Model Railway Forum

My layout will have three inclines all 1.5 metres long and I'd be interested in suggestions on how to 'decorate' them and/or sources for components. I'm modelling in N gauge. There is a general theme for my layout that one side of the board is posh, manicured and clean and the other is a bit run down and grotty (think 'management side' v 'worker's side'

All inclines stand alone so don't form part of a hill. I'm happy for them to look like manufactured ramps.

Incline a: At edge of board (65mm wide).
Will eventually need a length of Perspex along the board edge to protect it I think but the incline itself should look fresh and modern so I'm thinking white concrete with steel 'fencing' along the track edges. I'd also like regular lights along it and I'm thinking of something steel and curved - a simple inverted J-shape. The idea is to have the train travelling through an 'open tunnel of light'.

Incline b: At edge of board (65mm wide).
Will also need Perspex to protect it but this time I want something 'less posh'. Weathered brick might work. It needs lighting but I'm not entirely sure what. 'Rusty lamps with crude bulbs' sounds a bit vague. Not so much a 'tunnel of light', more like 'a depressing but adequate level of illumination' I'm also not sure about what kind of fences it should have along the edges.

Incline c: Along the middle of the board (130mm wide).
This is actually the second half of the other two inclines coming back in the opposite direction to get the track up to full height. It will have two tracks side by side. There will be a road tunnel going underneath it. I'd like one road tunnel entrance to look all modern and lit up (something like this), while the other is just a brick entrance. I'm currently thinking that the well lit side will be on the poor half of the board and vice versa. I think the incline will be manicured slope on the posh side and rock on the other. But I'm not sure what I should do for lighting. The top of the incline is going to have to be symmetrical because I'm not taking the 'posh v poor' to extremes. The incline leads to two separate sets of sidings so maybe steel gantries?

Thoughts?

I'm just doing this very job at the moment and after much thought I settled for a plain brick wall made up of two thick sheets of cardboard (for strength and some realism) glued together and covered with brick paper downloaded from Scalescenes. The wall extends above the track bed so no need for additional fencing.

I like that idea, saves a bit of effort. We'll see - I'd like incline A to be fairly spectacular but if I can reduce the effort on B that's good. Anyway I'm not anticipating doing any scenery work for a while. Was just interested in ideas to help with my research. Thanks.