Each scene is in its particular place for a reason. In one spot, a forty foot long trestle spans a flood plain. As you view the layout from that point, I wanted to hide some track parallel to but several feet behind the trestle. The trestle is 18 inches tall so I needed a scene block at least two feet high, seven feet deep, and eight feet wide. A pair of large trees already on either side would frame the scene.

As I am occasionally wont to do, I began to think. I remembered a large pile of used potting mix very close to the trestle. "Ah!" I exclaimed to nobody in particular, "I shall build a mountain!" What follows is how I built it.

1. Bribe a large youth to put soil on the spot where you want your mountain.

2. Scoop out an area at the top of the pile of dirt where you want your lake (assuming you actually want one). Our lake is a foot deep because we also wanted small fish and plants in it.

3. Use sticks or large nails to mark where the stream will go (assuming you also want a stream).

4. Dig a hole at the foot of the stream for a fifteen gallon plastic barrel. That will become the lower lake (since the stream must end somewhere). Remember to remove the lid from the barrel.

5. When you are happy with the area's general appearance, create a slight depression on the edge of the lake for a spillway. That will allow the water to enter the stream. I used a small, flat rock with a flat face to create a little waterfall as the water enters the stream.

6. Wet the mountain with a sprinkler to settle the soil. Make any necessary adjustments.

7. When the earth has dried, put a fifteen gallon barrel in the hole you dug. The barrel's lip should be three-quarters of an inch above ground level. A word about the barrel: I found mine at a junk yard but many food products come in barrels of that size. Be certain the barrel has never contained a toxic material.

8. Buy a small, submersible pump and enough clear plastic tubing to reach from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the upper lake. Also purchase some extra tubing to run from the bottom of the upper lake to wherever you want to drain the lake when it needs cleaning.

9. Buy enough pond liner for the upper lake and stream bed and a can of the proper glue to cement the pieces together. You will need enough liner to extend three inches beyond the edge of the lake and about five times the width of the stream.

10. Attach the plastic hose to the pump and put the pump in the barrel. Dig a trench from the edge of the barrel to the spot where you want water to run into the lake. Put hose in the trench and cover it with dirt.

11. Have an electrician install an outdoor electrical outlet and an on-off switch conveniently close to the lower lake. Bury the electrical conduit and, if necessary, hide the receptacle box with a rock or plant.

12. Be sure the hole for the upper lake is three inches wider and one and one-half inches deeper than what you intend for the finished lake. That will compensate for the thickness of the cement you will use to build the lake.

13. Dig a trench from the bottom of the lake to the point where you want to drain the lake. Lay in the hose, allowing one and one-half inches to stick straight up into the lake. Cover the trench with dirt and pack it tight in the lake.

14. Place the liner in the lake allowing between two and three inches to overlap the edges. Fold the edge of the liner flat to the ground and hold it there with rocks. Cut a small X in the liner directly over the drain hose and pull up the hose until one and one-half inches protrudes into the lake. Be sure the edge of the lake is perfectly level throughout its circumference. Then cut out the spillway where the water will enter the stream.

15. Purchase bags of mortar mix and, if necessary, concrete coloring. You may also find a gallon of Patio Bond concrete glue useful. We embedded quarter-inch hardware wire cloth in the cement to strengthen the cement in the event somebody steps on it.

16. Mix and spread the mortar into the lake to a depth of one and one-half inches. (If you use hardware cloth, put in three-quarters of an inch of mortar, then the cloth, then another three-quarters of an inch of mortar. Also spread mortar another two or three inches beyond the edge of the lake to serve as a foundation for rocks or to provide a barrier against dirt.

17. Remember to embed the flat rock for the stream's spillway into the cement. The rock must be perfectly level. The top of the spillway should be far enough below the top edge of the lake to provide an adequate flow of water to the stream.

18. Allow the lake to dry. If the weather is hot, you may have to dampen the area several times during the day or even cover it with a wet burlap sack.

All those steps may seem like a lot of work but my son, David, and I finished them all (except the shopping) in under four hours. Our lake is fifteen by thirty-four inches.

Next time we will start work on the stream and in the December issue we will complete the overall landscaping.

Questions? Want an article on a specific subject? Don wants to write articles relevant to your layout. Just send a note to LANDSCAPES, OUTDOOR RAILROADER, 1574 Kerryglen Street, Westlake Village, CA 91361.