Saturday, August 25, 2007

Real California Scenery!

Latest progress: scenery in the hills. This is the east end of the Glenwood siding. I'd never been sure how I'd put scenery in this area; the track turns a corner and goes into the upper staging yard, so I never thought I had room for anything interesting. In January, I realized that the real line out of Glenwood crossed the nearby Bean Creek, and eventually entered a tunnel as the track headed towards Santa Cruz. Having a creek and tunnel scene sounded perfect; I'd have a focal point for the scene, and I'd have a way to hide the staging yard.

After a bit of work with the saber saw, I had space for the creek. The rest of the work happened in fits and starts; I finally put in several days of effort to finish the rough scenery, paint the backdrop, and add ground cover and trees.


Here's a picture of the whole scene; the road in the background represents the Glenwood Highway leading towards Scotts Valley and Santa Cruz. Simple ground cover, trees, and the backdrop are done; the bridge's foundation obviously needs work. To the left, the road and track are separated by a field, with large trees lining the road. There's also a railroad section house on the left bank of the creek.


With this scene done, it's time to move onward to the summit tunnel and the redwood forests!