Bridge diorama

I recently dismantled a Märklin train layout which included some metal Märklin 7163 and 7161 bridges. The quality of these products from the 1960s is amazing, each bridge section is stamped from metal parts and has the Märklin M-track integrated into each section. I decided to make a diorama for my son to provide a way for him to display some of his trains, as well as show off the beautiful metal bridges.

I had some very warped 7064 bridge piers that were designed to support the bridges, so I decided to use those which still had a usable faces.

There were also some old analog signals and I decided to update one of the signals with LEDs, and drive it with a RemoteSign ESP. See here for how I convert signals to use LEDs

I had some pine planks which had been part of a bed for 40 years and decided to use them as a base, layering them so as to create a small valley.

I screwed the planks together and fastened the bridge piers in place.

The piers seem to have shrunk over the decades and needed to have the space between their lugs made wider to get the tracks to fit.

I smoothed out the slopes with drywall joint compound and added some dried chunks to look like rocks.

I added additional planks at the ends and raised the roadbed so that it was at the same level as the bridge.

I decided to add a small Blockstelle at one end which would house the small RemoteSign ESP controller, the classic Faller B-121. I made a hole in the top plank at the Blockstelle end and fastened it down with two screws that can be removed if wires need to be accessed later.

Installed the electronics...

Gave the valley a base coat of green and brown acrylic paint.

Added some vegetation

Added some EnviroTex Lite resin left over from my lake.

In order to get the epoxy water off the edges and clean up the sides of the diorama, I ran both edges through my table saw!

Added vegetation

Just in case he wants to sit an illuminated train on the bridge one day I wired up one track and threaded the wires into place.

Underside of one of the bridges:

I had some actual Märklin 7299 M-track screws!

There seems to be two versions of 7299, flat and Phillips, I used the newer Phillips ones.

I added some details such as a distance marker and added some ballast:

I then added my son's set Märklin 42751 and his BR 86 from Märklin set 29536

The signal and light in the Blockstelle are powered by a single USB cable. The signal goes green (Hp1) for 2 minutes and then goes back to red (Hp0) for 5 minutes continuously. They can be controlled over wi-fi too.

Traps and pitfalls

As with any hobby, model train layout building has many possible 'mistakes' or things that are done that turn out not to work very well, either visually or functionally.

I thought I would create a list of things one often sees, that I would advise against doing unless you have considered it very carefully. Clearly this is a matter of personal taste, so if you have done, or plan on doing some of these, don't let me stop you, it is your layout, and you do what you like.

Making a lift-out section

When I was making my large valley, I had to come up with some way to be able to work on the valley both while building it, and afterwards. I initially thought up a rather hair-brained scheme of trying to build a support system that would allow me to climb over the layout and reach down onto it, but sanity prevailed and I decided it would not be practical.

I decided to make one section that can be lifted out, carefully positioned so that once removed, I would be able to reach everything from that spot. To make my life easier I decided not to have the river running through that lift-out section as I was concerned about hiding the joins that would cross the water of the river.

Fortunately, I also realized that most of the work on the lift-out section needed to be done first, so that I could work on making the landscape from where the river would be, then take it out to complete the river.

As a result, I worked on three areas of the layout in parallel, the lift-out section, the river valley, and a hill next to the other two parts. This describes how I made the lift-out section.

The first step was to make a plywood base that fitted over some of the benchwork framing.

Making a valley floor

My layout features a rather large valley running through one area which has very little access for doing landscaping. I therefore decided to make the upper valley floor as a separate section that could be landscaped and then moved into place when mostly done.

This hole in the layout is what had to be filled with the valley section.

Making a culvert

When I was creating my lake, I needed a substantial source of water coming into it so that I could justify the water going out through the weir, so I constructed a culvert under the mainline. This shows how I went about creating the culvert.

Technique for reclaiming scatter material

When adding vegetation to the train layout, there is usually a lot of material that does not get stuck down and has to be removed. This is easily removed using a vacuum cleaner of course. I present here the technique I use to not only remove the material, but in such a way that it can be kept clean and reused.

Kaiserschlucht

When making my train landscape, I like to think of how the landscape and structures came about. Doing so helps me imagine topography that is realistic, and erect structures that fit into the landscape.

I recently completed my valley which includes the remains of an old bridge, so here is the story behind the old bridge....

Planting trees

Trees are an important part of almost every landscape. One typically also needs lots of them! I thought I would share my technique of 'planting' them.

Making a lake

My waterfalls are fed from a small lake via a small weir. The lake is used for swimming and boating during the summer. 

This is how I went about creating it.

Making grape vines for a vineyard

Ten years ago I created vineyard using some Faller 18190 kits. Now that I have moved the winery onto a bigger hill, and also intend adding a terraced vineyard, I realized that I was going to need a lot of new grape vines. In fact, I was going to need about 47 meters of HO scale grape vines! Buying such a large number of vine kits was out of the question so I set about to make my own. I had to find a method that was cheap, and able to be scalable for the quantity of vines I needed to produce.

I have now completed adding additional vines to the vineyard and I am documenting the steps I used to create and plant the vines here.

Disaster - take care when drilling!

I was adding some trees to the almost finished landscaping, drilling a hole for the tree, when all of a sudden disaster struck!

Adding concrete and cable style road barrier

When I made the road past the farm in 2007 I used a set of steel fence with concrete posts made by Faller (item 180432). Now that I have painted the road along the side of my big valley, I decided to add some more of that kit there.

Making a river with waterfalls

Having completed the valley sides, it was time to add the stream and waterfalls.

There are two streams, one small one that comes from a small spring and catchment area and then tumbles down some cascades before falling into the valley, and the main valley stream which comes from a lake..

Landscaping a valley with cliffs

I describe here how I created the valley on my layout below my Bietschtal bridge.

Road markings

I recently painted the road between the engine yard and the mainline, and I wanted to add the white lines at the road edge. On my farm road I did many years ago, I masked either side of each line and then painted the lines with white paint, but that was very laborious and there is always the risk of the paint getting underneath the masking tape.

Goods yard

The area next to the Betriebswerk is a small goods yard.

Making poles vertical

I recently installed a lot of catenary masts, often on sloping landscape. Getting the poles all perfectly vertical can be tricky so, since I have laser levels I decided to use them. I am in the very fortunate position to have two, allowing me to direct both lasers onto each pole from different point in the room. This allows me to bend the pole to a good vertical position very quickly.

Here a Sommerfeld mast can be seen with two laser lines in vertical planes shining on the mast, showing that the pole is now vertical.

I know most people may not have a laser level, never mind two of them, but if you can borrow two and use them to straighten all your poles and signals in a day you can save a lot of time.

Mountain building part 2

The farm hill has to be joined to the landscape that runs down to the main station. I followed my usual steps...

Build a framework out of scrap wood,

Mountain repair phase 1

When I removed the farm section from my old house I had to cut the end of the mountain off to make it small enough to transport.

I decided it was time to patch up the end that got cut off and also join the other end onto the landscape of the new layout.

This shows the piece that was cut off.

Since I extended the station tracks, the new tunnel mouth has to move down so I decided to simply rebuild that end of the hill.

Tunnel portals added

I have now added the tunnel portal for the mainline near the bridge and also for the road that goes under the bridge..