I've made a firm decision regarding era and railway company. Circa 2000, DBAG. This allows me to run most of my existing stock with just a few decals applied, giving purpose to a lot of models which would otherwise just sit in their boxes.

After much googling for images to make a composite picture for a backscene, I actually found something very nice on CG Textures in the landscapes category. There's some seriously rich pickings on their site, and I have got almost all the signs I need from there alone. The scene is wooded hills, ideal for the Teutoberg Forest or Saxony. I'd still like to try a container port backscene, so tomorrow I plan to head into Wellington and photograph Centreport.

Well, like I say, my ink was running out... I thought I'd try a portion though to see how it works out. Viewing the user gallery on CG Textures, I won't be the first to have used their images for a model railway. There's even a convenient rise in the landscape where I'll be wanting the scenic break.

Undoubtedly the key to a successful backscene is how effectively it ties in with the modelled foreground. I don't want to have the image meeting the baseboard directly anywhere along its length, so a mixture of raised terrain, structures and vegetation should do the trick. If I go with the wooded backscene there will be an Aldi modelled in very low relief where I had originally proposed a car park, and I might add a few printed building fronts along the length as well. If going with a ferry terminal I won't put much clutter in, instead the scene will be somewhat sparse- after all, it'd just be somewhere people pass through. Think along the lines of Hoek van Holland Haven or Dagebüll Mole.

Initial drafts of the backscene are just being printed in low quality on standard paper. Once I've decided on the final image I'll get it professionally printed.