Great work as usual. Nice pics too,the last one looks similar to Cheddar Gorge which was a local beauty spot near to where I was brought up.
Frame.

Cheddar Gorge? Sounds right up my alley, love me some cheese...LOL The Gila is only about an hour and a half away depending on who\'s minding the throttle. This is on the southern edge. The area that inspired the backdrop mountains is about 2 hrs up, northwest from me, and is much more spectacular with REALLY tall sheer walls.

As with the HO layout, even more so here, I\'m not married to any particular era. I\'ve both transition era steam and RSD 15s and Dash 8-40Cs so the layout is flexible. Freelancing the line makes it even more flexible, as I can run steam as excursion trains.

Second day of plaster work. These were taken on Sunday. After I finished the day\'s work, I made some changes to the back wall.

Plaster work from day 3. The base of the backdrop was too vertical for my taste, so some more screen was added and the base moved towards the track some more.

North corner is just about finished and most of the grade is completed. Only about 3 1/2 feet of the back wall to finish.

Day 4 is done and so is the major plaster work.



Now the painting can begin.

Any practise runs yet? Also what locos and stock you using?
Regards,Frame.

I test ran the layout before plaster started, and will run it again before the serious landscaping starts. Rolling stock is from Roco, Atlas, Microtrains and just about anything that catches my eye. Locos are from Rivarossi, ConCor Atlas and Bachmann, with more on the way.

I had a chance to shoot some color on the mountains, and ran out of paint almost immediately. The plaster loves the acrylic paint I\'m using. I did a quick scene layout on the south mountain top while waiting for my trees to dry (extra details)and I think this will work just fine. The flash on the camera really doesn\'t show the colors on the mountains well, washed it out quite a bit. There will be more scenic details added, this was just for my curiosity.

Wow,this is coming on well. You work real quick. A bit of colour ads so much to modelling. Look forward to the next update.
Frame.

Well, I had a bit of a productive day, so here are some more pics for you. The northern most end was missing something, so I added another foot of mountains along the end, painted the rest of the backdrop mountains and got a bit of detail scenery started on the south end. Trees will be replanted when the board is moved to it\'s final resting place.
First the new section..

the backdrop mountains painted...

this is before the new section was added...

And the start of the landscaping on the south end...

Second day of landscaping, didn\'t get a lot accomplished thanks to a late night thunderstorm. Trees are from a bulk dealer in Hong Kong (the smallest ones) and Architrees (the big ones). The small trees were a really bright green and had to be toned down a bit.

More of the south end. The trees on the upper mountain sections will be planted later.

Got a start on the backdrop mountains after the detail paint dried. Most of the trees on this section will be added after the layout is moved to its final resting place.

More scenery work. got some sub surface laid out, and some of the interior layout trees in place on the south mountains.


I have also started paving the main road through town. I\'m doing it is sections like some of the older streets in town here. I took a 100ft tape measure into town with me and measured some of the slab roads near our railyard and in the industrial park for reference.

Started placing the structures on the interior of the layout and working out where street lights will be placed. I\'ve shelved the idea of power poles and electrical lines in favor of underground lines in the interest of \"scenic beautification\".




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