| Last updated on January 11, 2021
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I enjoy all of your videos. Even though I’m an HO guy I really enjoyed the scenery work on the Canadian Canyons. One of things the Video Plus team has to remember is ya’ll can write off your purchases to an expense account, while those of us retired folks with fixed incomes can’t. I watch one of your videos, get enthused to do work on my railroad until the cost of say 100 trees is more than I can afford. I’m constantly looking for stuff around the house and yard that’s free that I can use for scenery. Any info that your Video team or Model Railroader readers have to help in this regard would be very appreciated, including where to get good scenery materials at discount prices.
Might be a little faster to place them in a block of foam and paint 10 or 12 at a time.
Very clever idea which I would never have thought to include. Having spent a couple summers in Oregon I’ve witnessed from a safe distance fire fighting on similar mountainsides. Air tankers and helicopters with water buckets are typically used to fight fires in these steep and difficult to access areas. These methods can be quite effective if the fire is not too large and there are no high winds.
Robert Carlson, to answer your statement’s question – wild fires (which is what they are called now) were put out by nature LONG before man ever showed up on the scene. Rain could have put it out; the physics of the location could have prevented other trees from burning; combinations of several factors could have done it.
Actually, that is one of the reasons why some of the wild fires we are now suffering are so bad – nature takes care of itself, but humans in their “wisdom” don’t allow nature to accomplish what needs to be done. A stroke of lightning starts a fire in a remote area; the fire burns for some time and is put out by rain or lack of fuel; new growth takes over and renews the forest; repeat as often as necessary to clear out the “trash” that accumulates on the forest floor.
And one other factor, fire tends to burn (in the direction) up rather than down. Fires travel in the tops of the trees, not at the bottom. If the fire started deep in the canyon, when it reached the top of the slope to would be stopped by having to try to burn back down the other side.
Scientists have recently (last 20 or 30 years) discovered that wild fires spread UNDERGROUND. You put out the part of the fire above ground and think you are done. The roots of the trees are still smoldering and can do so for several months — and MANY MANY miles as well. You “put out” a wild fire over here and about a month later, miles away you get another wild fire with no apparent cause. The fire you “put out” last month has traveled underground through the root system and finally found a place where it can come up into sight again.
Sorry for taking up so much space and time for a VERY small portion of what could be modeled.
This is becoming a really great looking layout, as always you guys do a great job on these project layouts. It would be great to see this layout up close, are you going to ever bring it to a train show in Michigan or the next NMRA convention? I’m looking forward to seeing the next video
I really liked the total look of the burnt forest. A definite plus having the lighter colored rock/boulders and the dead fall added to the effects. Good job!
Awesome mini scene! Nice Work there David and Drew.
Interesting looking scene; but it make me wonder just how the fire was put out, and why it was contained to such a small area. There doesn’t seem much access to the area for firefighters and their equipment. So what? It’s a model train layout and not a display of forest fire fighting. Just don’t get too close to the finished product as the twisted wire is not too realistic as a tree trunk, burnt or otherwise.
Impressive scene re-creation. Just went back to review all of the DTA videos to see how this layout came to fruition. What a masterpiece this project has become!
While the fires I fought were in South Carolina, they were of tall pine trees like the ones you have modeled so VERY well there.
However, one of the comments/decisions you made is not totally true. On a small percentage of the trees with dead needles on them, there would be burned needles which haven’t fallen off yet, so some black pint on some of the “dead” needles would be correct.
Also, forest fires are more likely to burn across the TOPS of the trees BEFORE they burn along the ground. We (firefighters) use to say “Don’t worry, the Interstate will act as a fire break.” (Interstate highways are at a MINIMUM 300 feet across in open land such as forests) The next thing we knew, the fire was across the Interstate, burning in the tops of the trees – leading to some trees burned at the top and still live at the bottom. (And yes, the opposite is true too, as long as the growth ring (where water from the roots climbs the tree to the leaves/needles) is even partially intact, the tree could be dead at the bottom and live at the top, or dead top and bottom and live in the middle and vice versa.)
All in all, I love the forest you did. Not exactly the best thing to remember, but it looked EXACTLY like some of the fires I fought – although mine were on a bit more (totally, actually) flat land. I love the work the two of you did on that. (And of course the rest of the Canadian Canyons also!)