Serendipity (Planning Part 2)

With our baseboard and track-plan sorted, it is time to work out the scenery. This is an iterative process with developing the track plan; and it can be done in either order. For my exhibition layout, I knew that I wanted an oval loop and a single siding; so with that decided, I could plan the scenery around it.

For the siding, I want a small goods shed. The train set that I had, included a couple of open wagons and a couple of vans that would feel right at home in a goods shed with a loading dock. And with the goods shed, I will add a small passenger station and platform. That will provide two small structures that will not require a lot of space, but can service a lot of rail traffic.

I want a tunnel … just because tunnels are very interesting features on model railroads as they make the trains “disappear” and then “appear” somewhere else; this can make our small layout seem larger … who can say how far our train traveled while it was out of sight?

Tunnels work well with mountains. And again, mountains are wonderful elements for making our layout seem larger that it is, because we can’t see all of it at one time; the mountain blocks our view of the other side.

A bridge was also needed because they are interesting structures and enhance the third dimension of our model by changes in elevation of the terrain. The bridge should have a purpose, and for my exhibition layout I want a rural scene to contrast with the station and goods shed; so I decided to include a river that the railroad crosses. Water is an interesting item to model as it provides something different from the rocks and trees and grass that dominates much of our layout.

A waterfall … since I had a river and a mountain, I want to include a waterfall. This may be a challenge to model properly, but I think it will be worth the effort, and of course nothing is permanent … things can always be removed and redone as our skills improve.

Finally, I needed another element to separate the station and goods shed from the bridge and waterfall. I had a tunnel on one side, so what to do with the other. Lots of options here, a stand of trees, or even a cut through a ridge would work; but I think a vehicle overpass would be an interesting element and it would provide a road for the station and goods shed that will also make our small layout appear to be a piece of something much larger. :)

In planning all of this, I used a bubble chart to get an idea of how each of these elements would relate to each other ....