# My first layout. 4x8' table built. Couple questions.



## AdRockTrains (Mar 3, 2015)

So here's the table my girlfriend and I built this weekend. There's 2" of foam board on there. I put a slide out shelf underneath for controls, etc. 










Now... the BIG question:

What to do next?

Here's my idea and please tell me if it's terrible:
Paint the whole board green and add a layer of grass to the whole thing as a base and just build and blend from there. 

I want to leave the track movable for a while and just kind of do a rough layout of building and roads and then once I am fairly sure about it... build up terrain and more permanent stuff.

Thoughts?


----------



## sknight751 (Feb 18, 2013)

*Paint and grass*

Layout looks solid, simple and using the foam is a great idea. Makes the loco run quieter and its easy to add stuff like trees, etc. You just poke a hole in it. And you can carve out ravines, streams, etc. 
Do the paint and grass all at once. That way, the grass will stick to the wet paint. To keep it natural, go to the hardware store and buy a quart paint of a "dirty, green/brown color. Then purchase three colors of fine "grass" (basically dyed sawdust). Buy a dark green, a yellow green, and a really brown green. Don't spread the colors evenly. Go heavy on dark green in some areas and heavy on the lighter colors in others. Work in small sections so the paint doesn't dry before you get the grass on it.


----------



## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Very nice workmanship. Looks good.

But, you might take your time to start working
on scenery. I'm betting that as the days go on
you're gonna be saying...is that all there is...round
and round she goes. There must be more to
trains...and there is. 

You'll likely start planning another layout design...maybe
one with turnouts, spurs and a yard so you can actually do things
with your trains.

Don


----------



## AdRockTrains (Mar 3, 2015)

DonR said:


> Very nice workmanship. Looks good.
> 
> But, you might take your time to start working
> on scenery. I'm betting that as the days go on
> ...


Well the track layout isn't final... well it might not be. I plan on trying a few other things and playing around with it before making it permanent. This design was to try and get the train to travel in many directions and visit lots of places on my small table. I get what you're saying and will put lots of thought into it... and of course, take my time. 

Thanks for the input! 



sknight751 said:


> Layout looks solid, simple and using the foam is a great idea. Makes the loco run quieter and its easy to add stuff like trees, etc. You just poke a hole in it. And you can carve out ravines, streams, etc.
> Do the paint and grass all at once. That way, the grass will stick to the wet paint. To keep it natural, go to the hardware store and buy a quart paint of a "dirty, green/brown color. Then purchase three colors of fine "grass" (basically dyed sawdust). Buy a dark green, a yellow green, and a really brown green. Don't spread the colors evenly. Go heavy on dark green in some areas and heavy on the lighter colors in others. Work in small sections so the paint doesn't dry before you get the grass on it.


Thanks for the tips!


----------



## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Before you get too much into scenery, it is a good idea to think about structures -- houses, businesses, factories, locomotive service areas, yard buildings, etc. It takes some time to acquire and/or build these. But if you don't glue them down, you can keep moving them around as your layout develops. As you start to layout buildings and roads, you may come up with ideas as to how to modify your track layout.

Scenery, on the other hand, is hard to move around -- except maybe for trees.

Look at some of the other threads under "My layout". Some layouts are pretty large, but you can still get some ideas about things you might want to include in your layout.


----------



## Shadowplayer (Oct 31, 2014)

Yes, structures first, then work the track plan around that. 

Scenery is easy and fun to add, and anything can go anywhere. Just be sure you have everything where you want it BEFORE starting the scenery

another mistake I made...


----------



## AdRockTrains (Mar 3, 2015)

Thanks guys! Great advice!


----------



## AdRockTrains (Mar 3, 2015)

Alright... update time. Put some grass down and rearranged the track to give more space here and there and get that crossing in a better spot. Disregard the funky turnout. I need a small piece of curve to get that piece of track (parking spot? what do you call those things?) closer and parallel to the main track. I am also going to try and fit another off that one. I am considering making that the rail yard area back there. I also want to tighten up the space at the bottom where the 2 big curves are. My thought is to have a foot bridge go over those 2 tracks to access a wooded area. Inside the loops I am thinking houses, roads, businesses, etc. 

Quick photoshop hack job:


----------



## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Looks like a good plan. You could insert a spur (blue line on the diagram) to a business that takes rail deliveries -- if you have enough vertical clearance between the two trestle piers shown.


----------



## AdRockTrains (Mar 3, 2015)

MtRR75 said:


> Looks like a good plan. You could insert a spur (blue line on the diagram) to a business that takes rail deliveries -- if you have enough vertical clearance between the two trestle piers shown.
> 
> View attachment 43682


Great idea! There's plenty of clearance! I am actually going to grab some track this evening to curve that other spur you see to the left and have it lead back to an engine house... maybe. 

Man, this is fun. 

Thanks for the input!


----------



## AdRockTrains (Mar 3, 2015)

Ok, here's where I am now... I am liking this layout more and more. Looking forward to laying out some buildings!


----------



## Bone1977 (Jan 17, 2014)

That looks pretty nice, like the two lines


----------

