Filing the Gap (III)

The last piece of the scene was a small gap between the tracks and the road.

If this was a well-travelled part of the world, there would be a nice, orderly "T" intersection instead of roads going off in four directions. But this was a back road to the station and a cold storage facility. Not exactly the "must see" part of town. 

Roads go as they go for a reason. And I didn't want an orderly road. So to excuse the disorder I created a small bluff. The bluff adds an additional visual layer between the tracks and the front part of the layout and the bluffs. More bluntly, the bluff acts as an "X" in the line of sight preventing a clear view of the back.

Pre-bluff

What's apparent in the above photo is the steep drop from the road to the base brown foam. The bluff would help to "mellow" and disguise the drop.

Again with the blobs...

I started with the tried and true method of building small blobs off layout using insulation foam. I also found a left over plaster rock to incorporate into the scene to add a little Canadian shield effect.

The blobs were painted brown and I covered them with understated ground foam as a base. This meant any scenery gaps wouldn't show through.

Basic model railroad scenery theory states, "Add scenery in layers".

Shrubs and the base ground scenery around the bluff came next:

I tried to leave enough space between the tracks and the bluff, and again between the road and the bluff to give each element room to breathe. I also made sure that the area around the switch point (where the switch is turned) so that the imaginary train crew would have level ground to work with.

I was happy to see at this point that the drop off from the road was gone. The shrubs were a mixture of colours and Woodland scenics shrub and leftover Super Trees.

Speaking of which:

Note the black ballast around the switch.

As I went along, I also re-weathered the road to add more dust/dirt using powder. I found it easier to blend the colours once I had added the surrounding scenery. A lesson for me. A lesson I had already learned from the bluff was that you only need a few trees to give the impression of density. In this case, two medium-sized trees create the effect. 

From the side:

I think all these photos illustrate the "X" concept. The bluff does a good job of breaking or distracting the line of sight, keeping the eyes from going directly to the backdrop or building.

One last note before I close the post. Summer time is not exactly layout time. But it is a good time for driving. 

When I built Aston Growers, I used other HO scale models as a reference point. At the time, I looked around for a real-life example and couldn't find anything online.

And then, a few weeks ago, about five miles from where I live, beside the CPR tracks, I found Dixie Growers Ltd.:

Love the brick elevator shaft and the office section too.

...and

Aside from the weathering, I'd say 👍.