The second section of scenery I tackled was the double track portion
directly in front of the backdrop. This section runs from the right mountain
tunnel portal, over the warren-truss bridge, and in front of the remainder
of the mountain scenery in the right-hand corner of my layout. This segment
was probably the most inconvenient to work on, entirely due to the fact that
I had to lean way over the rest of my layout to work on it. However, now
that the background portion is complete, the middle and foreground should be
a much easier and convenient experience.
To start, I first needed to complete the tree line that runs along the top
if the rock ridges and spans between the 2 mountains in each corner of my
layout. I had already painted trees onto the backdrop, however this did not
suffice to represent the forest above the rock ridges and required more
texture. These rock ridges are only about 1/4" thick so the pine trees
needed to be attached directly to the backdrop. When building the tree
armatures, I made sure the back sides of the trees were flat which allowed
the finished trees to be easily glued to the backdrop.
With the addition of actual model pine trees to the backdrop, I added
clumps of Woodland Scenics conifer green foliage to the painted trees. This
further added texture and helped to blend the painted trees in with the
actual trees. The tops and faces of the rock bluffs were finished with
various foliage, ground foam, shrubbery, and lichens.
The completion of the scenery around the road that passes under the
warren-truss bridge and disappears into the background was also on the list
to complete. I started by temporarily removing the bridge so I could more
easily access this area. I applied fine gray gravel to the shoulders of the
roadway, gluing it down with thinned glue and isopropyl alcohol. The next
layer was earth colored ground foam, followed by coarse turf and bushes
which I applied generously around the base of the bridge
abutments.
While I had the bridge removed, I decided that it required an upgrade. I
originally built the deck using three Atlas bridge girder pieces to allow
dual tracks and used the truss supports from an Atlas warren-truss bridge
kit. I wasn’t happy with the design or look right from the beginning. The
truss structure rubbed against rolling stock and looked inadequate to
support the double track.
I started by adding 3/8” wide styrene strips to each side of the deck, thus
widening it by 3/4” so trains would no longer rub on the truss structure. I
wanted the truss structure to also be supported over the top, which required
raising the original Atlas warren truss supports. To do this, I built 1”
risers out of styrene which I then glued to the bottom of the trusses,
following the angles of the original struts and bracing bars. The horizontal
struts and bracing were also constructed out of styrene strips which I built
into t-girders.
The truss system is not attached to the deck but instead sits between two
slots on the deck. I needed to build it this way so I could slide the deck
back under the track as it is no longer easily removable. I sprayed the
bridge structure flat black and lightly weathered with powdered pastels. I
then simply slid the deck under the track and onto the abutments and placed
the support structure into position on top.
Ballasting the rails was next, followed by weathering the center of the
track with black powdered pastels. I also applied light vegetation and
overgrowth between the double tracks once the ballast was dry. The backdrop
section of track and surrounding areas are the same type of mountainous
scenery as the completed tunnel mountain so I used the same methods as
before to build up the scenery.
I ran out of trees to fully complete the raised section of track leading up
to the trestle so I will finish this once I put more trees together. At this
point I’m not sure what section of scenery I will tackle next. It will most
likely be the area in front of the single and double tunnel portals on the
front of my mountain and the area right in front of the backdrop section I
just completed. However, I am currently working on finishing my very first
scratch built structure which is a priority to complete in the next couple
days.
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