Planning for the scenery
Once the track plan was `, my attention was drawn to the scenic aspects that would depict the Western District of Victoria. The topography is undulating, unlike the Mallee further north, that has large tracts of land cleared for grazing. Several large rivers and many smaller waterways traverse the district, with the waters ultimately flowing into the Southern Ocean near the South Australian border. I've spent several weeks observing and photographing the district at different times of the year. To my eyes, the landscape looks the most attractive in spring, when the paddocks are verdant with lush grass, and this is the period (September 1969) that will be modelled.
One of the early decisions I made was to keep the track level across the entire layout, mainly to reduce operational problems, eliminate vertical transitions, and reduce the risk of grades not aligning properly on adjoining modules, especially on curves. The next decision was that the railway had to realistically traverse the landscape, rather than the scenery constructed to fit around the railway. The third was that I would use the Hollywood approach for building sets – meaning that any scenery or structure would only receive basic detailing, if at all, on the side that was invisible to the viewing public.
On my previous layout, I tried several different methods of constructing scenery. After experimenting with chicken wire, cardboard, and plywood, I settled on the use of extruded polystyrene foam sheets (XPS). These panels come in various thicknesses and colour and are easy to handle, relatively economical, and are a breeze to carve to the desired landform. To economise, for the times when I need to build a large hill, I'll either use some free (low density) polystyrene fruit boxes (from the supermarket) cut to size or build up a framework from timber. Whatever method, I always top the rise with XPS to allow it to be carved to shape. Although the low-density foam cuts well with a hot wire, it tends to crumble when carved.
Before I make a start on each module, I plan how the track and scenery will interact. The depth and heights of cuttings and embankments are derived from the original contract documents, cross-referenced with photographs and old newspaper articles. The deepest cutting on the line is near Casterton, and the highest point the rail is above the natural surface is the crossing of the Glenelg and
