Back in April, I posted a query whether to use actual water on a waterfall scene I was about to construct on my layout. The overwhelming responses were NO - much to the delight of my wife who was concerned about humidity and mold accumulation in our basement. If interested, here is that thread: https://ogrforum.com/...fall-with-real-water. In that thread, I noted that I was using the suggested approach by Dave Frary in his text, How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery. He notes that constructing falling water is "a simple one-hour project". I thought it would take me a few weeks. Well, I just completed the entire scene - 8 months later (minus 2 months I was out of the country over the summer)!! And BTW, there's NO running water. Here are some photos of this project. First some context.
Similar to other scenes on the layout, this one mimics a real site: Taughannock Falls in Ithaca, NY, an idyllic college town in upstate NY where we lived for 31 years and enjoyed this and other state parks close by with beautiful waterfalls (see 1st photo). The scene on the layout appears at a transition from fall to winter (see 2nd photo). The layout is an around-the-room set up that includes all 4 seasons (gotta have a winter scene for Christmas set up). The commercial backdrops included purple creek side hues on the left and gray rocky hues on the right. The canyon walls mimic this, and the transition occurs behind the falls (see 3rd photo).
A photo of the actual pool and surrounding areas show further details (see 4th photo). I tried to mimic this with the water, walkway, and signage (see 5th photo). Several signs (some beyond the frame of the photo of the actual pool) make it clear to stay on the trails and out of the water. Well, the photo of the actual falls shows that some folks don't follow that quite well, so I took some liberties and put kids in the water and one about to dive in (the latter is really a stretch, but the title of the layout is the GFRR - Grandpa's Funtastic RailRoad).
So here's what I learned from the advice from posts on the prior thread, excellent videos from Woodland Scenics, and practice with protoypes:
- To create the falls, clear silicone sealant was cheaper and easier to use than Woodland Scenics Water Effects. The latter worked well for adhering the top and bottom of the falls, and adding churning water at the bottom.
- Woodland Scenics Realistic Water worked very well for the pool. Took several days to cure clear.
- I tried Mod Podge (gloss luster) for some agitation on the pool surface, but the prototypes had lots of bubbles, so I used Woodland Scenics Water Ripples instead for that effect.
- Used Woodland Scenics White Water Highlight for some rapids and highlights on agitated water, but in retrospect, I think white acrylic paint would have worked just as well for less $$.
This is my first, and probably only, attempt at a waterfalls, so although I am pleased with the result, I'm sure others with far more experience could share more and better advice.
I will also add that this is the FINAL scenery project on the layout. Took only 8 years to get here!! I intend to submit an article to O Gauge Railroading magazine describing that journey, from remodeling a basement bedroom in order to create a half wall for viewing, to this waterfall scene. It's been a complete joy in retirement.
Hope you all enjoy the coming holidays, and traditional railroad fun!
Michael
