A Simple Scene

There was some great modelling at the recent Manitoba Mega Train show in Winnipeg. But of all the modules on the various layouts, this simple scene from the Echo Valley Railroad Guild of Regina jumped out at me.

Why? Because it is simple, uncluttered, unassuming—and unusual.

Why is it unusual? Because you don’t often see a simple scene like this on a modular layout. 

Instead, many of them are busy and cluttered. Many modules are filled with tracks, buildings, vehicles, people, and whatever.

I understand why that happens. When someone doesn’t have a layout, they can be tempted to use every square inch in an effort to maximize the opportunity and the real estate.

But Jeff Betcher, the maker of this scene, didn't do that. He showed a powerful sense of discipline to not fill the space.

In so doing, Jeff also captured the essence of much of the North American right of way.

The fact of the matter is that most of the landscape trains run through is not urban. It's rural.

For much of the way the trains pass, all that can be seen is trees, hills, fields, water. Repeat.

In agricultural areas, it is farms, with acres and acres of crops.

A believable scene like this is not easy to make. A busy urban scene is easier to pull off since the eye is easily distracted by a hundred different items. 

But having just a few things in the scene means everything needs to work much harder to be convincing.

In my opinion, Jeff accomplished that goal. Looking at it, I can imagine myself in rural Canada, waiting on a gravel road for a train to pass.

When it comes to modular layouts, or even our own home layouts, we can all be tempted to fill every inch. 

Not doing that can sometimes be the best way to create a great looking model railroad.

Another Update on Using Static Grass

Maybe this will be my final static grass update; not sure how much there is left to say on the topic.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working my way around parts of the layout.

So far, I’d have to say I like the static grass effect. I have to say it looks better close up than far away—but maybe that’s just my eyesight.

Where static grass shines for me is in photos; having taller “grass” in the photo makes it look much more realistic.

One thing I discovered about using static grass is that, in addition to putting it on with an applicator, I can “plant” clumps of grass using my fingers.

This allows me to ensure the grass goes exactly where I want it. After the glue is dry, I can pull it apart to make it look more natural.

Knowing this, I may go back to some areas I did before and plant a few bunches.

(See top photo for an example.)

Also, after looking at the grass in a photo, I realized the larger grass (12 mm) was too uniform in height.

After the glue was try, I went back with a pair of scissors and made some random and uneven cuts to vary the height of the various bits of longer grass,

As for static grass in general, I don’t think I will use it everywhere—just where I want to take photos.

In the meantime, so far so good.

What are your experiences with static grass?

Update on Using Static Grass

In my previous post, I noted that I wanted to vary the colour (add some darker green) and use longer fibres.

I got another package of static grass—darker green, and 12 mm this time. (The first package was 6 mm.)

I experimented with a combination of shorter and longer fibres, and I think I like the effect.

In truth, the longer fibres might be out of scale for the average HO-sized person (about half the size of a 1:87 figure).

But for a full-scale human observer, it gives the sense that the grass is deeper. And it shows up better in photos, too.

(I might take some scissors to the grass and cut the taller fibres at random lengths; they look to uniform right now—in photos, at least. In real life it’s not so noticeable.)

One challenge I had was what to do with the areas where I had already added the shorter static grass.

Smearing glue on it to add the longer fibres wasn’t an option; that would only flatten the existing grass.

Then I remembered how I made my trees, using cheap hairspray to hold the ground foam to the “branches.” (Actually common plants and weeds like spirea and yarrow.)

I tried it on the static grass, and it worked. A spray to wet the scene, add the new fibres, then another light spray to hold everything in place.

(Some websites and how-to videos actually recommend a quick spray of hairspray to make sure everything stays fixed.)

After applying the static grass, I use a home-made vacuum container made by my friend Larry Leavens to vacuum up any other loose fibres. (He also made the applicator—clever guy!)

So far, I think it looks good. But I don’t think I will apply it everywhere. 

I think it will mostly go where I tend to take photos—that’s where static grass helps make scenes look more believable.

Then again, who knows? Maybe once I get on a roll, I’ll keep going.

Experimenting with Static Grass

It’s been a long time since I did any scenery on the M & M Sub. Mostly, all I’ve been doing is operate trains, and a bit of weathering here and there.

But I’ve been impressed by photos from other modellers that include static grass. It looks very realistic!

So I bought a couple packages of static grass (Noch and Woodland Scenics) to give it a try.

I also borrowed a handmade applicator from my friend, Larry Leavens.

After a bit of experimentation, I like the effect. But I think I need to vary the height a bit—get some longer fibres to make it stand out more.

I also need to vary the colour—add some darker green.

I don’t think I need to apply it everywhere, just the places I think I’ll do most of my layout photography.

What do you think? Are you using static grass?

Winnipeg's Nutty Club Building Saved in Real Life, and on the M & M Sub.

Winnipeg’s Nutty Club building may become an official part of Winnipeg's heritage.

As the CBC reports, the city's historical buildings committee has nominated warehouse, formally known as the Scott-Bathgate Building, to be added to city's list of heritage buildings.

The five-story brick-and-stone structure on Pioneer Avenue was built in 1905, at the height of the railway boom, when Winnipeg was one of North America's fastest-growing cities.

Before making candy, the building was an important distribution centre for the east-west railway traffic that coursed through Winnipeg.

The city wants to protect architectural elements on all four of the building's external facades, as well as the ornamental tin ceilings and heavy timber on the inside of the warehouse.

I’m glad the Nutty Club building may be saved. But it has already been preserved on the M & M Sub.

Some years ago, I took photos of it, then enlarged them on a colour photocopier.

After cutting it out, I affixed it to the wall as part of the backdrop in my imagined town of Fort Frances, Ont.

It has a place alongside other old or disappeared buildings from the city—like the Five Roses flour mill and the Codville building.

Presented this way, as static stand-alone photos, the buildings don’t look very convincing, I know.

But seen on the periphery of the eye, while focused on a train moving through the foreground, they cause the brain to “see” a real building there—one of the ways our brains and eyes play tricks on us.

(See my earlier post on photography, titled The Ghent Altarpiece, Model Railroading and Seeing With the Brain.)

Anyway, like I said the Nutty Club building lives on on the layout—whether or not it remains in real life. Which it just might be able to do now.

Here are some photos of other buildings on the layout.

Tunnel of Trees

There are many ways to hide trains on a layout and obscure the fact they are moving around corners or between towns—buildings, hills and actual tunnels themselves.

Or you can use a tunnel of trees.

That’s what I did on a section of the M & M Sub. on the upper level. As the tracks leave Nance, they curve behind a hill and emerge in a tree tunnel.

From a normal vantage point, you can see the trains moving through the trees. Or you can move down the tracks a bit and watch them come through the foliage with a more head-on view.

This isn’t the only place I’ve used this technique, but it is the place with the most trees.

As for the trees themselves, they are all handmade from various garden shrubs such as spirea and yarrow. Click here to learn more about how I made them.