Here's a thought for you Richard.

When I build a railway (railroad) through the landscape I think in terms of what was there first and the order in which change occurred.  The unaltered landscape was there with hillsides, trees, water courses and perhaps a few tracks.

Man-made roadways came later and railways later still so they were cut into the landscape and left scars.  We see those today in the cuttings and embankments, bridges and tunnels along the way.

Trains don't generally climb steep hills (specialist mountain-climbing railways excepted) and need to go around them by taking a long twisting route or need to pass through them by means of earthworks.

Model trains will go up and down hills but as Max says try to keep the grade small.  3% means that for a linear metre the track will only rise or fall by 3 vertical centimetres.  The greater your grade the slower trains will climb it (and eventually they will not climb it at all) and the faster they will fly dow in the other direction.  While we all have to make compromises in building our models steep grades also look unrealistic.

As you wish to build something going through the woods and into the hills you might also want to think about what those hills look like and how the railway will get through them.

There are many ways this can be done in the model format.  Hills can be constructed using woodwork with plaster or cloth over the top (messy but usually fun and effective) or carved out of something solid such as rigid expanded foam (equally messy and you need to ensure your foam will be firm enough to accept the weight of trains).  There is never just one way to do something and while we can offer all the guidance and support you might want the end decisions are yours to make.

HI Richard,

You can check out my web site www.xdford.digitalzones.com and check out the "making a layout in a few hours" which may be a help to you.

Use the principles and perhaps for a grade, start with Woodland Scenics foam block risers which will give you an instant gradient.

If you are sticking to a 4x8 size, don't try to give it an "over and under" as you may well be disappointed with the toy effect but rather just give it a rise and fall effect.

The web site I referred you too might give you a few ideas for joining separate module sheets and transportability.

Good luck and really enjoy the hobby…

Regards from Australia

Trevor

Sorry for no replies. I will have to pick this up in Jan when i return from military deployment.