Built By: Dan
Description: This single module is inspired by a field of pigs I saw from the window of a train along the East Suffolk Line (ESK) in August 2022. July and August 2022 were very hot and dry in the UK with new record high temperatures being set so I thought I would try making a dry summer scene. The module track arrangement is a transition from 33mm track centres to 25mm track centres to allow me to introduce some 25mm modules into my layout.
This is my first "dry British summer" model. I used photos I took from the train to get the approximate colours of the lineside and the nature of the lineside vegetation. The earth in the pig field has finished darker than I would have liked, but overall I am pleased with the effect. I modelled the almost flat topography with cork floor tile to bring the module top level with the track ballast, then used Sculptamold to give some texture to the surface and make the small ridges of earth either side of the track where earth and spoil has built up since the railway opened in 1859. I used Woodland Scenics fine and coarse turf for the low ground cover, with Underbrush and Clump Foliage for the larger bushes. I used natural Field Grass for the clumps of taller dead grasses. There's a row of longer dead grass along the railway fence line, which might have come out better with static grass, but I used coarse turf. (The railways in Britain have a legal requirement to have a continuous lineside fence.) I modelled the fence posts using offcut electronic component leads painted pale grey for the concrete posts: the real ones looked almost white in the sunshine. The wires forming the fence between the posts are left to the imagination because they would be very fine in N scale. The pigs are from Model Scene, painted with help from my daughter.
The module had its first public outing at the Swindon Railway Festival 2023.
