If you are a model railroad enthusiast, you likely know that what truly makes your collection worthwhile is the variety of model train scenery you have. In fact, many hobbyists and collectors would probably agree that the true joy of operating model trains is indeed designing the environments that your rail will weave its way through. While this intricate aspect to your hobby is a great way to capture the world around you in an interactive scale model, it also allows you to exercise your creativity in developing a landscape from the depths of your imagination.
If you find this particular task difficult or daunting, there are many retailers both on and off line who can supply you with everything you need to make the perfect model train set.
One thing that you should consider when you design your model landscape is the overall scope you would like to include. Human eyes cannot really take in more than one scene at any given time, so if you want to include more than one setting, you should be sure to separate them with a nice stretch of track that will allow your brain to identify what is coming.
Easing up on the oculars will help your brain prepare for the next expanse of civilization to come. With knowledge of this, you need to plan to not only construct or purchase the necessary scale models for your rural or urban landscapes, but for the spotted agricultural pieces your train will pass along the way.
This does not have to be extremely complex, and it should rather be very simple, like a patch of trees on the countryside or a small lake near a grassy hill.
Your model train scenery should also include different levels in terms of heights, both in environment and in structure. This means that your cities should have buildings of different stories and your countryside needs to have elevated plateaus and perhaps even a large mountain.
Many designers intentionally put small buildings behind larger ones to create the illusion of perspective. Flat terrain gets boring after a while, and honestly, there are not many stretches of land along railroads that are without some kind of differentiation. Not only will you find the many levels more enjoyable in an aesthetic way, but it will give your model railroad more life and realism, which should be the point in the first place.