It appears that I am driving myself into a corner that I might not be able to get out of without some kind of layout construction.

It all starts here somewhere in Cornwall thread. Northpoint had discussed the problems with the overhang of the trees on his rather super looking layout. I passed comment on an idea that I once had but hadn't acted on for a sloping backscene that could be covered with a depth of tree tops without taking up any layout space.

I'd also mooted this idea for the wilds of the Lincolnshire coast for a model. Here the depth of the sloping backscene would be greater and be taken up with a "forced perspective" scene in muted tones to make the layout look much deeper than it really is.

Now this opens up a whole new and exciting can of worms.

If your layout itself is non-commital in design and scenic treatment by the changing of the sloping backscene from say a forest to a flat coast or even urban development you could in effect change the whole layout.

How many folks could change the backscene on their layouts to create a new one?

This idea needs some thought and exploration. Perhaps being explored on a Proto87 model?