Adding a Campfire to Your Model Railroad Scenes

George Sellios is notorious for the eye catching model railroad scenes in his Franklin and South Manchester layout. Look closely and you will find city folk scattered all around. Scenes of fishermen, window-shoppers, farmers, policemen, and pedestrians bring the layout to life. Incorporating accessories into trackside scenes does an incredible job of transforming your layout and enhancing the overall narrative. Model railroad scenes can depict realistic scenarios, or they can be humorous displays hidden within the layout waiting to be discovered. In the F&SM, George brings to life a hobo campfire scene with a twinkling light tucked away in a wooded area of the layout.

Model Railroad Scenes

Twinkling lights bring attention to miniature scenes and there are numerous ways to integrate them into a layout. Lampposts illuminating the streets or shinning car headlights are just a couple options. There are even multiple ways of displaying the campfire scene George has in the F&SM layout. Camping boy scouts, backyard barbecues, and picnic areas all have the potential for a campfire. Leon and Kathy Serre built the campfire scene for George many years ago. In this video, Leon and Kathy demonstrate how to recreate the campfire scene using the Berkshire Junction Model Railroad kit. The kit is still sold on their website, although it has been modified to an LED light instead of being radio operated.

Leon and Kathy provide a few helpful tips for constructing the campfire scene. To get started, you will need small rocks, small twigs, bigger twigs, model people figures and the firelight kit. Leon and Kathy suggest using white glue and tweezers when glueing the small twigs together. They also suggest a couple fire designs. You can arrange the twigs into a teepee or log cabin style. To create the scene, they recommend adding rocks and logs around the fire for seating. For scenes other than hobos, you can add campers, picnic tables and tents. Give one of these model railroad scenes a try. They are certain to bring charm to your layout.