I did not load these hi-res so those with slower connections aren’t waiting an hour.
The ‘rock face’ is rock foil paper. You can ‘sculpt’ it by bending and crumpling it. I have some filling in to do and some blending, but I like the effect.
Close-up
I wasn’t too happy with how this turned out. However I found that I can use a section of Scenic Express Pennsy Wall under the bridge to fill in that area… so that required making the transition area 1/2 inch wider
Here you can see the result with a portion of the hill under the truss bridge
More of the hill
Another view
Over view of the area, the entire hill under the bridge can be seen. The large opening on the right will be where the town sits.
This is the same hill from the other side. Under the bridge on the left will be covered with a piece of Pennsy Wall and a Pennsy Wall ‘Wing’, the same will be done under the bridge on the right.
Once the wall sections and wings come in later this week I’ll cut the sections of ceiling tile to fill in the gaps under the bridge and then get the wall sections inplace, then it is going to be time for paint, grass, ballast, and trees!
I’ve heard that term before. Most often in conjunction with holiday displays though. See also “Christmas garden”. Anyhoo, it’s looking like it will be a great one! Btw, what track did you decide to use?
Penny - that is Atlas 21st Century Nickel Silver track… it looks awesome, but I really wish I had stuck with FasTrack, the new LCS enabled switches would have had me up and running trains 2 years ago… as it sits ALL switches are waiting on the LCS switch modules, and no telling when those will be out! [:(]
Brent as said love what your doing just haven’t heard that term befor I always think G and outside with that term and you did say you were building a layout outside. Thanks for sharing
I said I wanted to build a Garden RR, but if I did so I would be living in the shed (not my cup-o-tea). LOL!
I use Train Garden/Train Layout interchangeably. Most of the people in these parts call anything train related a ‘Train Garden’, those outside Bal’more typically have no idea what you are referring to until you explain it, then they say “OH you mean a train LAYOUT”… LOL!
Have to take some pictures and update the thread… this past weekend I was able to put the foam under the rest of the main lines. Still need to put the ceiling tile under the track that leads from the lower to upper levels and then put the foam under that track as well (should get that done this week/weekend). I also found a section of Pennsy Wall so I was able to cut those to length for under the girder bridge (just need the wing set to arrive today or tomorrow before I can get that area prepped for scenery).
Also have the ‘hill’ under the bridge sceniced!
I am concerned about the switch in front of the animated billboard. If wasn’t functioning Saturday and when I took it apart I found an issue with the plastic connectors that control the switch. Not sure if I have a spare laying around or if I will have to buy a new one… not fun! I can still do the scenery around the switch, but I can’t ballast the track till I am 100% certain the switch is fine or needs to be replaced. [:(]
I should not be able to get the track wired and powered as well!
Be sure to leave yourself some room to access that animated billboard, they tend to require a good deal of TLC if used regularly. Granted ours get much more use as opposed to one on a home layout but we tend to go thru them quite often.
Doug - thanks for the heads up! I can actually reach it from this edge of the layout, or I could remove the town (not there yet) and get to it from the rear. My current plans are to wire it to a button on the layout’s edge so the kiddies can operate it.
The plaster cloth to finish a few of the edges around the rock foil is in place, just need a couple more spots and then I’ll be ready to paint and grass the area.
The Pennsy Wall Wings arrived this evening… you can see them on the other side of the bridge.
The ‘hill’ between the bridges has been painted and grassed on this side. Couldn’t do the far side because the wings weren’t in place - that will come later this week.
A few shots of the hobo camp
The campfire is wired and lights up, really looks cool at ‘night’. Now that I have the foam under the track I can fill in the three spots where the campfire screw-downs are located, fill the ceiling tile joints with some filler (can’t remember the name of the plaster-like stuff), then paint and grass the area. I have some clump material that I will use to simulate bushes, and eventually when I make the trees there will be some trees placed around these areas.
From here I will move the left of the animated billboard and do some rock molds and finish the scenery on radio hill. From there it will be down to the main level and scenery for the ‘yard’ and across the river and up to the removable hill. Should have that all done by mid-July (oh and hopefully have all the track wired).
Banks,
I got it at Scenic Express at York a year or so ago. If you go to their site http://www.sceneryexpress.com and type Rock Foil in the search box you’ll see what they have. Awesome stuff. You can see one corner of the large sheet that I will being for the valley in the picture of the girder bridge.
