What to do with edges of a 4x8 layout?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Greetings,

Just trying to get some ideas of what to do with the edges of my 4x8 layout. I have about 2-3" of width on each of the 8 foot sides that should get some touches. I’m thinking of adding some false front (backs) to industry on one side with a backdrop and the other possibly some layered rock to look like it was cut away for the track. Any other ideas?

My layout is basically industry on one 2x8 side and a small town on the other with a beach in one corner and a mountain/mine on the last 1’x4’ of the layout opposite from the beach.

Thanks for your input!
-Dale

2

maybe a strucutre cut away for displaying it’s interior, or a little pond with that “fi***ank” look

3

We had a similar dilemna at the hobby shop. We solved it by placing a building front facing inwards with black construction paper to cover the big empty rear.

Then since it had big windows and a inch thick, we proceeded to place a few crew pointing this way and that with a table (blueprints?) on the second floor.

There was a track in front, ergo, docking bay and a walking bridge between this building across the track (s) to the next one over. Suddenly anyone looking at the place from any direction is “there” and not as aware of the big sky filled with racks, and shelves etc (The real world)

With switches you can place signal boxes and such to give it a “railroady look” and possibly a dump truck filled with ice next to a track for a reefer. etc Small details that will not take much room will assist you.

I would probably place a cloth such as a green or brown hung from the edges. This helps give a tidy look to the layout and gives you a chance to hide the expensive stuff from the spouse. Or you can build storage racks for cars and plastic plates to prevent them from falling down.

These are my ideas. One of my favorites is near the engine service area where I had a priest marrying a engineer and his bride. Of course the bride is on the drop floor between the cab and tender (Coal) with several members of family clustered around the train trying to keep the bride clean. That one only took about a inch and a half of space.

Good Luck

Lee

4

I integrated the powerpacks and controllers in one corner of the layout, in the side of a mountain. This made the layout self-contained, with no controls on the side or a seperate control panel that sits outside of the 4x8.

5

Some very ordinary and railroady things. A ditch realistically modeled with a few puddles, and a not a “bridge” but a culvert or two going under the tracks. Minimal but very realistic “ordinary” stuff. Weeds, a little stagnant water. Boys catching frogs or (if you are modeling the Delta South) crawdads.
An inch or an inch and a half of backyards, some with a low fence, some with chain link, some no fence, garage, laundry room, guy working on car in back yard, tree house high enough for kids to watch trains, lady who has pocket vegetable garden on yard in back next to tracks. Barrels where neighbors burn trash, encroaching on rr r.o.w. (we had this in my neighborhood). Chicken coops out in urban backyards in 1950s I remember.
Railfans watching trains.
An informal unpaved parking area where cars park as close to the tracks as motorists dare.
A side road near tracks where a couple carloads of guys “hang out” and drink beer.

6

This may not be what you mean, but the bare wood of the frame can be covered easily with self sticking vinyl floor tile which come in many patterns and beat staining or painting the raw wood.