A while ago I was reading through a forum thread about the Trent Valley North American Modellers exhibition, a UK event for people who model the US prototype, and thought "I could do that." So I asked the event organizer if he had space for another layout. As it stands I have 6ft of allocated space at the event to exhibit a layout.

Now, with TVNAM looming on the horizon, I thought it wise to get my layout build thread up on the forum to encourage me to crack on and get it ready in time - plenty of time to go, and I am currently part of the way through the wiring.

Whilst the wiring is ongoing I've been cracking on with other aspects of the project, including getting the buildings ready to be planted.

The idea for the layout is as a slowly growing project along a similar vein to the popular Sweet Home Alabama - start with a single switching layout and expand it further and further as time goes on. Whilst working on the wiring for Cane River I decided to convert over to DCC, then realised I'd need a testing a programming track, which eventually expanded into an idea for a stand alone micro-layout, which became Winnfield Rock - which can be used as an extension to Cane River should I so choose.

To start with I wanted to build something a little different to what I am used to seeing when out and about over here - we have plenty of cities and rolling hills out here just as they do in the States, so I wanted to go for a stark contrast to that. Arid desert or Bayou kind of immediately jumped out in my mind.

Inspired by Nantahala Midland and the southern beauty it depicts, I decided on a Bayou setting, so opened up Google and started looking at images and maps of Louisiana. The more I looked the more interesting the state appeared, and as a bonus my two favourite railroads, both BNSF and CSX have trackage in the state.

I like the look of Louisiana so much I've decided that when Cane River is finished to scrap my WIP home layout and have designed another one based around my new favourite state!

Looking around the Shreveport area I found the town of Mansfield, which drew my eye as I live not far from Mansfield, England - and after a little further snooping around I found Cane River - name chosen!

Though the area around Cane River has no actual railroad in reality, that doesn't stop me from coming up with a fictional shortline to base around there.

So far, the basic track layout has been decided, the baseboards constructed and the trackbed raised up to allow for more flowing scenery. I've made a start on wiring in the power feeds and will go from there. This coming weekend should see the wiring complete and the scenery begin. I originally included a 3 way point before realising that I don't actually need one, and so ditched it to make things less electrically complex. All turnouts are all live frog and it needs to be DCC friendly - two things I've not worked with before - so this caused me pause whilst I investigated how to wire them up.

So whilst doing so I started on Winnfield Rock - which was designed as an extension and yet is further along than Cane River itself is!

Between jobs on each layout I've been busying myself at work on my lunch breaks making a start on the structures - starting with a small factory/warehouse design taken from a set of drawings in Model Railroader. I've also made preparation for the large amount of trees the layout will inevitably need and raided my local Hobbycraft which was having a sale on Woodland Scenics products. I came away with some dark green foam and 50-odd armatures for making trees. I've since bought 100+ more armatures and more foam products, which should be enough to outfit my home layout as well.

Once the wiring is complete and tested, progress should rocket along as scenery is my favourite aspect of this hobby of ours!

Below are pictures of my progress so far. Cane River first, Winnfield Rock after.

Cane River track plan:


Current progress:




Winnfield Rock track plan:


Current progress:








Let me know what you think.

Nice progress! One of the best bayou layouts I've ever seen was the "Muskrat Ramble" which was done be a very talented group of modelers from down under:
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You can also google it and find many more images and videos.

Cheers Mike!

That layout in the link is amazing!

The wiring is getting there now on Cane River, and it seems to work for the most part. There's a small short on the diamond crossing, but I think I know why, and should be able to sort it over the weekend.

Proof that it works!

This afternoon on my lunch break I had a go at a CleverModels Steel Utility Shed. Nifty little kit and easy to put together. Still has a ways to go, but it's pretty good for about 45 minutes work. [br][br]

I broke out the plaster last night and attacked both layouts. It's getting there now!









Then today I spent the day playing trains for a while before blitzing the scenery on Cane River. Still need to add static grass, more bushes, etc. but the basics are there and I am quite pleased with the outcome so far.

I am still trying to figure out how to represent the water in the river, can anyone suggest any ideas?

Anyways, on with the photos, though unfortunately I had to use the flash as it's getting dark here:

"I am still trying to figure out how to represent the water in the river, can anyone suggest any ideas?"

Gloss medium works well for me. Most swamps have a very dark brown or black color to the water due to the peat and muck bottoms.

I like the Woodland Scenics Realistic Water. It's fairly easy to work with and gives good results. They even have a youtube channel with lots of clips showing you how to use it.

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That looks very realistic to me!

Wow, that looks fantastic, I'll give that a look

It's OK if you have air conditioning in your layout room, other wise in the summer it gets very soft and any trees or bushes that are in the water slowwwwwwwwwwly fall over. The farm scene on my layout with the cows drinking out of the farm pond is a good example. The tree in the middle of the pond has to be propped up from Mid June to mid Sept. One of these days I will rip it out and redo it with gloss medium or leave the tree out the next time around. Also you can't over coat it with Future floor wax to give it a extra wet look as it tends to turn very cloudy.

Update time!

I've had the morning and evening to work on the layout, and this is the result. As soon as the warehouse building has the cladding papers added that will be the majority of the legwork done on the main board, then it will be time to focus on the fiddle board and get that all up to scratch before payday, when the backscenes, river and fiddle cassettes can be done.

If I get the fiddle board done before month end I'll focus on adding the detailing to the layout. Lots of that to do!

Pictures! Again, apologies for the awful mobile-phone camera shots, but it's dark here and the gaming room where I am working isn't particularly well lit. I've added a few photos with the flash on but it kind of washes out all the colour. Meh, one of these days I'll get a decent set of photos done (probably at TVNAM by the general public at this rate! )

Looks good!

Cheers Mike, much appreciated coming from someone with a layout as beautiful as yours!

Still a ways to go yet, but I'm over the moon with how it's turned out so far!

A couple of progress photos to keep the thread going whilst I ponder the soil colour issue. Apparently it should be more reddish-yellow if it's Louisiana.

Not much has changed, though I have added the brick papers to the warehouse. I'm not sure if the doors are too big but I don't think I will change them now.


Next is the fiddle yard board with a mock up of the removable module. This module will be a scrap yard but I'm considering a coal yard as well.

The front track will be a dockside loading area, possibly including a mineral unloading area. Not sure yet.

Looks good but if you are going for the bayou you need to get rid of that UP loco, we don't allow them this far south!