I have always loved underwater scenes in movies, cartoons, TV shows, etc.  So, I was excited to put an underwater section on my layout.  Making 'fake water' in miniature is always challenging, but I am very happy with the solution.  It is a rippled 'shower door glass' material that gives properly scaled ripples plus perfect underwater caustics AND excellent blurring effects as items below the surface as they more deeper under the glass,  Here are some tests I did with the camera to get an idea of how the 'water' looks during the day, at night and when seen in video. 

 Had a great time detailing the forest and mountain area with greenery and rocks.  Where trees had to be removed for ground cover application, they were replaced with numbered thumb tacks.  The numbers matched printed labels that went onto the tree trunks themselves.  Very nice to see things go from white plaster and foam to having some life...  Tested out how it'll work to have some mountain climbers in the scene too.

In an effort to create a more dramatic presentation of the model railroad, to hide the overhead lighting and the 'seam' where the back and side walls meet the ceiling, I created some 'drop down' shelving.  To the central area I mounted some burgundy cloth with a miniature plaster deer head from a local 'Home Goods' type shop (broken antler meant it was half off - easily repaired!) and the sign 'Wasburn' which was originally hand-made by the master sign carver David Hassell, who had the misfortune of mis-spelling 'Washburn' for a customer.  He passed the sign to me rather than throw it away, which I am very grateful for.  It it what inspired the name of the town 'Wasburn, Maine'. 

Around this time our neighbors also were trying to find a home for a King Tutankhamen sarcophagus that didn't match the decor in their home or beach house.  Their daughter thought she might want it, but was in college.  We struck a deal that I'd hold it for her for 4 years.  If not claimed in that time, I'd own it.  They agreed and that was about  12 years ago...

Best thing about these photos is you can see some dramatic progress was made on the actual layout landscaping soon after the overhead shelving was put in.

Just down the small mountain from Wasburn Castle is the building built to serve as a trolley stop for the castle as well as a pedestrian entrance (below the trolley tracks).  The base of the castle was custom-made with a foam core mold - covered with packing tape to keep it from sticking to the Woodland Scenics Hydrocal material use to form it.  The building was wrapped in Plastruct stone material.  The interior features a pool of water with a stream of water flowing into it (fiber optic) and some steps that lead up to the castle's interior.  A small bench is on the ground floor for travelers from the town to rest on after their journey up the mountain.

Bit more work on the warehouse and also on the Wasburn Public Works building, which is a re-purposed Walthers Northern Light and Power Powerhouse.  

Laid down some foam core to raise the surface of the town road to the trolley tracks, then fully established the location of the various buildings.

Worked on the Rich And Sons Brewery a bit.  Created custom interior, added fiber optics around the eaves and a loading dock out back.

Did a ton of work customizing the train station kit with a new tower roof, aged copper details and a nice illuminated ornate clock with actual hands you can set to a certain time.  It's by a company called Brawa.

The background mountain fills the rear right corner of the 13' x 4' layout.  It is populated with smaller trees and N Scale cars on the highway to give a sense of depth to the foreground elements on the HO Scale layout.  A small observation tower is one the hill, one of the first structures the town founder made to allow him to oversee construction of the castle and town.

With the help of an electrician friend, I got some dimmers installed with the idea of having an 'animated' day/night cycle.  Here's the test shots.