My turn to DECORATE!

Hmm.  Interesting challenge...    Somebody once asked the famous designer Charles Eames whether great design could be done in the context of severe constraints.  His reply was "Great design requires severe constraints!".  

The good news is you don't have to be too careful about ballasting.  

It seems to me that your challenge is to create interest in ways that will work given the limited sight lines. Here are a few thoughts:

--I would start by getting a sky/cloud background all the way around to use as a canvas for everything else.

--I would definitely create different "zones" around the perimeter.  A city, a suburb, a mountain division, farm land...

--Clearly flats will be your friend, but don't rely entirely on them.  Use every opportunity to pull features out of the backdrop--including in front of the track.  Use signal bridges, trackside structures, crossing signals, etc.   But choose them to be justified by the flats and backdrops.

--Make hills in the background cut from blue foam and covered with ground foam textures.   Overlap them to form a "range", and use coarser ground cover for the "closer" ones and finer materials in the "distance".

--Don't keep all of the track completely flat.  Even a tiny grade in your hilly region will add interest.  Have a culvert or two under the track for drainage, and a girder bridge.

--Consider sacrificing one of the two tracks for a short distance and use the space for a few small buildings.  

--Fit in one or two operating accessories to add interest and action. Pick ones that can be appreciated from a distance.  Maybe a Lionel #282 Gantry Crane (which can span the track), or a bascule bridge. 

--As for lighting, Get strip LEDs, and run them along the tabletop where they will shine up and illuminate the backdrops.  But don't do it uniformly--always look for contrast and interest.   And, of course, there will be lights in the windows of buildings, including flats.

This could be a great and truly unique railroad.   Just Think Different.

Good luck,

Get some medium blue and white paint. Start with a coat of blue, paint 1 wall, while still wet paint the white from the top and feaather it into the blue, leaving more blue than white toward the base. when satisfied, let dry.  use a paint brush to stipple (dab using the brush end to do your clouds. You might also wish to add trees and a few buildings. If you don't like it repaint and start over. You'll be pleasantly surprised with youe artistic ability. No sense paying $ for backgrounds. Look in the Scenery Sourcelist under the "How to" tab for other  techniques. I've put in alot of effort in developing that list, so please feel free to use it. Good luck. I'm sure others will chime in with their ideas too.

I would also consider the use of bridges; either individually or if possible grouped.  It might be desirable if you can remove part of the existing support shelving and replace those areas with open style girder/truss bridges that allow better viewing from the sides and bottom without compromising the support system.

You might also consider slightly raising the height of the track that is closest to the wall to also improve viewing from the floor over the foreground/inner track.

i have a ceiling loop around a spare bedroom, what i was "planning" on using was a plug in type rope lighting, you can run it off a dimmer adjust brigtness for different dawn/dusk settings. for the corner's i was going to put a rotating red/green beacon tower. just to gain a different lighting effect.

you could use buiding kits, attach walls to foam core board, to give it a 3D effect off of the wall. pitched roofs might be alittle harder to do

Matt, since the height from the platform to the ceiling is about 17", I'd be tempted to use some wallpaper borders:

http://www.borderstore.com/Mer...p;Category_Code=SCWM

They also have city and mountain backdrops.

You would need 7 total to cover the whole thing, but you could mix and match with some painted skies and building flats as well.

If you want to go really high budget, it's always cool to mount some cameras at strategic spots and pipe the signal to a high def TV that you can watch below, but that's a serious investment.

Good Luck!

-bruce