Scenery

Aerial view from a hot air balloon

When it comes to the natural scenery, the lay of the land, and the landscaping of the railway, my plan is to probably go the way of natural materials first.  I did that with the rock wall that creates the terrace between the upper and lower elevations.  The upper area is the high desert and the lower area is more green and lush; a transition I drove through many times in my youth going from the Antelope Valley of southern California through the San Gabriel Mountains into the lower basin of San Fernando and Los Angeles.  What those of us who grew up in the high desert referred to as “going down below”.

When I was shopping for figures I came across a pack train sculpture made of resin that had a rocky base.  It fit in well scale wise and I was able to make a pretty smooth transition from real rock to the sculpture that looks as though the pack train is making a transition from one strata layer of the desert to another at the desert floor.  After a couple of years in the outdoors, the rock portion of the sculpture has faded a bit and needs some touch up.  I’ll be able to blend the colors of the fake to the real for a smoother transition.

Pack train making its way to Idaho Springs.

We don’t have the free standing sandstone creations in the Mojave Desert like you find in Utah’s Goblin Valley or Arizona’s Monument Valley, but when I saw large fish tank decoration with a “picture window” opening, I had to have it.  The railway is a remembrance of my youth and travels with the family all over the southwestern U.S. so I went ahead and indulged.  It is built to sit underwater so it will definitely withstand the rigors of harsh weather in Virginia. It also helps to create a divide between different scenes along the railway.

Picture Frame Rock

Since it is a mini-garden railway, the more details I add, the more finished the railway looks.  But I don’t believe we ever really finish a railway.  There will always be some small detail piece that I will come across and add now and then.