Model Forum / General / Railroads / February 2005

Hard shell scenery is the way to go.  It is basically a thin shell of
plaster wiht newspaper as a carrier for the plaster, kind of like the
plaster bandages that doctors use.
The next thing is to not use the 4x8 plywood base for your layout but rather
put the plywood only where the tracks are and use the hardshell process to
fill in the rest of the layout.
Personally, I use spline roadbed and hardshell sceneray on my layouts.
Spline roadbed is best for larger radius curves as you need to bend the
splines but it does make for a very nice roadbed when you use it.  Minimum
radius of about 24" or so, depending upon the type of wood and the thickness
that you use for the splines.

--
Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

Two helpful books:

"Basic Scenery for Model Railroads" by Lou Sassi:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0890244227/qid%3D1020910850/ref%3Dsr%5F11
%5F0%5F1/104-3183206-0063943/billsrailroaempi/102-7028332-4471300

"HO Railroad from Start to Finish" by Jim Kelly:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0890241554/qid%3D1021951871/br%3D1-18/ref
%3Dbr%5Flf%5Fb%5F18/104-8297489-4182360/billsrailroaempi/102-7028332-4471300

These are inexpensive books. Most are 32% off list and include free
shipping on orders over $25.

Good luck with your model railroad!

Bill
Bill's Railroad Empire
N Scale Model Railroad:
http://www.billsrailroad.net
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http://www.billsrailroad.net/bookstore
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http://www.billsrailroad.net/bills-favorite-links