Perspective

I've been doing a lot of thinking and pseudo-planning about the layout, as my most recent posts have indicated.  One idea I floated was making a layout more achievable by decreasing the complexity of the benchwork and scenic "grading" (that is, making it more flat).  I was slightly worried as to how this would turn out, as I'm sure you, like I, have seen layouts that have literally no change in elevation, all elements (track, structures, treets, etc.) exist on the same plane.  It looks as though the layout builder used a sheet of foam, painted it brown, put all the elements on it, then sprinkled some ground foam around.

I had a theory that flat could still look good with subtle grading changes.  I happened to stumble upon a photo in this Railroad Line discussion which proves that theory.  The picture is of Jon Addison's "Silverton Central" in Sn3.

note the gallows turntable at the end of the line

To describe this photo, might be to say:  "The structures of George Sellios with the scenic texture of Dave Frary, meets narrow gauge".  The whole layout isn't like this.  There is a deep ravine with a trestle.  However, the point remains that for being a flat section of layout it's extremely effective.  The subtle changes in grading, the layer-upon-layer approach, and the knock out structures make it a success.

It's given me hope that flat can look good.

Other things to note:  The backdrop is extremely simple and the fascia isn't painted forest green.  Neither of these really seem to have a bearing on how good the layout looks.  Everything has been drybrushed white which ties it all together.  Frary actually refers to this in his book when he points out that on his layout everything has been washed with earth color.

The take-away for me is that the complexity of a layout can be managed by having flat sections and selectively choosing sections of large grade change.  This makes such elevation changes scenes unto themselves while making the remainder of the layout more approachable and easier to build.