The Mogollon Railroad

[nachoman]

I am still deciding how I want to do the rock faces. In one location, the rock face will likely be the edge of a slag pile.

I have also been considering using different methods for the rocks on each side of the layout. On the "junction" side of the layout (where the NG and standard gauge join), I want that area to look like an area further out into a valley. The idea is that the narrow gauge diverges from the standard gauge in a valley, then the NG proceeds to climb uphill toward the mining town of Joy's Camp. Having different rock types exposed along the line may help with the illusion of distance. Transitions between mountains and valleys have a predictable geologic sequence in southern Arizona, most of Nevada, and western Utah. The mountain ranges are a combination of tilted and faulted sedimentary rocks, and crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks. As one travels towards the center of the valleys, thick sequences of semi-consolidated conglomerate rocks are encountered that get finer-grained towards the center of the valley.

I want the "junction" side of my layout to represent these conglomerate rocks. I have been considering different ways of modeling this type of terrain, but will probably try carving the foam into a basic shape, and then coating the foam with some kind of a slurry that contains a varied assortment of sand. It needs to have a particular layered appearance, and that may take some very careful attention to detail.

The other side of the layout will be hard rock. I want this side to represent where the railroad has made its way uphill towards the ore-bearing bodies. I will probably model the crystalline rocks using standard rock mold casting techniques, and may include some tilted sedimentary rocks at one corner of the layout.

No matter how I eventually model the rocks, I want the entire landscape to be constructed of foam before before I start adding rock faces.