Fishing at the "Junction Pool" under bridge #151

Scenery is one of the aspects of this hobby that I enjoy the most, and I'm using this layout to try some methods that I have not used before. All of my scenery starts with a the same sheets of expanded foam insulation used for the benchwork. For raised areas this is cut to shape using a hot wire cutter and assortment of "borrowed" kitchen knives. Depressed areas are simply gouged out of the benchwork. The contours are then blended with a thin coat of Hydrocal plaster. This is then covered with various brands of ground foam and real dirt.

Trees - Making the Most of Using Child Labor

Anybody modeling the Northeast needs plenty of trees. I using primarily dried weeds dipped in matte medium and then sprinkled in ground foam. While I've used natural materials on a limited basis before, and with good results, I've never needed this many trees! I constantly find myself looking at roadside weeds with a view toward what trees they look like. One of my most successful acquisitions has been a plant I call "CSO Weed". I have no idea what its botanical name is, but it grows in clumps along the edge of the freight yard of the Connecticut Southern RR (CSO) behind Branchline Trains' shop. I am very lucky in that the crews of CSO were very friendly toward Branchline and many of them were even modelers. Even so, it rather surprises me that nobody questioned what I am doing walking around the yard on my lunch breaks carrying garbage bags full of dead weeds… they’re probably afraid to ask! I've also used a number of Scenic Express "Super Tree" armatures around the layout to good effect.

While none of the trees are contest quality on their own, en-masse they look great. Also, my two daughters have taken to making trees - its a mess they can make that Dad thinks is neat! They can knock out a large number of trees in a short time. As a result I expect I will have no shortage of trees on the layout.

Water

I have several small bodies of water on the layout, and all were constructed the same way. The stream bed is first coated WELL with plaster (more on that in a moment) and then detailed using pebbles, dirt, Woodland Scenics "Talus", etc. Once the stream bed is dry I added a couple of pours of Envirotex resin for the basic water. The Willowemoc seen here below the bridges outside of Roscoe is just straight up Envirotex as it is fairly calm in this area.

Now, about that plaster base... As you remember, I'm using a foam base for the layout. Expanded foam does NOT mix well with chemicals. If, like me, you plan on using foam and Envirotex resin, you need to make absolutely sure that the Envirotex does not come into direct contact with the foam. If it does it makes for some really neat sinkhole effects, and a new floor finish under the layout. Don't ask.... I used a fairly liberal coat of plaster to seal the foam, then tested it by pouring water on it and looking for leaks. Of course, using an acrylic water solution such as those now available would be a safer alternative.

Certain areas of the layout, like the Junction Pool shown at the top of the page, required more of a rippled water effect. Here I used Woodland Scenics "Water Effects" right on top of the resin to create the ripples. I ended up doing a couple applications to get the right effect. This same effect was used on the Cattail Creek in Livingston Manor.

As discussed elsewhere, lighting for the layout is provided by fluorescent lights running cool white bulbs. I find that this combination gives me a good representation of daylight in the mountains. No provision is made for dimming the lights, and if I do get into night running it will be a with a very quick "sunset"!