Greetings!
Before you look at my layout, you should probably understand why it looks like it does and why I've ended up where I am.
A few weeks back I stumbled across a box containing the trains I played with as a kid some 15 years ago. I soon got the idea that I should set them up on the coffee table to see if they still worked. I promptly found that I had no track and that's where it all began.
The next day I went to the LHS and bought a few packets of Atlas sectional track; enough to make a loop. To my surprise, the old locos ran perfectly. So, after a night of watching the trains do circles, I figured that I needed some more track. Off I went to get a few more packets and some switches. After making a figure 8, and some basic track designs, I noticed I was starting to scratch up the table. By this time, I'd started browsing the net and heard people talking about "pink foam" and decided it would be a good thing to protect the table for a few days before I got bored and packed it all away again.
After cutting up my foam (it's blue over here) I had a nice cover for the table and some left over bits. I figured, hey - I should use the leftovers to make a mountain. I then wondered if I could make it look better with some spackle over the top - Yep. So with the mountain looking pretty good (but very white), I thought, I'd grab a few sample pots of brown paint and chuck some colour on there. This is about the time I should have stopped. The problem with driving past the local model train store on the way to work is that it's very easy to just stop in and have a browse.
So, 2 weeks later I now had some cork road bed, some grass, foliage, trees etc and off I went. Since I was never intending this to be permanent, I didn't really put any planning into making a layout - I just wanted to get as much track into the small space that I had (2.5'x3'). I ended up using the two loops with a cross over so I could have two trains running, or one train running around both tracks.
The result is what you see below - a basic mini roundy round layout with nothing in the middle. This is where you blokes come in. I've been trawling these forums reading just about every post back to 2004 trying to get some ideas, but I just can't find anything.
Ideally I'd like to have something in the middle, whether it be a small factory with a couple of sidings, a town, a mine, I don't know. Every idea I come up with I discard as I think it would look silly perched in the middle of the donut shaped track.
If anyone can offer a suggestion, or offer some inspirational images to get me going, I'd be very grateful.
Thanks and regards,
Scott.
PS : I also have a question about my ballasting. I've used Woodland Scenics Fine Grey, but it looks out of place with the rest of the scenary. Do you think I could use a very light black wash to add a bit of texture to it?
Before you look at my layout, you should probably understand why it looks like it does and why I've ended up where I am.
A few weeks back I stumbled across a box containing the trains I played with as a kid some 15 years ago. I soon got the idea that I should set them up on the coffee table to see if they still worked. I promptly found that I had no track and that's where it all began.
The next day I went to the LHS and bought a few packets of Atlas sectional track; enough to make a loop. To my surprise, the old locos ran perfectly. So, after a night of watching the trains do circles, I figured that I needed some more track. Off I went to get a few more packets and some switches. After making a figure 8, and some basic track designs, I noticed I was starting to scratch up the table. By this time, I'd started browsing the net and heard people talking about "pink foam" and decided it would be a good thing to protect the table for a few days before I got bored and packed it all away again.
After cutting up my foam (it's blue over here) I had a nice cover for the table and some left over bits. I figured, hey - I should use the leftovers to make a mountain. I then wondered if I could make it look better with some spackle over the top - Yep. So with the mountain looking pretty good (but very white), I thought, I'd grab a few sample pots of brown paint and chuck some colour on there. This is about the time I should have stopped. The problem with driving past the local model train store on the way to work is that it's very easy to just stop in and have a browse.
So, 2 weeks later I now had some cork road bed, some grass, foliage, trees etc and off I went. Since I was never intending this to be permanent, I didn't really put any planning into making a layout - I just wanted to get as much track into the small space that I had (2.5'x3'). I ended up using the two loops with a cross over so I could have two trains running, or one train running around both tracks.
The result is what you see below - a basic mini roundy round layout with nothing in the middle. This is where you blokes come in. I've been trawling these forums reading just about every post back to 2004 trying to get some ideas, but I just can't find anything.
Ideally I'd like to have something in the middle, whether it be a small factory with a couple of sidings, a town, a mine, I don't know. Every idea I come up with I discard as I think it would look silly perched in the middle of the donut shaped track.
If anyone can offer a suggestion, or offer some inspirational images to get me going, I'd be very grateful.
Thanks and regards,
Scott.
PS : I also have a question about my ballasting. I've used Woodland Scenics Fine Grey, but it looks out of place with the rest of the scenary. Do you think I could use a very light black wash to add a bit of texture to it?