I planted four of these giants in my backyard 13 years ago. They were twigs about 2’ high. They now stand at about 40’ to 50’ high. I just love these trees and if you ever get a chance to go to California and see them in person you will be awestruck.
So I thought I would put one or more on the layout. This one will stand about 1 yard high and have a diametre of 4 inches at its base. We have some pretty big trees out here on the West Coast and I have made some large Firs already. However, even though they are scale, I get nothing but grief from people when they see them thinking they are way oversized and out of scale.
So how big are your trees? Do you have any monster trees. If you have big trees do you get questioned about the size of them?
Viewers seem accustomed to undersize trees, as they frequently question why something closer to scale is so tall.
The tree immediatley behind this hopper is maybe 55 scale feet tall, about the same as the length of a typical car spotted on this spur. While the tree may dwarf the car, it’s still shorter than nearby structures. It’s also on the short side for many mature trees.
Funny you should ask. I was just researching the scale of trees to HO rail yesterday. At the risk of overdoing my welcome I will repost this photo from my thread on the layout building forum…
The tree placed temporarily behind the loco is about 85 scale feet high, or 11 inches. This is quite realistic in the real world but rather large on most layouts. It is taller than any other trees elsewhere on the layout where the largest is about 70 scale feet, and so this new one looks odd.
Yet here is a similar real world photo (photo credit Ben Kletzer)
But, Batman I think should go ahead and model those trees on your layout… 260 foot high !..Like Cathedral Grove, eh?
Hey Batman, where are you on the west coast, I am in the bay area. As for my largest trees, I have some I may not use that are 18" tall in HO, stll only 130’ tall in HO, redwoods can be over 350’ high.
We have some huge trees still standing, although the largest I believe are in Oregon and N. CA. The Giant Sequoia and Redwoods are the largest I know of and they are found there. In British Columbia, we have the Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir.
LION has tall trees, tower over three story house. People think tree is too tall, but I see plenty of trees towering over three story house out here on the prairie where trees are so small. So height is OK.
Where to get tall trees? LION goes out to the back yard of him and gather woody weeds that would look good in HO scale. Put some foilage material on them and TREE!
I also agree that many people undersize their trees such that a normal scale tree looks out of place. To me, having scale size trees adds to the distance element as well as the train threading through the land rather than dominating it.
That said, I believe the trees should be consistent in height for the region and type of trees found there. A single towering redwood would look out of place by itself. But a forest of them dwarfing the railroad would make a stunning vista. In my area (Tenn) the height variation across the deciduous forest is very small. Looking out the window of my den right now, there is probably only ten feet or so variation across the tops of the forest. I would put most of the trees in my forest about 50-60 feet high.
Here’s another interesting thing. Very few trees in a forest have that classic sponge ball shape. Those are trees that have grow open, either in a field or city park. In a forest the branches run upward, just angling out from the trunk, where the top part of the tree really isn’t the trunk itself, but the upward angled branches. So looked at from above, many of these 60 foot trees have a branch structure that only spreads maybe 20 feet tip to tip.
Like so much in model railroading, trees are an item which we almost have to selectivley compress. I live in five acres of woods with oaks, maples, walnut, cherry, ash and hickory trees. Typically these grow to 70-80 ft tall. An HO tree to scale would be 10-11 inches high. Not only would this block the views but they would be a nightmare to work around/over. Most of my trees are 4-6 inches tall, which are still decent size. The forest canopies are nothing more than puffballs glued to the slopes. It all looks right to me, even though I know it isn’t.
Scenery can be seen as artwork. Therefore the tree size depends on what impression is intended. If a forest scene with virgin pine trees is desired, make the trees huge so they will minimize the train. That is the artistic expression intended. If watching the trains is the object, you need to keep the trees smaller. If operations is the object, you will want to keep the trees out of the way. Some of my layout is for senic puposes with a train running through, thus some of my forests are designed to dominate the scene. Here are a few scenes from Northern Minn, Yellowstone canyon and an oak forest with a farm scene.
Z - the forest patriarch, towers over everything except the adjacent mountain.
N - a really big, mature tree. It was left standing so it would re-seed the clearcut.
HO - good size, but not exactly spectacular.
S - worth cutting for firewood and pulp, but not saw timber.
O - might make a few fence posts when cut to thin the woodlot.
G - sapling.
1:1 - something my wife trimmed off one of her little fruit trees.
Incidentally, that garden railway forest resembles (at track level) the California and Western at the siding half way from Fort Bragg to Willits. Of course, those trees are coast redwoods…
Chuck (Modeling the cedar forest of Central Japan in September, 1964)
Big trees: Yes I made a batch of them. I am modeling the Western Sierras - Ponderosa Pines, Sugar pines and White fir trees. These can get upwards of 150 feet tall. I used the furnace filter method to produce some large trees. Painting a detailing the trunks took quite a while. I have lots of them now in the 12-20” range. They look right to my eye having spent lots of time in the mountains.
I have had some visitors question the height, but most are pretty stoked about the trees.
Guy
