more newbie questions about placing scenery

My advise is NOT keep it level. Don't make a flat board. Do drops like a real railroad had to do. Fills, bridges and tunnel. Good luck. Glad your here. Don

I have a yard area that I am always adding more structures to make it look more industrial.

 

Lately, I have been adding building fronts with an industrial theme along the wall.  I have 3 1/2" of space between the wall and track.  All the structures came from Korber Models and are in kit form.  The building on the right is a Ameritowne kit from OGR.  All the scenery (ground cover, trees, bushes, ballast) came from Scenic Express.  I will be adding a couple more building fronts later this summer to really fill in the gaps between the existing fronts.

The next two photos are close ups of a Korber Model kits.  Figures are from Artista and Woodland Scenics.  Some of the items on the dock are from Finished Models.

In this scene, the blue building, switch tower, yard light, silver sand tower, water column are all from MTH.  The grey sand tower and water tank are from Weaver Models (don't know if they are still making these).

This oil refinery scene consists of two #455 oil derricks from MTH and a Korber Model kit.  The oil tanks and refinery are made by Stan's Tanks.  Once again, all the ground cover and trees came from Scenic Express.

 

Hope this helps and gives you some ideas.

I would go to scenic express (a forum sponsor). if you don't want to look at all they have online (there is a LOT), request the catalog. all the scenic materials you'll ever need. there's a discount for forum members, too.

jerrman

Look at as many photos as you can . . . 

 

You may want to start with a Scenic Express catalog. Scenic Express is a big time forum sponsor and one of the best sources for ALL  scenic material.   Click on the underlined phrase to order a free well done catalog #17.   Scenic Express also has a lot of how to videos laced through their website. 

My advice will run counter to some given here.

 

First, I would keep it flat in spite of very good observations that the world is not (enough of it is - you are modeling only a small part of the world, so do a flat portion  for now).  

 

Second, treat this current layout as only short-term and something you want to keep inexpensive and easy to take up and throw away.  I guarantee you - absolutely positively guarrantee - that within a short time :

 

-you will learn a lot quickly, so much so that your skills a year or two from now  will be much beyond what they are now to the point that you will not be satisfied with work you did while learning, and you will want to re-do it.

 

Keep in mind that famous saying about experience: "It's easy to do the second time you do it."

 

So, I would keep it flat this time, simple or at least not too complicated, and at least for now, inexpensive.  Experiment with things that interest you, including making a hill or revine some other non-flat portion.  Just try things.  In this part of the hobby, mistakes are truly learning experiences and often the only way you develop good skills: you can read and watch others, but . . . .  

 

I would make sure anything expensive, like a good building or accessory, is easily removable to move to the next layout.

 

Trying materials and stuff and techniques from various sources.  I use almost exclusively Woodland Scenics, because I've grown to like working with it.  You might be different, but try them and others, too.

 

View this layout as a classroom to practice various methods and see what you like, and assume that, like nearly everyone on this forum, this first layout will not be the last.

 

For what it is worth you can see a tour of my layout posted yesterday on the O-27 forum.  If you see something that intrigues you, and have questions about anything, e-mail me (e-mail is in my profile). 

thx.  beautiful layouts out there.  

KEEP THE TRACK FLAT, BUT ADD IN A FEW SMALL HILLS TO SHOW A DIFFERENCE IN TERRAIN. THEN A SOME GROUND COVER, A FEW TREES AND A BUILDING OR 2 WILL GIVE A NICE SMALL PIKE. CALL UP SCENIC EXPRESS AND ASK THEM TO SEND YOU A CATALOG

STEVE

I agree with Lee.  In 10 Years, I'm on my 2nd layout.  And even this current layout I have many modifications and changes along the way as I learn something new or see something cool.

 

This corner was flat... mainly because my TT and RH are here.  But I wanted some elevation.  This is stacked pink foam carved out to fit the corner where the main line does a 90 degree curve.  I used various types of sifted sawdust, some natural rock and then some store bought liken.

 

Rather than keeping it 100% flat, you could gently elevate your main line using foam and install a bridge for either a river, road or something else.   I would not make it very high as you don't want to have too big a grade as your space is limited.

 

 

From the size of the oval keeping it level would be the way to go as Lee said. At one end you could put in a small hill with a tunnel and run a small stream off it through a waterfall and running the stream to and under the other curve at that end as Scale Rail said. Not going overboard by making the scenery too big for the given area. At the other end you could add your buildings and such. Ask your questions there is wealth of knowledge on this forum. And as mentioned Scenic Express, a sponsor, has a lot os scenery product to offer.......................................Paul