Toy Train Scenery Build a ‘Hidden Corner’

I NFORMATION STATION Toy train scenery Build a ‘hidden corner’ Re-creating a scene from Lionel’s postwar display layout story and photos by Stan Trzoniec IONEL’S 1950SDISPLAYLAYOUTin New York City left an impression on me that has lasted a lifetime. To this day, many of this O gauge layout’s fine details and Lsmall scenes are etched in my memory from one three-hour visit decades ago. One scene could have easily been overlooked. On the far corner of the layout was a scene that combined a suburban setting with a pedestrian overpass – it reminded me of the busy commuter stations near my home in New Jersey. Complete with a Lionel no. 132 station, it had tracks that swept out in a wide arc. Farther down the tracks, trains would slip beneath the main surface of the layout only to briefly reappear at a below-grade station before turning back to climb to the main level of the layout. When I began building my layout, which is based on the famous showroom layout, I still had an image of this “hidden corner” in mind. Clearly, I had to adapt the corner into my plans. Cornering an idea My hidden corner has one track that descends to a lower level and then emerges from a tunnel portal to make a sweeping 90-degree curve before climb- ing back to the main level of my layout (photo 1). I added a siding along the curve for an extra train (a four-car string of Lionel Pennsylvania MU cars) to serve rush- hour commuters. Of course, I wanted to leave room for that famous no. 132 station. This part of my layout also features hand-built catenary (as described in CTT’s February 2004 issue). Since my layout’s lower level is about 11 inches below the upper main line, it took me some time to develop a scenery plan that would blend the lower level with the rest of my layout. I decided to conceal part of the added-on siding, hiding it behind a wall that features Scenic Express’ Pennsy cut- block tunnel portals. Adding a side cur- tain to the fascia of my layout later would make the double-deck effect blend in and look truly professional. The back wall separating the corner 1. This is how Stan’s hidden corner scene looked before scenery was added. The from the main surface of my layout station area calls to mind a similar scene from Lionel’s 1949-57 New York City show- offered many different scenery possibili- room layout. Stan adjusted the scenery and added handmade catenary to match ties. I decided a vertical wall, with a flat other parts of his layout. facade, would work best. Somewhere along this wall I wanted another tunnel portal, this time for automobiles. A Chooch HO tunnel portal seemed per- fect for my O gauge vehicles. With this plan in mind and the track in place, I loosely positioned all the structures and scenery components to see where they’d fit best. Now I was ready to build scenery to blend the corner with the main level of my layout. Blending two layers At first I considered using Scenic Express’ Pennsy FlexiWall stone block walls to visually join the upper and lower levels together. These plastic-foam walls can be bent to follow a contour. Ulti- mately I decided on a less man-made appearance, but I found these flexible walls worked nicely as tunnel liners (photo 2) and as bits of retaining wall used elsewhere in my corner scene. I glued these interior walls, plus the portals and larger retaining walls, in place with Liquid Nails. For the back wall of my corner scene, I needed another stony substitute. I chose plaster and cardboard strips. To create a support structure, I sta- pled together a web of 1-inch-wide cardboard strips, covering the open space 2. To break up the vertical wall separating the corner scene from the rest of his between the upper and lower levels of layout, Stan installed a car tunnel using an HO scale tunnel portal and flexible benchwork (photo 3). I also added some stone-block foam walls. The foam walls, used to line the interior of the tunnel, give cardboard strips to the backside of the it depth. 3. Stan created a web of 1-inch-wide cardboard strips as the structural base for 4. Stan glued cardboard strips to the his plaster scenery. The short retaining wall pieces are made from the same flexible back of the tunnel portals to allow plas- material as his tunnel liners. ter wrap to join the portal stonework. 5. Once the cardboard webs were secured on the hillside, Stan covered the card- 6. Stan ran the plaster wrap right up board strips with plaster wrap, poking and prodding the wet wrap to create a to the edges of the portals and the rougher surface that mimics excavated rock. Most of the holes in the gauze-like retaining walls as a means of blending material disappeared under a coating of Gypsolite that was applied later. the scenery materials. portals so they could later be blended to enhance the appearance and strength spots along the walls with some earth into the adjacent scenery (photo 4). of the shell. brown latex paint, using an almost dry I used plaster wrap (a gauze-like fab- After allowing the plaster to dry for brush with each pass. (My mixture, ric impregnated with plaster) and Gyp- several days, I coated it with slate gray which I selected from a paint strip at solite (a lightweight plaster) to create acrylic stain from Woodland Scenics’ Home Depot, is called San Andreas the shell. I simply cut the plaster wrap earth color liquid pigments line, applied Brown, but you don’t need to match my into 4-inch strips, soaked the strips in with a spray bottle (photo 7). First I color exactly.) warm water, and applied them over the evenly applied a base coat; then an hour When the paint and stain were dry, I cardboard. By poking and prodding the later I added an extra coat or two near added various ground covers using still-wet material in places as I applied it, the tracks to simulate weathering from matte medium as an adhesive. I used I created surface imperfections to mimic train traffic. Woodland Scenics ground foams excavated stone (photos 5 and 6). I allowed the stain to dry for a few (weeds, green blend, and earth colors) Next, I added a coating of Gypsolite days, and then I touched up the high plus some Scenic Express Flock and Turf Bill of materials Stan used these materials to build his corner scene. Brand-name products are listed, when applica- ble. Chooch HO tunnel portal Gypsolite Latex paint (earth brown) Liquid Nails Matte medium N scale cork roadbed Plaster wrap Scenic Express Flock and Turf ground cover (summer lawn) Scenic Express Pennsy FlexiWalls stone-cut walls Scenic Express Pennsy O gauge tunnel portals (3) 3 1 Wood strips ( ⁄4-inch- and ⁄4-inch- wide) Woodland Scenics coarse ballast (brown and gray) Woodland Scenics earth color liquid pigments (slate gray) Woodland Scenics ground foams (various colors) 7. After applying Gypsolite on top of the plaster wrap, Stan created a rocky Woodland Scenics trees and lichen appearance by spraying a base coating of Woodland Scenics slate gray stain to the surface. He used a clean quart bottle and a spray attachment from a weed killer kit. 8. For added realism, Stan applied 9. For the station platform, Stan used wood forms on both sides of the track, glu- stain inside the tunnel opening and ing them to the ties under the track with Liquid Nails and temporarily holding them added bits of lichen to cover the seams in place with braces and map pins. The cork strips in the tracks are actually pieces between the retaining walls and portal. of N scale roadbed that Stan later painted black. (summer lawn color). I also added some railroad line. These strips are about even with the cinder material to give added depth to My plan was to fill in the space height of the top of the rails. It took a lit- spots and then glued on trees and lichen between the curved tracks and the siding tle jury-rigging and some map pins (love to give more life to the horizontal sur- to create a flat surface nearly even with those flags!) to secure the strips in place faces atop the rocky wall and to hide any the top of the rails. while the Liquid Nails dried. seams on the vertical surfaces (photo 8). I first inserted and then glued strips Next, for fill, I purchased a few bags of N scale cork roadbed between the of Woodland Scenics coarse brown bal- Building a station platform outer and center rails on both tracks, last. I poured the ballast between the My desire to include a no. 132 station making sure to leave a gap for wheel wood-strip borders until it was flush with in my corner scene involved more than flanges on the outer rails. the top edge of the wood. I leveled off 3 merely setting the structure in place. I Next, I glued some ⁄4-inch-wide wood the ballast as best I could, then added wanted a convincing station platform, strips tightly against the track ties to cre- matte medium with an eyedropper to fix like commuters might see along a busy ate a border for my platform (photo 9).

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