, then to Syracuse again; then to Ridgewood NJ, then back to Syracuse. During the Syracuse stays, the family lived in Fayetteville for a time in the 1940's, Ridgewood around 1952, and then settled in Skaneateles the second time in the mid 50's. My mother tells the story of her younger brothers and the family dog building rafts for sailing on Snooks Pond during the early 1950's in Fayetteville, which were tested by the dog - and always sank. The dog swam safety back to shore. Snooks Pond would be a winter ice skating rink and fun park for the family - all in all, lots of nostalgia there.
When I laid out the route for the Onondaga Cutoff, following the geology and elevations through Rams Gulch along I-481, I noticed the alignment took us quite near Snooks Pond - and I smiled.
I began by defining the area of the lake, and filling the terrain in to suit. I masked off the areas I wanted to keep clean and mixed a batch of sculptamold to create the landmass.
All contoured now and curing.
The area where the bungalow is for CP 277 has always struck me as awkward, with a narrow shelf for the bungalow. This would have been a tower location on the original line, so I decided to add a retaining wall in the pond that would suggest a foundation for a former tower. I filled in the back with sculptamold and shaped it to fit the look of eroded backfill.
As that cured, I cut clear plastic 'dams' for the area that will receive the pour of the two-part 'Enviro-Tex' epoxy that will be the base coat of the pond. (I plan to add ripples to the surface later with a different product.) The dam is sealed with caulk.
After the plaster cures, I painted it grimy brown-black and added static grass.
The final touches are a variety of plants around the edge of the pond, including swamp grass, cattails, bushes, and wild shrubs, from all sorts of sets I have collected from Scenic Express, MRC, and Noch.
Now I will finish up those installations, paint the base and pour the water (GULP) - another permanent move that would be costly if I screw it up!
~RGDave
It is neat that you could incorporate some family history into your layout!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I feel a sense of belonging in Central New York anytime I visit, so this seemed a natural extension of that. Thanks for the support!
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