04-08-2021, 10:04 PM
Thanks guys. I've since painted the mountainside and will be adding ground cover in the next couple days. In the meantime, I've started to look at the other end of the layout, where the retaining wall is going up.
I took some of the retaining wall castings to work and cut/trimmed them with our chop saw. I wasn't sure how the cast hydrocal would cut with an aluminum cutting blade. Either it would cut through like butter or the casting would explode. Fortunately it was the former, not the latter but it did create allot of fine dust when cut.
I've also been wondering what to do with the tunnel portal an it's surroundings. I don't want to make things square and awkward looking.
This is what I've come up with. A slope on either side of the portal, but not long enough to block the turnout. I was thinking of tunnel abutments on either side of the portal and the slope running into the retaining wall. Above, the slope would continue to form a hill that the upper track would have a 'cut' through it.
I took some of the retaining wall castings to work and cut/trimmed them with our chop saw. I wasn't sure how the cast hydrocal would cut with an aluminum cutting blade. Either it would cut through like butter or the casting would explode. Fortunately it was the former, not the latter but it did create allot of fine dust when cut.
I've also been wondering what to do with the tunnel portal an it's surroundings. I don't want to make things square and awkward looking.
This is what I've come up with. A slope on either side of the portal, but not long enough to block the turnout. I was thinking of tunnel abutments on either side of the portal and the slope running into the retaining wall. Above, the slope would continue to form a hill that the upper track would have a 'cut' through it.