While I’m working on the train, my girlfriend, Lynne, was inspired to try her hand at making a model, too. I suggested that she could make the base for the engine. It would need to have a custom track laid on a wooden base. But instead of having a plain base, we thought it would be a good idea to make a diorama scene.
From there, we decided to model the scene roughly after the DRR sidings in 1955, with its bare decomposed granite ground, gray track ballast, and “ranch style” wooden fence along the track.
So, after planning out the scene, she got to work. Here’s Lynne’s progress on the base:
The tracks were dry laid just to see how it’s all coming together. The ballast is still being tweaked.
The fencing was built to be about waist-height, so that it doesn’t block the view of the engine. The next steps will be making the vegetation and weathering.