Tree Max

Himself has been planting more trees around Bron Hebog and he swears these are going to be the last!

We're probably still nowhere near the actual amount of vertical foliage to be found around Beddgelert, but we don't want to hide the trains from view too much, and besides which he finds them really tedious to make.

Just like real trees you never actually notice them growing, it just sort of happens over time.

It's only when you look back at the layout as it was first exhibited at its full size that you realise how bare it used to look.

Sprouting

A few more trees have appeared on the layout, around the biggest feature which is the 180 degree bend leading into Cutting Mawr.

These are but a fraction of what is there in the real location, which is getting rather bushy, but the trains look so good making their way around the curve that we don't want to hide them from view behind a forest of foliage.

Tree Surgery

Himself is making up a few more trees from kits he discovered lying around.

Our trees are not the most sophisticated.

We use the Woodland Scenics kits which come as flat, soft plastic sprues which you twist to shape and glue clump foliage onto.

We’ve always believed the effect of a great number of these on the layout goes a long way to making up for what they lack as individual models.

Tools Of The Trade

There's been more work done on the gardens of the houses since the thaw set in and the temperature in the garage has nudged into positive figures again.

He's added details like garden sheds, fences and quite a lot of hedges.

I thought you might be interested in seeing the way he's done these.

The secret ingredient is a former made out of thick, green felt which is a hangover from his former life fixing pianos.

The felt is fixed and supported with brass pins and then Woodlands Scenics foliage is added onto it.

It looks rather like Fuzzy Felt for adults

Oberon Gets Its Wood

Himself has spent the week on a tree-building binge.

(I've no idea what's come over him because it's a job he hates.)

Anyway, he's made enough to plant the hillside on top of Goat Tunnel.

Here's a view which you very rarely see, as if you were standing on the famous PB&SSR 'Bridge to Nowhere'.

Foliage Photo

There's not been a tremendous amount of work down in the last week, except for a few new trees appearing.

My day job has been rather full on with lots of fuss about some vote which may or may not happen, and with spring almost upon us Himself has been ordered out into the garden.

However he did find the time to plant a line of trees in front of the farm yard.

Tree Planting

Himself has been playing about deciding where he might want to plant the latest handful of trees which have sprouted on the workbench.

He's decided to spread them around the layout with a couple in the area around the farmyard and a few on the inside of the other 180 degree bend.

These are only a tiny representation of the real number of trees in these spots, but it at least show's willing.

(As I explained previously, tree building is not Himself's favourite job)

One thing I should explain is that we won't be leaving the 'train set' round bases on the trunks - that's just a means of trying out the position on the layout.

Himself will drill a hole up the trunk from the bottom, insert stiff brass wire and plant them firmly in the ground.

Spring Has Sprung

Himself came back from the Glasgow show last weekend having spent all his pocket money on various bits and pieces, including more bags of Woodlands Scenics tree kits.

He might be able to build Garratt power units which run like Swiss watches but he doesn't do trees.

Which is unfortunate because there's rather a lot of them around Beddgelert so he doesn't have much of a choice.

So this week he's been bending, twisting and sticking to create these.

We're using the same type of tree kit we employed on Dduallt and as those have survived well over 25 years he sees no reason to do anything different on Bron Hebog.

Rather like the fencing, this is a job that's going to be a marathon rather than a sprint.

River Tree Planting

Eventually there are going to be a lot of trees on Bron Hebog, but for the moment Himself is concentrating on populating small areas such as the banks of the Afon Cwm Cloch which flows from back of the back of the layout to the front.

At the moment only the north bank has been treated. In time there will be trees on the right hand side of the lane as well creating a sort of green tunnel.

Even at this stage I think this lane scene is beginning to look very effective. It would be great to hear what readers who know the area well make of it.

Himself has also been experimenting with some white paint effects on the river water to give it more of a sense of movement.

This is the view from the rear of the layout as the operators will see it.

I hope if you manage to come along to the exhibition in Crawley this weekend you'll be able to give the team some feedback on how Bron Hebog is coming along. You can leave comments here on the blog or on our Facebook page and Twitter feed - just search for Bron Hebog.

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?