I did things differently this time. I painted the boards white, then laid down a "blanket" of thin white material that I had purchased back in 2012, on the whole layout. It simulated a thin layer of freshly fallen snow. On the rest of the board, I put a layer of "snow" (again from 2012) that was fuller/fluffier. And on one end (making 3 layers) I put a different type - and it had been used in 2012 so it was "dirtier" giving a used look.
After boards are painted, the track plan is designed/tested/finallized to see if it runs/works. This means, that before track can finally be laid, the track is pulled up from the painted board, the snow has to be finalized and, track goes back on top of it all.
Advantages were it looked pretty decent, so guests said. Bad things were, the thick stuff did not lend itself well to "stand up flat bottomed" telephone poles, signs, people or even buildings that were very light (say Plasticville ones) ....and made the track want to float. I did not screw down the tracks.
The worst thing was, at the end stage, when I had to drill holes in the board to drop wires for track feeds, houses, light towers etc, if I drilled the snow, the bit grabbed it and curled it into a corkscrew. Thus, I had to take a utility knife and slice a slit or and X through one to 3 layers of snow, so I could drill the top without curling up the snow. For every wire I dropped....and there were plenty.
Oh, the many times the bit caught the edge of the snow anyway. The bases came off of some telephone poles, so that they could be inserted into holes on the board - but by the end, I had my fill of "drilling through snow." Thus, the brown round bases showing on the poles.
When I look at the boards done by forum members with regular landscape (no snow) I think, "I should do that." But, I like snow scenes for Christmas gardens. What can I say?
So, nothing really rare or fancy for the snow, just good old store bought battens sold around Christmas time.
Thank you for your comment and for noticing, I appreciate it. Greg
