How to Make Railroad Mountains for Scenery

Crumple half-sheets of newspaper into various sized balls. The number of crumpled balls depends upon the size and range of the mountains you are building. The balls should be irregularly shaped.

Lay a base of larger balls down onto the cardboard and tape them down with masking tape.

Build your mountain by adding smaller balls to those and taping them down, and then even smaller balls until you achieve the height and size you desire for the mountain. Shape the mountain to represent the region the train is passing through. For instance, mountains on the east coast and Ozarks are smaller and more rounded. The Rocky Mountains have more jagged peaks with much sharper creases. The southwestern mountains tend to be mesas, with a much more flat top and straighter sides.

Place one layer of the plaster cloth into the water for a few seconds and pull it out carefully by the top edge. Start at the top of the mountain and drape the cloth along the top and edges, being careful not to crush the paper balls. Continue to add more plaster cloth to the mountain, gradually working your way downward until all the paper is covered. Tuck the plaster cloth into the nooks and crannies between the paper balls to simulate the mountainous terrain.

Create various types of realistic mountain ground cover by experimenting with various combinations of paint and coverings. For instance, spackle watered down with a few tablespoons of water will cover the mountain and enable you to make ridges, run-offs and other rough terrain. Laying a very fine glue glaze to part of the mountain and scattering coffee grounds over the glue gives an impression of many boulders after being painted over. Use your imagination and practice first on "throwaway" constructions to improve your techniques.