Topography

Since an attempt is being made to duplicate the scene as closely as possible to the original location, following the contours of the land is important. Topo maps have proven to be a useful tool in determining what the land may have been like at the turn of the last century. Although the land features have changed, some subtly, some blatantly, the overall profile remains the same.

To create an appropriate subroadbed for our layout, we are using extruded foam sheets that are hot-wire trimmed to a scale 10' thickness. Alternating layers of blue and pink foam allow the necessary build-up of height without a substantial weight penalty. Optionally, expanded polystyrene bead foam hot-wire cut to the same 10' thickness, then dyed with water-based color may be used to produce the same effect.

A modified version of traditional hard shell scenery will be applied to the foam. This shall consist of narrow strips of newsprint saturated with thinned water-based polyurethane flat finish or aliphatic resin adhesive [Elmer's white or yellow glues]. Water-based polyurethane will not dissolve the foam, and is much lighter when cured than either plaster or hydrocal.