Spring Has Sprung

Until now you could be forgiven for thinking Bron Hebog looked not so much like a layout set in the heart of Snowdonia but a representation of a narrow gauge railway in the Shetland Islands, a place famous for an absence of trees.

Not for long, however!

Himself reports he has spent a day making and planting trees around the Bron Hebog crossing area.

He doesn't particularly like making trees, in fact it ranks alongside fabricating and fitting carriage handrails as one of his least favourite tasks.

He complains that he has tried various ways of making trees but has never been entirely happy with the results.

The line at the back of the layout, where it disappears into the upper fiddle yard runs into the start of the Beddgelert Forest, mostly comprised at this point of conifer trees.

In Himself's opinion a lot of the commercial conifer trees 'look like miniature bog brushes' so he's turned to Woodland Scenics tree kits which we exploited on Dduallt a quarter of a century ago and which he reckons they still look good.

These are not actual conifer tree kits, of course, but he argues that as they're at the back of the layout no one's going to notice the difference from 15ft away.

I'm inclined to agree with him.

I think it's the overall effect of the edge of a forest that we're aiming to achieve and what's most important is that the trees are planted in a realistic pattern.

What do you think?