Boyd’s been back in touch with more of his stunning HO scale scenery:
“Hello Al,
I’m attaching a few pictures of the progress made over the winter.
As usual, I did not get as much accomplished as planned, partially because of other projects that seem to pop up and demand my time, and partially because my trial-and-error approach quite often veers in the direction of error.
In any event, it’s always a learning experience, and all great fun.
A couple of the pics may be repeats of earlier submissions, but I made a few changes, and started with a pic of the quarry area and worked down the mountain from there.
For those who did not see the earlier posts, this is HO scale, benchwork is roughly 12×15 feet, and operated with NCE DCC system.
There will eventually be an area dedicated to each of the grandkids, you will 3 of them in this group of pics.
One grandson presented me with a picture of me and him working on a scene, it proudly hangs in the train room.
Here is the scene he worked on, you can see where his interests lie..
Overview of the layout
Quarry area
HO scale scenery:
Local resident
Logging camp, finally got the skidder built
Another local resident
Tunnel exit
Mountain cabin
Mountain cabin up close
Bridge
Mila’s mountain
Leo’s lookout
Bennett’s brook
Waterfalls
Success!!!
Well, that’s it for now, Summer activities and travel will limit my time to do much more until the late Fall. Take care, and thanks for your support for the hobby.
Boyd”
A huge, big, thank you to Boyd for sharing his stunning HO scale scenery.
If you missed his last two posts, they really are worth looking at:
(Boyd’s layout also reminded me of Laurence’s: Model railway scenery. and Mark’s thinking about it: How to build model train scenery.)
Boyd’s post is also a wonderful reminder about the important things in this hobby: family and having fun.
I do love the layouts that have stores or places named after friends and family. It’s a really nice touch.
Boyd’s post also reminded me of one of Dan’s:
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming.
And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.
Best
Al
PS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.
Need buildings for your layout? Have a look at the Silly Discount bundle.
love the logging area. also you always have to have a moose in the road, its a requirement. really nice terrain.
Very skilled high quality work. An inspiration to the rest of us.
i like it very good
That is amazing , blows me away to see such realistic scenes … don’t know how you do it . Really superb craftsmanship and detail . Truly a talent .
Boyd
What a sweet layout and nothing better than a narrative involving the kids & what you do. Cant have a modern day train layout without a T Rex biting off some ones head. That means the grandkids are involved. Awesome.
Great modeling and hope to hear a lot of you soon.
Big Al
Amazing! You keep rounding up talent like a Pied Piper.
Muchos Gracias.
Hey Boyd, I love the scenery. I think that’s what makes a routine layout a great layout. Well done. I’m curious where you got the Sasquatch. I have a Sasquatch on my HO layout, but it’s not a very good one. The other one that I found on line similar to yours was a female with 38” DD’s! LOL. Not exactly what I was looking for. Great job on the mountain too!
Another stunning layout to start my day off with. Thank you, Al, and Happy Easter to Everyone!
Kirk in Tacoma
WOW! The craftsmanship on this is first rate!
Fabulous scenery Boyd!! Makes the layout shine!! Never met a moose I didn’t like!!
Bob from NYC
I haven’t been involved in model railroading for many years. I’d like to know what NCE and DCC systems are and how they operate.
A very nice layout with a lot of awesome scenery. I love the logging area, well done. I also like your water scenes.
Great ho layout ..well done…I model in o scale I wish I had a large. Space to build a bigger o scale…
Very nice work! Love the moose.
Thanks for the comments folks.
Ken, go to Etsy.com and search for ColorScaleModels, I’m pretty sure that’s where I got the Sasquatch. Like everything else, prices have gone up since I purchased 2 or 3 years ago.
George, I really can’t do the topic justice, but in a nutshell, if you have used DC in the past, it controls the power to the track, so by adjusting power level and polarity you control the speed and direction of the train. Digital Command Control, DCC, supplies a constant voltage to the track, and you send signals to each individual loco via decoders inside them to control direction, speed, bells, horns, etc. There are many articles on line or books that will do a much better job than I at filling in the details. NCE is simply the name of the manufacturer of the equipment I use.
Nicely done! Balance was great. Details were excellent! Good job!!👍
Realism makes a layout stand out and you have raised the bar. The more i look, the more I see. Great job, and glad your Grandson is involved.
Roger in Kansas
There are so many great layouts on this blog and I enjoy them all, but for some reason Boyd’s is the one that speaks to me the most. I am really impressed with his scenery and attention detail. Especially the whimsical ones. Boyd is an inspiration.
Superb detail Boyd. Congratulations.
Hi Boyd,
What a beautiful job you have done with your layout. I don’t have a layout any more but I love to start my day observing the genius of so many active model railroaders such as yourself. I have posted before about fascia, which is my pet peeve, so don’t take this personally please. If it were me, I would make a concerted effort to blend the fascia (border) of my layout into the scenery beyond. I believe that, in your case, your beautiful scenery would be really enhanced by softening the colors to browns and beiges as in camo and making an effort to blend the edges into the overall picture. You could also drape the land over the edge or have retaining walls or any number of effects on the border to catch your eye and lead you into the scenery beyond. Just some (hopefully) positive thoughts on a simple way to make your scenes look even more real instead of defining them by the hard-stop border. Jus’ sayin’
Peace out!
Hope that’s not you in the mouth of the T-Rex …
Love the dinosaur eating and the moose in the road. I also have the small cabin with a porch (in pic with black pickup and outhouse) but mine is on a mesa with sheepherder characters (Noch #15751 Sheep Shearing).
Model railroading does not have to be a replica of reality. I have a cave with Jawas and a window rock with a stegosaurus skeleton, a river and waterfall, and two train tracks.
The rocks are some of the very best I have seen on thus site. THANKS
Very nice. You’ve covered all the bases. The photography, great detail, fantastic modeling skills and added whimsically, makes this a work of art. Thanks for sharing.
Jim AZ
No one has commented on the absolute neatness of this layout, wall and floor. Amazing ! My train room unfortunately is the repository for all sorts of things. Quite a mess. Boyd’s layout is a thing of beauty!
What a beautiful layout…the scenery is done so well and with so much attention to the little details! And I love the hidden gems…Sasquatch, moose, dinosaurs. They add the perfect final touch which really draws you in to look closer. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more updates!
Boyd, I was going to accuse you of using REAL shots until I saw the edge of the layout. Honestly, it makes people like me jealous to see such wonderful scenery. I only hope that when I get tothat stage, I can come close, even a little close, to scenes like yours. Wonderful. Thank you.
Oh, one small comment, T Rex has a big appetite and will have to be kept away from farms and populated areas. Have you considered how to accomplish that?
Thank you again for the inspiration to do well in MY scenery.
Frank, Surrey, BC< Canada
Looks fantastic ! The picture of the grandson is priceless!!