Above: Not all aspens are yellow in the fall; some are orange, some are red, and some of the contrary ones try to stay green. It is the variety that sets the tone of the scene.


Below: Some sticks and bushes make for nice scale logs. Make sure the “bark” looks realistic.


on from the top to simulate sunlit high- lights. These trees can be made by the hundreds, and, done well, withstand use at the front of the railroad. Friends modeling the Eastern half of


the U.S. can use a nice row of high-end commercial trees up front followed by hundreds of flocked green “puff-balls” made of poly-fiber perched densely on screenwire in the background. Large quantities of poly-fiber can be pur- chased in green, brown, and black. This method simulates miles of forest canopy without an investment equal to the price of a new car. On my “test” layout in our first home, I had a photo backdrop behind my ren- dition of Ophir. The closest I could come at the time (1978) was a backdrop of the Alps by an outfit in Germany. The Alps were close to the area I was trying to represent in appearance. My then-new wife hated it. “Too realistic....it detracts


86 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN


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