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Post by ottoraysing on Dec 23, 2006 20:43:11 GMT -5
It's time for us to get down to some serious model railroad discussion. This is not meant to be a source of scale bashing. I would like for answers to be positive and courteous. When you answer these questions, picture yourself talking to somebody who is just discovering our hobby. Please feel free to add any questions that you think might help those new to the hobby. Hopefully this will generate some quality discussion.
1 What is the one thing that you would change about your layout? 2 How can you better portray our hobby as art instead of just toys? 3 What are the benefits of your current scale? 4 What benefits could be obtained by changing to a different scale? 5 What is the importance in selecting an era and locality before building a layout?
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Post by pcarrell on Dec 23, 2006 21:04:37 GMT -5
Some very thought provoking questions there!
Lets see..........
1) I'm currently building my layout from a fresh start. I learned a lot from past efforts and those lessons are being incorporated into the new one. The biggest thing thats an unavoidable headache is the helix. There is just now way around it that will allow me to do the things I want in the space available.
2) Thats where believable scenery, a good track plan, and operations come into play. Those things can work together to create a miniture world that moves the viewer away from that "playing with trains" mentality.
3) N scale's biggest benefit, I think, is the scenery to trains ratio. Sure, large curves are great and all, but the ability to model a mountain that dwarfs a train running along its side, or to model a desert or plain that looks miles deep in maybe a foot or so is the biggest benefit.
4) Going with HO would open up lots of possibilities as there's much more stuff available. Also, superdetailing is easier in some respects.
5) This plays off of question 2. Without an era and locality, believability suffers tramendously I feel. There are certain things that must be designed into the layout from the start to aid in pulling off the "illusion" that is a model RR. You can add some things after the main design stage, thats true. But I'd say that these two areas are responsibly for a lot of the character of a layout, and it would be much harder to pull off a good layout without some grasp of these things from the outset.
Good questions!
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Post by RR Redneck on Dec 23, 2006 21:05:16 GMT -5
Well for starters, I wish I had an O scale layout. Second, I would put more attention on detailing and fine scale stuff. Third, nestalgia is the biggest benefit of O guage. Size and duribility for G scale. And size and flexibility for N scale. Fourth, I have three scales already. I dont think I need another. Fifth, sticting with a set era and location makes it so much easier to enjoy the hobby.
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Post by bn1 on Dec 23, 2006 22:08:07 GMT -5
one: i do what I want. it is MY railroad. You dont like it, then LEAVE
thats my one rule
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Post by RR Redneck on Dec 23, 2006 22:17:48 GMT -5
Good rule.
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Post by TrainboySD40-2 on Dec 24, 2006 1:28:49 GMT -5
1: I'd definitely beef up the physical plant a bit. Better trackwork, bigger yards, and maybe even a proper siding for helper engines at the base of the grade... 2:Good photography. 3: It's HO, which I feel is the perfect balance of detail to...I'm going to call it size, but that could be taken multiple ways. In N scale, it's hard to make it seems as if it's real, but in O, train length is limited. 4: I'm going with a ditto to what Phil wrote for this one...adding on that the detail that you can find in O and S are better as well. I'd say S might be the perfect scale if there was more diversity in products. 5:It's better to have something in mind when building....
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Post by RR Redneck on Dec 24, 2006 1:54:34 GMT -5
Very diverse answers from diverse people.
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Deputy
Passenger
S2 Rules!!!
Posts: 62
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Post by Deputy on Dec 25, 2006 15:08:54 GMT -5
1 What is the one thing that you would change about your layout? Not built yet so nothing to change. After Christmas it goes up on four 4X8 plywood sheets for a 8X16 O-Gauge layout using MTH RealTrax. Right now I just have a 4X8 oval under the tree. 2 How can you better portray our hobby as art instead of just toys? Hmmmm...not sure I would want to. I have toy trains. That's what Lionel and MTH and other O-Gauge companies make. While it is a hobby, I don't see the term "toy trains" as being in any way disparaging. 3) N scale's biggest benefit, I think, is the scenery to trains ratio. Sure, large curves are great and all, but the ability to model a mountain that dwarfs a train running along its side, or to model a desert or plain that looks miles deep in maybe a foot or so is the biggest benefit. Never had N-gauge stuff. A bit too small for my hands to manipulate 4) Going with HO would open up lots of possibilities as there's much more stuff available. Also, superdetailing is easier in some respects. HO is nice. But again, too small for me to handle without worrying about fragile things breaking off. 5 What is the importance in selecting an era and locality before building a layout? Strictly personal preference as far as I can see. I live in New Mexico, grew up in the Chicago area, and ALL my motiove power is Pennsy, NYC, and Jersey Central. My layout will be pretty "generic" to the East, but I'm not trying to replicate any one place. I've seen O-Gauge layouts on a 4X8 sheet that looked great and they just used "Lionelville" or K-Line Plasticville buildings. Dep
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Post by RR Redneck on Dec 25, 2006 17:18:14 GMT -5
I agree with Mike on the toy train bit.
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Post by icmr on Dec 25, 2006 18:17:43 GMT -5
Some very thought provoking questions there! Lets see.......... 3) N scale's biggest benefit, I think, is the scenery to trains ratio. Sure, large curves are great and all, but the ability to model a mountain that dwarfs a train running along its side, or to model a desert or plain that looks miles deep in maybe a foot or so is the biggest benefit. To go along with mountaims dwarfing the trains, large industries also have the same effect. I also believe that a good contorl system also makes operations seem more realistic and gets us away from the "toy" mentality
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Post by RR Redneck on Dec 25, 2006 19:18:25 GMT -5
That does help.
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Deputy
Passenger
S2 Rules!!!
Posts: 62
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Post by Deputy on Dec 27, 2006 16:50:45 GMT -5
Some very thought provoking questions there! Lets see.......... 3) N scale's biggest benefit, I think, is the scenery to trains ratio. Sure, large curves are great and all, but the ability to model a mountain that dwarfs a train running along its side, or to model a desert or plain that looks miles deep in maybe a foot or so is the biggest benefit. To go along with mountaims dwarfing the trains, large industries also have the same effect. I also believe that a good contorl system also makes operations seem more realistic and gets us away from the "toy" mentality Most definitely!!! I have an MTH Z-4000 with MTH DCS/TIU for my main control and Lionel CAB-1 for use with Lionel engines. I REALLY like the MTH DCS because of the Scale Speed LCD readout. Plus I can really creep my trains from a standing start. Something that O-Gauge trains couldn't do in the past. Dep
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Post by RR Redneck on Dec 28, 2006 1:58:47 GMT -5
Ah, screw MTH. I have always been 100% Lionel.
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Post by lotus098 on Dec 28, 2006 11:02:23 GMT -5
1 What is the one thing that you would change about your layout? Make it much larger with better track-work soldering all the rail joints and using DCC. Often time the best pictures are the most realistic. That's the attitude we need to take on our model railroads. Especially on the trains and rolling stock; weathering goes a long way to make 'toys' look like model. Never use anything with shiny paint. I once saw a modular layout with a great section that had great scenery and a drive in movie theater; however the whole scene was ruined (in my opinion) by shoving a IHC cement plat to close to it. The plant was unpainted and made the whole scene look toy like. The main benefit of HO is it is the cheapest scale with the selection available. I would like to go with live steam so I can run the trains with the same controls as a real railroad, and so I can ride my own train instead of just watching. If your model has buildings from too many eras, you will end of with a much more toy like layout. One of my ideas for my current railroad is to put different building on the same wood footprint so they can be picked up and changed out to a different building. Thus giving one 4x8 the ability to model different eras, and places.
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Post by RR Redneck on Dec 28, 2006 11:47:01 GMT -5
You still runnin of that ole 4x8 set up James?
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