N gauge model railway scenery such as N scale trees, vegetation, hills and mountains, planted gardens, and other topographic components add life-like realism to any model railroad layout. Authentic model train scenery is always sure to delight its intended audience. And building it to resemble life-like scenes is typically far easier than the untrained eye would lead us to believe.

And by the way, I get a real charge out of seeing all the detail work and lifelike realism. The beauty and details are engaging, and I never seem to tire of looking at a well-made layout.

I guess when it comes down to it, model railroad layouts appeal to the child like qualities in all of us. When you get involved in this hobby you get to have lot of play time and imagination stimulation.

Once you've completed your layout you're sort of the mayor of your own city or town. "You" get to call all the shots. And as the new mayor, you're in charge of planning, transportation, housing, social services, planting N scale trees and all other aspects of layout and design.

For model railroads, landscaping and scenery materials like trees and shrubs can be purchased in various colors and sizes. If you're feeling a bit industrious, you can make your own N gauge trees from scratch or you can buy them pre-made.

On the make-your-own side of the house, you can buy N scale tree kits from Woodland Scenics and a number of other manufacturers. These DIY kits typically contain either wire armatures or dried plants for the main tree structure, and all the foliage materials needed to make a quality, realistic tree.

For the railroad hobbyist who prefers a completely scratch built solution, you can purchase all tree making supplies separately and build them from the bottom up. And like the previously mentioned "kit" method, you'll probably be using either dried plant material or metal wire to form the tree trunk and branch structure.

And when you opt for creating your trees from scratch, you need to get the right foliage and bonding agents to probably finish your project. Also, if you ultimately decide to use wire instead of dried plant material for the tree trunk and branch structure, you will need to bend and manipulate the wire into a realistic tree shape.

I guess it's out of either inconvenience or a little fear, but I have never tackled building a scratch built tree. I have always opted for the seemingly easier kit built method instead. There isn't a doubt in my mind that I'll someday try the scratch building method. If for no other reason than economics, making N gauge trees from scratch is quite appealing.

N Gauge Tree Size Considerations

So, what's the correct N scale tree size to use? Well, that all depends on the type of tree and geographic region you're modeling. Again, in order to achieve believability and realism on your model train layout "everything" you do should be done with consideration for the way it is in real life.

If you don't create with an eye toward reality, your layout will invariably show it. If you're modeling a scene set in a tropical climate, you probably won't end up with the realism you had hoped for if you throw up a bunch of trees that are indigenous to the North Pole. In real life, the trees would never survive!. Always go for realism and believability.

When modeling trees or any other scenery, there is a fine balance between realism and an out of scale mess. Comparing them to real-life trees, model railroad trees are typically a bit on the small side even when properly scaled. As a popular model train scale, N gauge narrows this gap. Because the trains, buildings, and other layout items are much smaller in size than other scales, building realistic scenery that dwarfs the man-made objects is fairly easy to do.

In general though, to maintain a realistic prototypical look, your trees should probably be somewhere between 4 to 8 inches tall. This of course depends on the variety of tree you're modeling.

Before you start making your trees it's a very good idea to do a little research on the variety of tree you will be modeling. Wikipedia and other educational web sites can provide a wealth of information on the variety of tree you want to use. To achieve proper size for your scratch built creations get information on how tall your trees will grow in real life and then do the math to convert the sizes to N scale.

Have a lot of fun when you're planning your layout and all of your model train scenery. Enjoying yourself is really what it's all about. If you're pleased with the way your layout looks, that's really all that matters.

Always keep in mind that nothing you do regarding your model railroad layout is irreversible. You can always change or modify whatever you're unhappy with, including your N scale trees.

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