Obermatt Swiss N gauge layout

[Frutigen]

Done a bit of scenic tidying up of unfinished bits. The cart track across the meadow now has grass down the middle, and there’s a fence to stop people driving off the edge of the upper road while admiring the view. And, wonder of wonders, the church is finally fixed into the landscape. 
 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[Gook the Goblin]

Looking really good Keith. A lovely scene full of swiss character in my opinion.

[Frutigen]

One of the drawbacks of fitting so much railway into a small space is that it can be tricky to keep the parts of the layout visually separate. The different levels on this layout help a lot with that, but at the buffer stop end of the yard we have 3 elements close together and all on much the same level - the yard itself, the main line around the end of the yard and the outer part of the main line on the viaduct. 
 

 

I’m trying to improve this with visual barriers that help the brain to focus on the piece of track where the train is at the time, like when you look at a big landscape but your brain is only seeing one feature and the rest sort of blurs out. 

 

The fence on the right is inspired by Mr Tea’s excellent roadside fence on Veja Megstra, although I’ve adapted the design a bit and the clumsy construction is all down to me. Trust me when I tell you it looks much better from a respectful distance. Along with the new safety fence, trees and even the new mast on the other side it creates a narrow corridor that does help to trick the eye. 
 

I've also started to veggify the bare mountain and I’m experimenting with different sizes of tree to try and get a forced perspective of height and distance. Not sure I’ve got the right trees in the right places yet, but I've got more trees on order to give that whole end of the layout a bit more character so there should be something I can use. 
 

Meanwhile, I’ve just received a nice parcel from SB Modelbau which should eventually get my Minitrix Re420s running as nicely as the brown Re425s. Should keep me quiet for a while. 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[Jim Easterbrook]

Thanks for explaining your reasoning and showing before and after pictures. It really helps a novice like me to get some idea of what I'll need to think about when (and if) I ever get round to building a layout.

[Frutigen]

2 hours ago, Jim Easterbrook said:

Thanks for explaining your reasoning and showing before and after pictures. It really helps a novice like me to get some idea of what I'll need to think about when (and if) I ever get round to building a layout.

Thank you Jim, that’s good to know. This is my first scenic layout so I’m learning as I go along and trying to pitch these posts so they maybe help other novices without boring those who have more experience. I hope your project, when it comes, gives you as much pleasure as I’ve had from this one. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Frutigen

[Gordonwis]

On 06/03/2021 at 18:37, Frutigen said:

To some extent I've designed the whole layout to be viewed from the end, looking along the tracks,

 

 

 

 

I have always looked at layouts from end on if and where I can   (not easy at many shows for layouts not on 'corner plots'). It's by far the most realistic view of most scenes

[Gordonwis]

On 04/03/2021 at 19:12, Frutigen said:

 

Yes, the hoppers are 4 Minitrix and 8 Lima. I no longer see the Minitrix type in current photos and videos (plus they've changed the livery) but I seem to recall seeing them running both types together in the past.

 

 

I doubt you will have seen them in any photos as the Minitrix model is a fantasy. It is an inaccurate Swiss livery on a pure German wagon, a type that AFAIK never went outside Germany. Minitrix used the same model to make a 'British Rail' HTV   - an even worse falsehood!

By contrast the Lima (latter Minitrain, Arnold) are actually a very good rendition despite the tooling dating from the 1980s (if not earlier)

Edited March 17, 2021 by Gordonwis

[Satan's Goldfish]

8 hours ago, Gordonwis said:

 

I doubt you will have seen them in any photos as the Minitrix model is a fantasy. It is an inaccurate Swiss livery on a pure German wagon, a type that AFAIK never went outside Germany. Minitrix used the same model to make a 'British Rail' HTV   - an even worse falsehood!

By contrast the Lima (latter Minitrain, Arnold) are actually a very good rendition despite the tooling dating from the 1980s (if not earlier)

 

That's a shame, I've always really liked the look  of those minitrix wagons and was looking forward to the excuse for getting some.

[JimFin]

On 17/03/2021 at 08:59, Satan's Goldfish said:

 

That's a shame, I've always really liked the look  of those minitrix wagons and was looking forward to the excuse for getting some.

Rule 1 - your railway, you run what you want.

[Satan's Goldfish]

1 hour ago, JimFin said:

Rule 1 - your railway, you run what you want.

 Very valid point!

In an ideal world when I build in Swiss N it'd be on the Swiss-Dutch border, but that's pushing rule 1 too far for me! 

[Frutigen]

12 hours ago, Satan's Goldfish said:

 Very valid point!

In an ideal world when I build in Swiss N it'd be on the Swiss-Dutch border, but that's pushing rule 1 too far for me! 

That might not be soooo far fetched. On a coach trip around the Grimsel/Furka/Susten passes yonks ago the Swiss coach driver was joking about how they would rename the Rhine when Europe joins the Swiss Federation. The way he saw it, the Aare is the bigger river, so when they join at Koblenz (the Swiss one) the name should carry on to the North Sea. 

Edited March 19, 2021 by Frutigen

[Frutigen]

One thing I’ve learned by experience is to get any water in and set before doing vegetation in the area, otherwise loose bits of foliage all jump into your sticky water gloop of choice while you’re not looking. I thought it was about time to put water in the dry gorge under the viaduct before I plant any more trees. The river bed was already quite detailed and I hoped some of it would be visible through the water, so I decided to just pour in artist’s gloss medium and see what happens. 

 

Not perfect but I think I need to resist the temptation to “improve” it. 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[swisspeat]

Looks great Keith.

 

you are right, leave it a few days before doing anything with it. Water products are not the easiest to deal with. Sometimes they go cloudy after a few days out of the blue.

 

Water ripple products are a great way to add surface texture and in my experience here are far more reliable than other products. Try Deluxe Making Waves or Woodlands Water Ripples.

 

fun to do too!

 

peter

[Frutigen]

Thanks for the tips Peter, I've got one more water feature to do and that will definitely need ripples.

[Frutigen]

Now the water in the waterfall and gorge has hardened I’ve added some more trees as a backdrop (might need a bit more greenery yet), installed railings and mast on the viaduct and weathered the track.

 

 

 

Once I’ve got all the Re420s converted I’ll do another video showing them in action in the new scenery. Three of them upgraded very easily with the coreless motor and flywheel combo from SB Modelbau but the fourth is being put together from leftovers in the spares box, some of which require a little work. 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[Frutigen]

I got a bit sidetracked from upgrading the Re420s and decided to modify the grassy cutting that leads up to the viaduct. It turned out to be a bit too high-sided which got in the way of the view from my favourite seat, so I took a knife to the plastic siding that forms the landscape profile. In the first picture the landscape is still in its original position even though I’ve removed the side material.

 

 

Second photo shows the revised profile, along with improved grass treatment on the slope beyond, slightly fewer trees on top and ballast on the track. The overall effect provides a much better view as the train approaches the viaduct, gorge and tunnel. I really must get round to colouring the layout fascia dark grey or black. 

 

 

 

[Frutigen]

Regular readers will know that I've been working on various scenic areas including the viaduct/gorge/grassy cutting and the curve around the end of the yard. I've also upgraded 4 Minitrix Re4/4ii locos with SB Modelbau drive units. When family visited this weekend I took the opportunity to employ some young interns (ages 9 and 12) to help with this video. All the camera work is theirs - editing and dodgy lighting are down to me.

 

I'll do a freight version with the rest of the converted locos soon.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by Frutigen

[Legend]

Love the perspectives on your layout . Really beautiful and I thought your child labourers did very well on the camera work . That BLS train on station was just bursting to go . Love that blue cream livery with a brown loco up front . Only trouble with your layout is it puts me in the notion for Swiss models . 

[Frutigen]

After painting some doors I was on a roll so I went and got some blackboard paint and finally did the layout sides.
 

Before…

 

 

And after…

 

 

 

While I expected it to improve the looks, I didn’t realise just how much it would affect the way the railway appears. For a while now I’ve been wondering what to do with the long grass strip at the front of the layout which just looked unfinished even after I’d tidied it up, but I didn’t want to put any delicate detail so close to the edge of the board, or interfere with the view of a train going by. But, with the black to frame it, it actually looks ok as it is, and the black helps the brain disregard the surroundings so I only see the train and the scenery. 
 

With this mighty success under my belt I think I’ll pause layout work here until the autumn. Maybe I’ll just run some trains, or tinker with the ones that need tinkered with. Maybe record some footage for another video. 
 

Come the autumn there’s still a list of developments to do, including hiding the join for the lifting section of scenery, doing the river scene at the front right, building an awning for the island platform, lots of street furniture and people to bring the village more to life, and finally the overhead masts and spans at the front of the layout. I might even replace the Dapol masts at the back with something more recognisably Swiss. 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[Satan's Goldfish]

That makes it look quiet different, and you're right it does make the grass strip look 'finished' too. Have you thought about suitably mountainous images for a back scene?

[cornish trains jez]

Hi Keith,

 

That overall view of the layout is brilliant, what a picture! It's like looking out of the window at the real railway and that would be what you would see. Cracking work and look forward to some more videos!

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

 

[Frutigen]

Thank you all for the encouraging comments. 

 

SG raises an interesting question about a back scene, and I did look at possible images, both commercial and home made. In the end I decided to take an alternative approach after spending some time on the Gotthard in 2016. I noticed that in a lot of locations you focus on the train and the scene around it but the mountain is just a wall going up out of sight and there's no hint of peaks or sky. A bit like this photo taken between Wassen and Pfaffensprung.

 

 

So my scenic backdrop tries to mimic that, with detail lower down merging into a grey vagueness higher up that tends to deter the eye from going any higher. 

 

Having said all that, when you stand back and take in the whole layout as in my previous post, there may be a case for something more. I'd be interested in people's thoughts about about what might work.

 

Keith

 

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by Frutigen

[JimFin]

I think there are good arguments for both. the current arrangement and a bit more height. The photos and video's you have posted are showing immersive scenes within the layout and stand fantastically well as it is.

 

Only in the long shot when there is an boundary between the layout scenery and the house environment is there a point that  you might want to address with a taller backdrop but just doing as you say - fade to grey as the eye travels up.

 

I think it really is a visual "depends" how it looks as you come into the room and approach the layout.

 

You could probably do a mock up with a roll of paper to see how it looked and help decide. 

[Satan's Goldfish]

Looking at the picture you've posted above, I understand what you mean about fading to grey as the further away the mountain slopes are the more they are lost in the haze. Rather than it just being a gradual fade though, notice that the closer mountain slopes are more vivid in colour than those that appear behind them.

 

In my view, it can be tough to get a back scene to appear seamless with good model scenery, I wonder if a good option here would be model trees at the top of your cliff (and some variation in height?) to hide the join to 'the wall', with almost a washed out Bob Ross style painting behind it as a back scene. 

[Frutigen]

Thanks Jim and SG. Some great suggestions there, you’ve got me thinking…