A Stream on the Layout

Yesterday, I carved out a stream bed on the corner module of the layout. This stream bed will eventually contain Bird Brook, a stream that ran past the Grand Trunk terminal in Norway, Maine. (As a side note, whenever I refer to Norway on this blog, I'm talking about the town in Maine, not the country. ) The Norway branch crosses Bird Brook on a small bridge just before it enters town. On my layout, the railroad will cross the stream on one end of the corner module.

To model the stream bed for Bird Brook in my layout, I started by determining where it could be located by temporarily laying flextrack through the module. I then marked where a thirty scale foot long straight section could go without overly tightening the radius of the corner module's track.

 I marked where a thirty scale foot long straight section could go without overly tightening the radius of the corner module's track. After this, I removed the track and drew an outline for the stream bed based on topographic maps of the area and Google street view. The photo above shows the area after the stream bed was marked.

I then cut out the stream bed with the small kitchen knife that I always use for cutting foam board.

I then used a scrap of foam board that I had on hand to provide a base for the stream. I used a few screws and a large amount  of wood glue to secure the stream bottom to the rest of the foam board. The next step for Bird Brook is to carve the banks of the stream.