MrTea

More progress between Crestas and Plaz tunnel this evening. It seems you can never have too many trees… Looking east down the line. Close up of Plaz tunnel portal. It’s had a black wash to bring out the detail of the stonework. Needs a name sign printing and gluing in place to complete the look. The next job here is to add more drifting snow to the right to help blend the joint to the next board and then a layer of snow powder to finish. More tomorrow, if time permits.

Plaz tunnel work in progress: The tunnel portal has had the stones picked out in various greys and then dry brushed with a green/brown/black mix to simulate the vegetation that seems to be a feature on prototype photos. You can also see a few trees planted top right. God tunnel update: At the other end of the layout the first stage of vegetation is in. I’m not 100% on the colour as it seems a little too green but I’m hoping after some longer winter fibres and some dark bare bushes are added it’ll start to come together more. I can always add more snow on top at the end.

Thanks for the feedback and advice everyone. Yesterday saw some more progress on the Plaz tunnel board. With the snow powder I’d ordered some Noch and some from WWScenics. The WWScenics wasn’t so successful as it had some chunkier crystals in it but the Noch product seems very fine and floats in a very snow-like manner when applied using the Precision Ice and Snow sieve. Anyway this board has now had a couple of layers of Noch snow applied using a combination of WWScenics basing glue and cheepo hairspray. The goal being to get to a point where I could add small trees along the backscene. I’ve added a layer of trees to help blend the 3D scene into the 2D background painting. Looking again at my trusty Google Streetview link I noticed that there are quite a lot of trees around this portal so I’ve ordered a few more small and medium trees that can be used. The next job was the snow drifts around the portal itself. In the video I’m using for a reference the snow around here is still quite deep as it can’t get much direct sunlight during the day. The pack of lightweight air dry clay had arrived (good old Amazon Prime) so I could make a start. This is what I’m using: Here’s one side completed: Job done: Next I need to paint the tunnel portal and apply a layer of snow powder on top to finish off.

Darj B would be a great choice.

I think the loco looks really smart in green, especially the chrome lettering. It’s amazing to think they’re 50 years old! It’ll be interesting to see how their other planned projects come together. Remodelling the front of a Ge 6/6 II, for example, won’t be a simple job!

Good evening Veja Megstra viewers. There's been some good progress on the layout this evening. Firstly I finished painting the backscene on the Plaz Tunnel board: I've tried to match the original painting style as much as possible, as before using watercolours. It's now had a coat of matt picture varnish to seal it. I've never quite found a good way of simulating the drifting snow you see on the lineside on the prototype e.g. But tonight I stumbled across something that might be the answer. One of my kids recently had a birthday and one of the presents was a set of lightweight air dry clays. It's weirdly spongy in consistency even when dried but I thought I'd try some of the white version out and I was quite pleased with the results. The blobby smooth forms seem to lend themselves well to the shape of accumulations of snow found in cuttings and around lineside features. It's easy to work and seems fairly easy to remove if you make a mistake. Here's a test shot of a trial layer near the Crestas bridge: I'll probably add some snow powder on top but it looks promising. Lastly I'll leave you with a question: On the 3-arch bridge should I include the railings that were installed recently when the structures were modernised or does the bridge look better without them? (I think the latter would fit how it was in the 2005-2010 period when the layout is broadly set) With Without I think either would be fine but I'd be interested to know your thoughts. Thanks for reading! Ian

That looks like a good layout Mike, thanks for sharing your photos. I did manage to do a bit of work on the Bergün scene over the weekend so it will be interesting to see how it’s turned out once the glue has dried. In the meantime here are a couple of wide angle shots showing the scene across the two boards. God tunnel (left), over-bridge at Crestas (centre). Middle section leading to Plaz tunnel (off-scene right). I’ve added some statement trees in the foreground here. There may be some additional bare deciduous trees to add if I can create something convincing from a seafoam base. There’s a bit more work on the snow (drifts etc.) and then I’ll be able to add the OHLE and signals that will help bring this side of the layout to life. More to follow soon…

There’s a new distraction at Veja Megstra… Somehow I acquired an Atlas Grand Trunk Western Alco S-4 with DCC sound before Christmas. It’s not very Swiss. But in my defence, it is a lovely model, and it sounds quite cool. Personally I blame YouTube and the Hattons pre-Christmas offers (that’s where the Micro-Trains boxcars came from). So there’s a possibility of a US-themed shelf layout at some point in the future. Watch this space…

Thanks for the suggestion @benjy14! Further afforestation has taken place over the weekend: Plus I’ve planted a few of the foreground trees that’ll help frame the scene: Lots still to do. But getting there.

I’ve made some progress in the last week or so with the middle board. Over the weekend I got the first layer of snow down, again using Krycell powder attached with firm hold hair spray. Bridge and track masked off and snowing in progress. I do wish I’d read the instructions a bit more thoroughly because I discovered part way through that it's recommended you hold the sieve more than 30cm away from the surface you’re applying the powder to. You can see that there’s quite a texture on some of this, oddly reminiscent of the plaster bandage texture I’d previously covered up with a layer of filler! Anyway, that’s a first layer down across the whole board and it meant that I could make a start on planting some trees in front of the back scene. First (tiny) trees planted along the ridge line. I think these were by Busch but they’ve been in the bottom of my box of trees for quite a long time. Later image showing the forest along the hill side. There are a mix of makes of tree in here but I’ve tried to keep to the darker ones to match the painting and the reference photos I have. Typically I’ve now got to a point where I’ve run low on supplies. I don’t think the Precision Ice and Snow range is available anywhere so I’ve had to order some Noch snow powder so we’ll see how that looks when it arrives. Hopefully I’ve ordered enough trees to complete this scene too! Next steps are to add additional snow and trees (there will be one or two in the foreground too) and attempt to create some sparse bushes using the methods Peter recommended in his previous post. There might even be the chance to run some trains at some point!

Hi Keith, +1 for Mafen signals from me. I’ve got a couple installed on the loop at Veja Megstra and for me they look the part: I’ve only ever had them temporarily wired up as I had plans to do something cleverer with them that linked in with the turnouts. I believe these are fairly accurate representations of the SBB signals you’d find on standard gauge lines. The box seems to indicate they could be used for BLS lines too? (these are waiting to be installed once the scenery gets a bit further developed. I’ve no idea how I’m going to wire up the multi-aspect square headed one!)

Managed to fit in an hour or so of work on the layout yesterday in between essential domestic activities. The back scene on the middle board of the Bergun scene has now had a coat of matt picture varnish (I still have occasional flashbacks from when I used the wrong sort on the Chaneletta Galerie back scene...). And I added some more snow to the God tunnel board. It's quite a messy activity (best conducted outside) as there seems to be a fair amount that doesn't stick to the hairspray - maybe I need to watch the instruction video again! What I did do yesterday morning was make a plan: I think I've worked like this from a marked-up photo before but not necessarily one of the part-complete layout. It was quite a nice quick way to get my thoughts down on what I need to do next. The smaller details came from revisiting the location on Google Streetview, which is my go to research source for this section of line. The fact that you can pan around and zoom in makes it great to see what there is in the real location. I'm going to have to order some more trees as I only have ones that are too large or too small in my stock. I suppose I could look at making my own but I think there are other things I'd rather be getting on with. Does anyone know of a good source of winter bushes for n scale? I need something to go along the ridge line on the cutting where the gradient flattens out e.g. Everything I've got is a bit too leafy or green. I suppose a few grass clumps might do the job with a bit of a black/brown wash over them? This is the plan for the next board: I'm hoping I might get some of this done during the evenings this week. Again this board needs an initial layer of snow and then I'd like to repeat planting some trees along the back scene where the hill joins the painted scene. I'll also have to add some ballast to the shoulders around the track even though I'll probably end up covering up some of my good work with snow powder.

I think that's some sound advice from Keith AKA @Frutigen above. I've also got some sweeping/snaking curves on Veja Megstra that use Kato Unitrack with a degree of homemade super elevation. However as my prototype is the RhB's Albula line again it's single rather than double track. I don't see why you couldn't use the double track sections to achieve an aesthetically pleasing arrangement. I know they have easement curves that start with the tracks flat in profile before leading to a banked arrangement. The only disadvantage with the double track pieces is that I believe there are only a limited selection of radii available compared to the single track where there's a really wide variety? From a quick look at the Train Trax website it looks like there are 6 radii: R282 + R315, R381 + R414, R447 + R480. One of the best layouts I've seen that uses the super elevated double curves is Model Railroader Magazine's Salt Lake Route: https://www.trains.com/mrr/videos-photos/videos/beginners/the-salt-lake-route-part-1-the-inspiration-for-a-small-layout/ It's US rather than Swiss, but is a great example of 'trains in the landscape' in a fairly modest overall space.

Thanks @Mike Beard. I've started the process of reinstating the images on the thread too. It's not necessarily a quick process as it's not always easy to work out which image I'd used originally but I think it's worthwhile. Without the images the thread doesn't really tell the story of the layout, it definitely makes more sense with them inline. Here's a quick update showing where I got to at the end of last weekend: I peeled back the masking tape on the track and around the tunnel mouth and temporarily installed a few OHLE masts for the photos. The first layer of snow seems to have been quite successful but as you can see I got impatient and installed a layer of trees in front of the backscene while the snow was still drying. They're a mix of Footpath pine trees and Model Scene spruce trees. I particularly like the dead branch variety here as they're in keeping with the trees I've seen on reference photos in this location. There's quite a good sense of depth now but I think a few more trees wouldn't go amiss overall. I need to replace the tunnel mouth as it's become discoloured in storage and whilst scenic work has been taking place. I'm tempted to replace it with textured stone material if I can find a good match, although the original print from a photo method was very quick and convenient. Close in view showing the snow texture. It needs more deep snow around the tunnel portal and some representation of ploughed compacted snow along the trackside. You can see how good some of the trees look but there are also some weird shadows going on with the lighting that you wouldn't see in real life. Drone shot. This shows how I probably need to add some fallen trees and general undergrowth to help mask the join between the snowy hillside and the painted back scene. The exposed ballast, cleared of snow, is prototypical based on the cab ride video I'm using as a reference. The Veja Megstra track gang hard at work. I think the scene is coming together quite well. I'll look to add another layer of snow and revisit the forest in a future update. Meanwhile there's another 3 feet or so just off camera to the left that needs covering in snow!

Saturday afternoon saw the back scene varnished and the tunnel mouth masked up with some Post-it notes: First coat of snow completed last night: I'm using Precision Ice & Snow's Krycell product, which appears to be out of production at the moment. It's fixed down with cheap hairspray from Superdrug! I think based on the instructional clips I watched it'll need a few coats but I gather you can get some interesting blown snow and drift effects with a bit of practice. Erk!

It's been nearly 2 years, but over the weekend a renewed bout of enthusiasm for all things RhB resulted in me dusting down one of the layout boards and finally getting on with this! It was a combination of a running session on the dining room table with the Glacier Express set and some EW1 coaches plus watching a few YouTube videos that reminded me what fun the Kato RhB stock can be.

I spent an enjoyable 1/2 day at Abrail 24 yesterday, partly prompted by the positive comments in this thread. I'd agree that the quality of layouts was good and I thought there was a great variety of layouts of all shapes, sizes and settings. I think the selection of different eras and geographic locations depicted will have appealed to the general public as well as the more serious railway modeller. Here are a few images I took to give a flavour of the exhibits: N gauge on an epic scale - James Street (very much a system layout of almost baffling complexity) Contemporary 00 set in Staffordshire - Whiteacres Dual gauge Victoria, Australia - Broadford (notable for the entire 20 foot+ fiddle yard traverser being mounted on wheels) 1930s trains in the landscape, 2mm Finescale - Drws Y Nant Grimy 2000s China with lots of steam and diesel action - Beijao by @TEAMYAKIMA A window into the world of York in the 1930s in 2mm FS - York (it was worth a look round behind the scenes to see the complexity of the off-stage running lines) A Swiss mountain excursion in HOm - Bergellerbahn

Hi Keith, It sounds like you've got a great space to work with and lots of potential for your layout. I've been contemplating a US-excursion for a switching layout since before Christmas albeit in N scale after I 'accidentally' acquired a sound-fitted Alco S4 switcher at a price that seemed too good not to. In the research for my potential layout I found quite a lot of interesting material on YouTube. As well as Boomer Diorama (https://www.youtube.com/@boomerdioramas) that @Keith Addenbrooke mention's above I found the South Down Switching Layout (https://www.youtube.com/@SouthDown) had some quite interesting videos on the topic. There's also some great material on James Hilton's Blog, especially in the Beaverbrook section: https://paxton-road.blogspot.com/search/label/beaverbrook Keep us posted on your progress! Ian

Thanks for sharing this Peter. Having watched the video now I think the new buildings look excellent in N. The Albulabahn model featuring the Easy Track system is also pretty special. Hats off to the Noch staff who put that together including the catenary! I think this embed should start at the correct point for anyone that's interested:

There don’t seem to be many places left that have them in stock from the first run. I’ve been idly contemplating an ‘Alice’ for a while but I can’t find one to buy online despite trawling through several pages of search results. Whether that means a second run is likely is anyone’s guess. Presumably there are a fair few liveries/configurations not yet catered for?

Thanks for these CRW. Much appreciated. Team Track Models looks to be the closest equivalent to Scalescenes in terms of website presence. It hadn’t occurred to me before but am I likely to need US Letter-sized paper to get the best from these kits? I can imagine translating to A4 might give some scaling issues?

Does anyone know if there’s an equivalent of the Scalescenes range for US prototype structures? I’m considering building a US-themed small shelf layout and I wondered if I’d need to look at plastic kits or laser cut kits for any structures. Thanks for any pointers on this. Ian

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. The GNER Mk3s are lovely but there didn't seem to be much else in the way of coaching stock, particularly steam era carriages? I even went back to the 2023 range announcement to see what was in that - answer, no new tooling, but a slightly wider range of prototypes including LNER Gresleys, Era 1 coach packs, and MK3s in Blue/Grey and Intercity: Maybe it's just catching up with the backlog? But you would have thought that some of the existing tooling they've got could have warranted a re-run if there were production slots available e.g. Mk1s, Staniers, Colletts etc?

I think this quote from Blackadder Goes Forth kind of sums up my reaction to this news: I was fortunate to be able to attend the final show last November and enjoyed the experience. There was a very good mix of layouts, demonstrations and trade stands. It was only my second visit to Warley, the first one being 2018. Thanks to everyone who's helped put the show together over the years. It will be missed.

This did come up on the Q&A on YouTube this afternoon. They're not announcing a model now but the guys made it sound like there could be a separate Collector Club announcement later on in the year. From 19m 25s in, if you're interested.