Water

[wrconstruction]

A post on another forum has me thinking.......  Does any one still use real water?   I know its been cautioned against in the last few years.

My grand father had real water on his AF layout, Which I now have, and It just really seemed to set the toy train mood.

The choo choo barn uses real water, and it looks neat..

any thoughts?

Ryan

[fifedog]

The potential for headaches is too great, when dealing with real H2O.  You must be able to drain everything after each use, because stagnant water tends to get funky.  Even one of the big seasonal layout builders in my area says that having real running water in an operational nightmare.

If you need a "wet" look to Grandad's pike, please give artist gloss medium a try on the riverbeds.  Work from the back to the front, and you can build up layers to your liking.  Goes on blue, but dries clear.  I use it on my creeks and rivers, which are just stretches of plywood painted with flat earth tones, and it really does add "depth".

[phillyreading]

The last time I was there, about nine years ago, Roadside America near Shartlesville PA(about ten miles west of Hamburg PA on I-78)used real water as well and had a few small fish swimming around in the water. It is true that real water on a layout can be a headache or better, but the effect is great. You will need a water pump and a holding tank under the layout for water return and for the water to be drawn from, and a water filter or two. As Fifedog mentioned, you may have to replace your water often, once every two weeks or less, to cut down on foul smells and mildew. Water and electricity do not mix well. Also to consider with real water, what happens when an engine or freight car falls into the water? Derailments happen to the best of us, so maybe a water substitute would work better.

[Firelock76]

I read a few years back that you can slow the "funk" process in layout water by adding a DROP or two of dish detergent to it.  Keep it conservative or you'll have suds to deal with.

[KRM]

Ryan,

 LEMAX makes a Ocean Display Mat 18"x48" part # 14621 that I have used. You can cut it to shape anyway you want. It has pretty nice depth to it and water ripples.

 I guess it all depends on how real you want to be. My layout leans to the toy side over the realism side. Here is a picture of some I used for my pond.

[phillyreading]

Firelock76

I read a few years back that you can slow the "funk" process in layout water by adding a DROP or two of dish detergent to it.  Keep it conservative or you'll have suds to deal with.

I would think that bleach would work better to slow any funk or build-up of slime. Most detergents have some oil in them, that's no lie, surprise! A cancer doctor told my first wife about household laundry detergents having an oil base, especially Tide.

[KRM]

Ryan, Even if you go with real water and that would be cool, you will still need to put down something blue under it.

[wrconstruction]

The wife wants real water.  I fully understand the mechanics of it. although it seams more practicle for a display layout that is running 6 days a week for months on end, rather than the basement dwellers like us. Real water is neat effect, although it doesn't  "scale" and does tend to get all over the place. 

We'll see what happens.......

Ryan

[KRM]

Ryan, Try to reason with her about the + and - of it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Never mind,,,,,,,,,