39 - O Scale Trains Magazine Online

Pieces of the Puzzle
Conclusion
Mike Cougill
1
a bridge. But the basic scenery turned out well, and I’m
happy with the results.
I really went vertical with the trees though, some of
them reaching 24” or more in height. We modelers seem
to have a fear of modeling tall objects. I think many are
worried that it’ll take away from the trains or look out of
scale. That’s a legitimate concern, especially in O Scale
where things can get big. But when done thoughtfully, the
results can be dramatic. Look at the difference the trees
make between Photos 2-3. The trees now lend a sense of
scale to the scene; and when you add a train, as in Photo
4, you get the impression that the train now fits into the
landscape instead of being separate from it. Our eyes are
registering the different proportions of the elements in the
scene and telling us whether things look right or not. I think
one of the reasons O Scale models often look unrealistic is
this lack of proportion with the scenery. There often aren’t
any elements that dwarf the trains or buildings like a tall
2
In our last installment of the series, we’re going to look
at how scenery can turn a plain shelf with some track on
it into a believable slice of modeled reality. Some believe
that a shelf layout is hard to scenic. While their flat nature
can be hard to ignore or work around, with a little ingenuity
and observation of the real world, a shelf-style layout
can look very realistic.
Puzzle Piece #7: Go Vertical.
One mistake modelers often make in designing scenery
for a shelf layout is not having enough vertical elements.
The tendency is to keep things on just one level. This is
an easy trap to fall into and I sort of did just that myself.
By their nature shelf layouts too often look like what they
are: a flat shelf. I tried to avoid this when I built the benchwork
by raising the track up so that I could have terrain
that dipped below track level, and have tracks at different
elevations from the mainline (Photo 1). I wish, in hindsight,
that I had emphasized this more than I did. I really didn’t
plan for having scenery below the tracks like streams or
rivers. The I & W must be one of the few layouts without
July/Aug ’08 - O Scale Trains • 37