Beginner's guide to building concrete mountains

[Anonymous]

A lot of people on this and other forums have been very helpful to me over the last year, especially when it came to building outdoor scenery for my layout.

Most notable were Gary Olmstead and Chris Walas and to try to help other beginners like myself I took all the tips Gary gave me along with a lot of pictures of Gary's Mountain Range (which Gary and Chris Walas built) and the Cliff's of Insanity (that I built using Gary's technique), along with a dollop of wisdom from the Master of All - Chris and the result can be found in this PDF:

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/tj-lee/Cliffs%20of%20Insanity/Trains%20-%20Building%20Scenery%20Rev%2003-14-2006.pdf

Note: This is a 5 meg file.

I update this file from time to time but currently it covers Chris and Gary's plastic cement technique from tools:



to creating framing:



to applying burlap/cement:



to rough shell work:



through to painting (milage will vary according to the native talent of the painter):



to installing/trackwork:



to texturing and creating various rock surfaces and "looks" and carving cement and lots more stuff for the neophyte mountain builder.

The PDF sections I did are all from the rank beginner's perspective. It is my opinion that anyone that can get a circle of track put together and a train running around it can use the information in this file to build a concrete mountain, cliff, tunnel, or what have you with passable results.

Comments welcome.

Best regards,
TJ

[Anonymous]

I am curious if this holds up over time, particularly futher north with frost heaves..... I may have to try something like this on a part of my layout, better than a VERY long bridge next to a fence. FYI I love the "Princess Bride" tie in (cliffs of Insanity), that is one of my Fav movies [:)]

[Anonymous]

Excellent in appearance - just hard to believe man made. I have one to construct inbetween two rocks I was going to use foam however for durability I am going to use concrete reinforced with chicken wire mesh (doubled over) and those red cloth shop raggs which can be purchased in a bag. The main support will be regular concrete reinforcing wire (6 inch mesh) curved to the desired shape. The tunnel opening will be filled temporaly filled with ridged foam until the concrete set ups for about 1 week.

mikadousrp

[Anonymous]

Eric,

> I am curious if this holds up over time, particularly futher north with frost heaves.....

Living in Central California I do not have to deal with freezing temperatures. Does get plenty hot in the summer though! I spray everything with Krylon UV Matte finish clear coat because of the sun.

I would think heave effect would be a function of how well you deal with foundation issues but I'm way outside of my experience when it comes to real weather.

Best,
TJ

[FJ and G]

I think the mountains are fabulous, esp. if you're modeling the Southwest. I think the technique has a lot of merit but I'd like to hear from someone who uses this particular method AND also has trees and groundcover growing over most of the mountain for more lush vegetative areas that are mountainous; i.e. a hybrid approach.

I can see making the cliffs using this technique but would want plant cover on other areas. Perhaps one could build up the mountain in this manner and then drill "potting" holes for the plants?

Your thoughts?

-----

(I posed this question on the other forum but never received a response)

[Anonymous]

David,

The methodology is extremely flexible given the minimal framing requirements. Using the chicken wire and rebar method I used you could very easily allow for dirt filled sections, or entire mountains, complete with drip system built in if you wanted. Or you could incorporate individual dirt filled plant pots, either built in, or removable, in such a way as to make a very natural planting area combined with rock formations.

Best,
TJ

[FJ and G]

TJ,

Thanks. You might even build a trap door on the backside of the mountain so you can store your garden tools (or even trains or power requirements) inside the mountain)[:D]

[Anonymous]

David,

> build a trap door on the backside of the mountain

You can do almost anything... on my first cliff section the "floor" is sloped to a cave screened with screen door me***o allow water to drain from the track/ballast area. I would have built in accesses to the interior on the back side if I were not placing them up against the house.

It would be easy during construction to run wiring or plumbing inside the mountain, rock, tunnel or what have you. Even afterwards you can drill and cut through the relatively thin surface to retrofit whatever you need, then just patch and paint.

Best,
TJ