Prewar Scenic Plots

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

A long time ago, CTT ran a very good article on recreating Lionel scenic plots. Would anyone happen to know off hand what issue?

Thanks!

2

I don’t recall the article, but here are some basics:

  1. Hardboard base
  2. Loofah for “pine” trees and hedge rows:

Separate the outer part from the core very carefully.

The core (remove any seeds you find) becomes the tree while the outer part becomes your hedges:

Paint them green and dip in sawdust if available. If not, ground foam looks great too:

  1. You can make leafy trees with rope. Insert heavy gauge wire into the natural fiber rope for support. Unravel the ends for your branches. Tie clusters of trunks together with tape (Floral, masking, or just strips of glue soaked paper) and paint shades of brown. Paint (dipping is best) the unraveled parts of the rope and coat them just like you did for fir trees:

Note the bottom of the tree above. Unraveling a bit of the rope and gluining it to a thick cardstock base gives the tree a root structure.

  1. Flowers can be made by using the rope method with bits of sponge glued in for your flowers. (This is all fake by the way, even the light fixtures [;)]):
3

Thanks for that! I remembered the loofahs vaguely but didn’t remember the rope trees at all.

4

Check out the “Scenic Items” section of Joe Mania’s website: https://jlmtrains.com/products/scenic-items/

I forgot to mention Lionel’s No. 505 Oak Trees were about 5 1/2 to 6 inches in height. The loofah trees came in 3 varieties: 501 Small, 502 Medium and 503 Large plus the No. 500 Pine Bushes, not to be confused with the No. 504 Rose Bushes. There also were the No. 510 Canna Bushes. Based on images I got when I Google that term, I’d say it refers to the type of tall flowers like what I used in the urn above (started life as a Thai style chess piece believe it or not), versus the smaller ground level bushes like those I put by this station:

Lionel also included felt rocks,composition board mountains and a sky backdrop in the heyday of scenic railways.

5

Thanks again. I might just try to make something in the original vein without trying an exact duplicate.

6

Having posted the question, I felt it my duty to report back when I found it: September 1999. I have spent the past several weeks reviewing every issue from the Premier to thsi one tonight. Been an enjoyable trip down memory lane though I have been restricting my reading largely to articles related to SG. Anyway, we now have a reference point for anybody who needs to know.

Thanks agian to PennyTrains who pretty much nailed the basics!

7

No problemo. [:D] But an issue with an article on the subject with a 2021 publishing date is likely too. [;)]