Saturday, December 3, 2011

A needed detail ....

One of the things that I believe is sorely lacking on model railroads is that omnipresent ground cover ... leaves. They are everywhere, at least they are nowadays. Here are a couple photos illustrating my point. The first is pretty bad as it is a photo of the computer screen, but it was the best photo I had available and the second is a better one.


If you notice, leaves are everywhere, so the question is, how does one model leaves? Well, some people have tried using real leaves, the problem is that real leaves are too thick. So, I tried torn up cigar leaves ... I think that it turned out exceptionally well ...


That's the torn up leaves and the result is in the two photos below ...




The only problem is that I have to tear up a gagillion more leaves .... ugh.
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3 comments:

  1. bobcattDecember 3, 2011 at 7:12 PM

    I see 2 'bonds' on the track joint image. One large wire going around the joint bar which seems to connect to studs drilled through the web of the rail, and a second (small) wire welded to the outside faces of the two rail heads. What function do each of these serve?

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  2. Jim LincolnDecember 4, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    I'm not 100% sure, Chris. Were I to venture a guess, since these are within the crossing circuit (inside the insulated joiners on either side of the crossing, they are probably there to ensure a good contact through the joint to ensure the are no activation failures at the crossing.

    Interesting thing to point out, I wasn't even intending to focus on that detail. I just tried to find a photo that I had available (remember I posted that from Craig Bisguier's and didn't have as many photos to choose from) that showed leaves along the track.

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  3. bobcattDecember 4, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    I wasn't trying to draw attention away from the leaves :-). I was just curious because I cannot recall seeing two different bonding jumpers at the same joint. Had to ask...

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