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  • Home
    • Paul Rollinson, the train book seller
  • My Books
    • Hamilton's Other Railway
    • Rails to the Lakes
    • Narrow Gauge for Us
    • CP to the East - International of Maine
  • Ontario Railway History
    • Railway Gauges in Ontario
    • Grey and Bruce Counties
    • Haldimand and Norfolk Counties
    • Dufferin County
    • Perth and Huron Counties
    • Peterborough County
    • Simcoe County
    • Victoria and Haliburton Counties
    • Wellington County
    • Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway
    • Georgian Bay & Seaboard Railway
    • Hamilton & North Western/Lake Erie Railways
    • Lake Simcoe Junction Railway
    • Lindsay, Bobcaygeon & Pontypool Railway
    • Northern Railway of Canada Group
    • Portage Flyer
    • Schomberg & Aurora Railway
    • Toronto & Nipissing Railway
    • Cardwell Junction
    • Omemee Junction Ontario ("The Old Road")
    • Victoria Junction, Lindsay, Ont.
  • Ontario Railway Stations - Gallery
    • Image Credit Abbreviations
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E F
    • G
    • H
    • I J K
    • L
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • P Q R
    • S
    • T U V
    • W X Y Z
  • Ontario Show and Event Calendar 2023-24
  • Ontario Railway Station Museums
  • Ontario Railway Murals
  • Railway History - Canada
    • Quick Railway Histories and Related Information
    • Carl Riff's Railway History Diaries
    • Rod Clarke's TG&B and T&N Diaries
    • Timetables
    • Glossary of Common Railway Terms
    • "Canadian Rail" (CRHA) - Links to Issues
    • "Branchline" (BRS) - Index to past Issues
    • Upper Canada Railway Society (UCRS) and its publications
    • GTR Locomotives - R&LHS Bulletin #147
    • GTR Buildings & Bridges Inventory 1907
    • GTR Buildings & Bridges Inventory 1903
    • CNR - Stations - Designating Numbers (1924/1927)
    • CPR - Stations - Designating Numbers 1924
    • Railway Stations and distances - by Jim Fergusson
    • CNR - Synoptic History to 1960
    • Intercolonial Railway - report - Sandford Fleming, C.E.
    • Post Cards - a primary research source - by Ralph Beaumont
    • Searching for Antecedents on the Railways
    • Research and Writing a Book
  • What's New In Publications
  • Railway Modelling
    • My 3-Rail Hornby-Dublo layout - and tips and thoughts
    • Prototype Modelling in Ontario
    • Our Friends at the Shows - a Photo Gallery
    • Disposing of model railway and other train stuff
    • The Great British Train Show
    • Aberfoyle Jct. Model Railway
    • The Credible Model
    • Superdetailing Ideas
    • Basic Model Railway Insights
    • More About N Scale
    • My Eagle Lake & Northern Model Railway in N Scale
  • Toy Train and Model Railway Tracks
    • Gallery of Track Images
    • Track Identification
    • Scale, Gauge, and Track Geometry Information
    • Mystery Department
    • Chronology, Toy Train and Model Railway Events
    • Model Railway History
    • Manufacturer Histories
    • Bibliography and Reference
  • Opinion Piece
  • Links
  • Postage Stamps - Railways and Traction
    • Common Terms and Abbreviations
    • North America
    • British Isles and Ireland
    • Europe - Western - Continental
    • Europe - Eastern
    • Caribbean Islands
    • Central America
    • South America
    • Middle East
    • Far East, Asia and Pacific Ocean
    • Australasia
    • Africa
  • Trains on TV and Screen
  • About My Railway Interest
  • Contact Me

Superdetailing Ideas

First of all - a note about "pop-up images". Some of these images were transported from my former website in what was then "small web image" format. All more recent images are being uploaded in "large web image" format which allows for a larger image on demand. I am retrieving as many of the former images as I can, and will re-upload them where a larger image would be beneficial. Click on each image and see what you get. And please bear with me, if you don't get what you were hoping for!

Summary:
Superdetailing is a general term intended to apply to all refinements of a model railway, and includes such aspects as equipment (locomotive) detailing, equipment and rollingstock weathering, lighting, non-rail moving items [such as moving road vehicles, travelling circus rides or construction equipment, operating mills, and so forth], but this article will confine itself to general layout scenery superdetailing basics or essentials.

"Basic scenery" would normally consist of ballasting, hills, rivers, tunnels, bridges, trestles, general landscape, rock faces, trees and bushes, buildings - everything that eventually covers the bare table top, and also backdrops.

"Superdetailing" is designed to provide that additional detail to the "basic scenery" that makes onlookers want to examine the layout more closely regardless of whether any trains happen to be running or not. In fact, with enough to look at and to think about, moving trains almost become a secondary reason for stoppng to look at the module.

My article The Credible Model discusses the basic principles involved in creating a believable layout.

This article goes into superdetailing in more, well, detail.

At one time, these enhancements pretty much had to be scratch-built, but today there are many products, such as Woodland Scenics, Osborn Kits, Preiser, and so forth, available in all scales, even though scratchbuilding is still a fun (and an economy) option for all but the most finicky items that can now be produced as laser kits at a reasonable cost.

In deciding on what and where to superdetail, obviously those areas of the layout most likely to be scrutinized by visitors should receive priority attention. 

Index
Stations
People, Station Areas, Action Scenes
Vehicles, Planes, Vessels and "Street Furniture"
Yards
Trackside Furniture
Car Loads
Buildings and Structures, adjunct Scenery
Animals
Whimsy

Stations
Some are prototypical, others freelance, some kitbuilt or kitbashed, mostly scratchbuilt.
Other stations appear as integral parts of layouts under Prototype Modelling.
CPR Orangeville station and the restaurant. H0 Scale.

CPR Orangeville station and the restaurant. H0 Scale.

Port Hope GTR station. H0 Scale.

Port Hope GTR station. H0 Scale.

The C&P Cobourg station on Ted Rafuse's Cobourg & Peterborough Railroad H0 Layout.

The C&P Cobourg station on Ted Rafuse's Cobourg & Peterborough Railroad H0 Layout.

Lindsay CNR station. H0 Scale.

Lindsay CNR station. H0 Scale.

A magnificent urban station on a curve. N.

A magnificent urban station on a curve. N.

A busy wayside station. H0.

A busy wayside station. H0.

A suburban city station with a typical urban background of several storey office/factory buildings and the typical backyard scene of an older home near the railway. H0.

A suburban city station with a typical urban background of several storey office/factory buildings and the typical backyard scene of an older home near the railway. H0.

Waiting at the station. Note the placement of the figures and also the telephone kiosk and parking lot sign. H0.

Waiting at the station. Note the placement of the figures and also the telephone kiosk and parking lot sign. H0.

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