Espee Oregon Division: Scenery Progress

The layout has been neglected scenery wise for far too long. I just seemed to get stuck in a rut daunted by all the rough scenery everywhere, and couldnt seem to make any progress. Art offered to help out, and over a number of visits we got a large swath of foam base contouring done with his hot knives (before the covid hit). Thanks Art! I have been progressing with renewed enthusiasm ever since. One of the main reasons I switched from hardshell plaster to the extruded foam was to make it easier for planting trees. Even using silicone caulk in between blocks was of concern in this regard, so I used Loctite expanding foam in a can where possible. Most minor carving was done with a knife, and final contouring was done with rough and med grades of sandpaper. Minimal filling was also done with Sculptamold and Dap lightweight spackle.

Basic scenery has finally made completion around both decks of the layout including a coat of earth color tone. No more white plaster or pink foam showing anywhere... but still lots of scenery work to do. I find myself falling back in my old ways from the construction industry, where everything needs to be done in a production line mentality for efficiency. So part of the basic scenes need to be completed before I want to proceed with ground cover. This had me working on a number of bridge projects, the wood trestle, a through truss / plate girder bridge (that post is in draft), and three (of four) highway overpasses. The highway overpasses were the last major scenic hurdle in completing the basic scenery. All are Rix kits with the ends slightly modified to adapt better to my abutment configurations, and are near ready for paint. The current state of bridge progress finally brings to light my original plans on coping with entry into the helix, and the return loop. Original construction had the track entering the helix with the ground foam extending on the opposite side of the backdrop, with the intent of lighting the opposing side, but I have since retracted on feeling there was a need over how it has evolved at this point. I used a light black paint under the bridges to fill in between the bridge piers adjacent to the portholes as needed. I dont find it as offensive as I once thought it would be having the track disappear into carefully placed blackness under the bridge(s). Contouring the scenery to work with these was a bit of a scenic hurdle for me, but I can finally see what I had originally designed over 20 years ago (sic)!

This is the entry into the helix on the lower deck that had stumped my enthusiasm for years

And where it has progressed to so far (I am not liking how tall the concrete supports are and will have to partially block their view in hopes of masking them a bit...)

Glenwood Blvd (cheating a bit) will run the length of the backdrop here, behind the trees/foliage. There are actually two bridges I needed to install to deal with the backdrop.
Before