Real flowing water?

How about pumps used for decorative waterfalls?

Real Water does not equal realistic water

I tried real water...  Nothing looks less real in HO scale than real water.  'course, maybe it was my skill level.

I recall some article on using lights similar to the old Hamms Beer signs where essentially, vertical slits in the waterfalls would show some small amount of light through that also passed through a rotating drum of angled lines. 

The light source was inside the drum.  The drum was behind the waterfall. From the viewing side, the visual contrast of the vertical slits versus angled lines made it look like motion.  Can't put my finger on the article, of course. 

Make sure the drum rotates the correct way, or the water will "flow up".

Milt Spanton

Pumping water

It could certainly be done using one of those mini-water pumps sold for decorative waterfalls - check at a garden centre. 

BUT - ain't there always a but,  I'll share with you the caution I got when I ponder this idea years ago.  I had a few of these mini pumps and thought that would be cool.  But I am told, first water and electrical stuff don't mix well, ... hmmm if one is careful they don't need to come together.  Second you will need to use distilled water and keep the reservior full, if it runs dry it is bad for the pump.  Shutting it off is good for the pump, but stagnent water is not a good thing.  And if it runs dry you'll get salty deposits around the edges - that's why I have a few of the mini pumps.  Those decorative waterfall things look nice for a while, but then the salt and minerals from the water build up and it ain't so pretty anymore, and that stuff is not easy to get off. 

And the last BUT - the water on you layout will look like water on your layout - not a river.  A little water, even over a painted riverbed just looks so different in small quantities. 

BUT - I have seen it used well once, at a train show.  The layout was big, and up in the mountains they had a water fall with real water.  You just saw the falling water part, and it looked ok.  You did not see the river at the top nor the pool at the bottom.

My 2 cents worth.

The problem with trying to use real water in ho scale is

the water doesn't scale down.  The droplets are still 1:1 scale and so are waves, rapids, etc.

Real Water

DTM,

I suggest that you give the idea of using real water some serious thought before proceeding.  The reason is real (moving) water doesn't look real - because it appears to move way too fast.  if you've seen movies involving the sea with model ships and the ocean waves they actually slow down the film speed to make it look real (except in some very fake Japanees movies).  Another factor to keep in mind is that there are other "frozen in time" items on a model railroad like the people, cars and trees (no wind or breeze).  Viewers of model railroads expect the lack of movement and use their imagination to animate the scenes in their heads.

There are many products & techniques to make realistic "frozen" water features that will look great on your railroad.  Here are a couple of pictures of a waterfall on my layout using "standard" techniques.  

.

 Rick

Water

Been reading on water myself for a small creek. LOTS of warnings in articles that real water creates germs, mildew and microscopic mold spores - not a very good  thing. Stick to the "instant" water products and techniques made for model railroads; I think you'll be much happier.

HUMIDTY

HUMIDTY, MAY ANY MORE BE SAID. AND BESIDES, 87,1 SCALE H2O.  BAYOUMAN

rivers

Thanks for all the advice, i certainly apprectiate it. I came up with the idea of making the river out of candy. My wife said that she could make it look like real water without all the hassels, plus, when I decide to rebuild it, my kids can eat it

What candy?

I would highly recommend against that.  Any kind of sugary thing is an attractant for all kinds of unwanted pests, ants being the most likely, but lots of pests will be attracted to it.  To give you an example, my kids dropped a mint on the floor behind something in the basement at some point.  One day, my kids called me to come quick.  We had a column of ants coming from somewhere in the wall, scooping some of this candy and leaving back into the wall.  We never had an issue in the basement before this, but they must have found a hole in the concrete somewhere.  It took me weeks to get them out of the house again using ant baits and other stuff I would prefer not to have out with the kids around.

Water

The best thing I ever used for modeling water was Woodland Scenics E-Z Water. Very easy to use and realistic. I think if you wanted real water, you could use it, but use the Woodland Scenics water underneath. Then you would just have a small amount rolling over the top to give movement. Using real water is more of a "wow that's real water, cool" factor than a realism factor. I agree with others on the thread about it not looking realistic. If you notice water from a distance or airplane doesn't really look like it moves, it just kind of sparkles.

Real Water is for the real world Not Model Railroads

With real water you get real moss and mold and the stink that goes with them. Unless your building an outdoor garden railroad forget about real water. Besides real water just doesn't look real on a indoor model railroad and the maintenance is a pain in the ares.

Dan

Real water

I used to want to put real water on a layout but the truth is, unless you are doing real water in a grand scale or fashion, it looks less realistic than many of the artificial water features I've seen.

Now, if realism isn't all that matters, there are some ways of dealing with the many issues of using real water.  Something has to be done to control the growth of algae, fungus, mold, mildew etc.  Either chemicals, constant circulation/filtration or draining and drying, I would guess.  The water system has to be entirely leak proof and any color or texture the water touches has to be waterproof as well.

I'm sure there are issues I haven't thought of.  It just seems like the difficulties of using real water far outweigh the benefits.

Modge Podge

I have used Modge Podge, the picture is from a small layout I put together years ago. It works, can work well, and it is cheap.  I would not recommend putting the river in first by the way - learned that the hard way. 

Another Vote for Mod Podge

It's easy to use and works at least as well as gloss medium (which it essentially is), but is usually cheaper.

Modge Podge

Used it here and it works well. Just make sure you buy the gloss and not the matte for river or water.

Roy