Status
The Foreground hills obscure parts of the double mainline and will eventually blend into the background photos. We have been adding bushes and new scratchbuilt trees (starting in the back, working our way forward). More trees and bushes will be added over time.


Design

Penn Hills is represented by a photographic backdrop. We have two roads that lead from Gloverstown to Penn Hills. The double mainline has curves with radii of 28" and 30". The interchange track connects the P & C Railroad with the rest of the Pennsylvania Railroad properties (we also use it as a handy storage track as can be seen in the photo above).

Progress
The next collection of photos shows the progress of this part of layout over the duration of the layout.

About a week ago we painted clouds on the backdrop. This photo shows the day after the painting with the plastic still covering the entire layout. In the photo you can see the two New London Industries "clouds" templates we used. They work well.


We are finally getting ready to work on the open hole in this area. We are installing plywood supports for roadways leading from Gloverstown to Penn Hills. The piece of plywood seen here leading up but stopping halfway the photo will be the main road from Gloverstown to Penn Hills. The remainder of this road is planned to be a highway bridge over the tracks.


After installing the cardboard strips, we have covered them with plaster cloth. Most of this area has already been covered with Sculptamold as well. All of the white area will be painted and covered with ground foam. You are looking at the main road coming from the right of the photo, and an intersecting road leading off to the upper right-hand side of the photo.


The next two photos show the growth of bushes and shrubs. We also highlighted some scenic features through careful placement of various shades of ground foam. Much of this area will be covered with trees in the near future, but we needed to first add the undergrowth. The foreground of the first photo shows white specs which are meant to be rocks. However, we feel they didn't turn out very well, so they will be removed or hidden later on.