Model Train Show - offending the purists

[Goose1957]

10 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Well, there are probably more approaches to model railroading than most other model forms. The first photo depicts a 3-rail layout. 3-rail has more of a "toy" emphasis these days (although in the past, some very highly detailed and sophisticated 3-rail layouts were built), and lack of detail and poor scale fidelity, even mixing scale scene elements (like some kids who aren't aware of "scale" yet will do) is common.

I'm personally a hard-core "scale model" railroader (as I am with cars), and I just have no interest in the "toy" layout style. But I'll never waste any energy bashing somebody who DOES like it. If they're having fun enjoying that end of the hobby, fine. I don't see the point in criticizing people's interests, but I don't have to share them, or pay any attention to them either.

My own interest runs towards scale model railroad scenes that do a good job of representing reality realistically, like this (and there are plenty of flaws and shortcomings in this shot as well). No Batmobiles or StarWars walkers need apply.  

 

This.

I've been a model railroader since I was a small kid. My dad taught my brother and I the finer things about railroads, including modeling. I used to belong to the fine Miniature Railroad Club of York, PA and am a self professed "rivit counter" in HO scale. I like things in scale and proportion. In model trains, model cars, model airplanes (I used to build as a kid also), anything I build. The model rr club has a yearly open house around Christmas time and invites the public in. It's used as the clubs biggest fundraiser. The general public doesn't care if that steam mallet is hooked up with that modern SD-75 diesel, pulling a passenger train. They want to see lots of trains running. So we would drop much (not all) of our prototypical operating and just run whatever the crowd wanted. They went home happy, we made money to continue operating for another year,  and a fun copule of days were had by all. 

Isn't that what a hobby is suppost to be about?

Jeff 

[NYLIBUD]

I really wish I had the space to build a layout.But absolutely no room.I have had decent size layouts in the past.But that was awhile ago.

[Little Timmy]

7 hours ago, Dave Ambrose said:

The legendary Gorre and Daphaeted railroad had, among other things, a man in a tuxedo shoveling coal. 

He also had the "Infamous" Steam Bronto # 5 ( it was a Dinosaur used as a crane. )

[Ace-Garageguy]

26 minutes ago, Little Timmy said:

He also had the "Infamous" Steam Bronto # 5 ( it was a Dinosaur used as a crane. )

I did some digging and found a shot of his "Organic Switcher #13" (a Stegosaurus named Emma) at the 1:09 mark in the video below. But these big jokes weren't part of the usual operational layout, and his devotion to getting the tech and scale and build details right, even when he built the model of a completely non-existent 2-10-0 "freelanced" locomotive (the subject of the video) is apparent.  

 

 

[Dave Van]

O scale 3 rail hobby today is MUCH more SCALE oriented than TOY oriented.  Folks in O 3rail have no issue spending $1500 on a single loco. I am a scale runner but rely on older models I fix up as I can't pay the $15--=2,000 going rate today. 

This is one of my favorites......PRR S-1 loco....almost 4 feet long! 

[peteski]

I'm a member of a local model train club (NE NTRAK). It is a modular club where members build and own modular pieces of the layout (modules).  We set them up into a layout at the local train shows.  The scenes depicted on those modules vary between super-realistic to very whimsical, and we see our share of those grumpy rivet-counters dissing the whimsical ones. Whatever . . . we have fun and don't care what they think.

At most of the shows we display there is also a LEGO model train layout which to me is super impressive.  I bet that if I hung around it long enough I would hear someone complain about something on it.  Some people are just never happy.

[Ace-Garageguy]

28 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

O scale 3 rail hobby today is MUCH more SCALE oriented than TOY oriented...

Dave, I'm not being argumentative, just looking for clarification and correcting what I may have misunderstood.

My impression has always been that O "fine scale" (2-rail) was the more realistic end of the O-scale spectrum, and that "high-rail" and "tinplate" were the more toy-like end.

BUT...I admittedly know much more about HO now than O, though I got my start as a youngster in Lionel O-scale tinplate.

Granted, $1500 seems like a lot of jack for a toy.  

PS. That sure is a pretty Pennsy S1. I haven't found one in HO that I can comfortably afford yet...

Edited September 19, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[Dave Van]

O scale is MANY things........there is even a group that models 100% scale everything including wheel flange which means your track MUST be perfect perfect and you have to make a lot of stuff. (they use track a scale 4' 81/2" gauge for track....even 2 rail O uses 5' established in the 1920's)

But much of O 3rail has gone 'scale' for everything but track. The 3 rails is a holdover from when Lionel ruled the world.  The level of detail and size is matched the 2 rail O scale guys. In fact many of these $2000 locomotives cone with wheels for 3 rail track or a set you can swap out for two rail track......everything else is the same no matter 2 or 3 rail. It's confusing for sure. The only thing more confusing is 'G' scale with it's MANY ratios and 'scales'.......that is a can of worms!! 

[Ace-Garageguy]

17 minutes ago, peteski said:

...The scenes depicted on those modules vary between super-realistic to very whimsical, and we see our share of those grumpy rivet-counters dissing the whimsical ones...

It's the same as the guys who take the time to get all the technical details right on their car builds looking down their noses at the slammer guys who lop off the tops of huge tires to get stances that are absolutely impossible in reality. Some of the slammers I've seen are absolutely stunning, and are often the models uninitiated bystanders go for because they look so cool...even though they could never work as depicted.

There's no "right" way to enjoy these hobbies, but it's important to remember not everyone HAS to like everything. We should be big enough to let other people have their own fun, but we also don't necessarily have to embrace it.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[Dave Van]

Here is a  video by another friend.......Rich has some good shots of 'Scale 3 Rail'.....it is a commercial of sorts....but shows off scale 3 rail well....

 

[Dennis Lacy]

I was infected with model trains as a little kid. My Dad has a HUGE collection of immediate Post-War Lionel trains and accessories. When I was 12 (1992) I had gotten into N-Scale stuff and my Dad built me a neat 3 x 5'  layout that was kind of a modified helix with a figure 8. It never got further than finished bench work and wiring but I ran the heck out of it for the first couple of years then it went into storage.

A few Summer's ago I got inspired to get the layout out and get it functional again. I had to replace some damaged track, fix some snagged wires and give the rail heads a good cleaning. I didn't like my cheesy old Bachman locos and rolling stock with their ugly toy-like Rapido couplers so I went on an eBay spree one Sunday and bought a nice Atlas GP7 and a bunch of nice Micro Trains cars with realistic functional couplers and just higher overall quality. Then I decided I wanted to modify and expand the layout and bought a huge Atlas Code-80 track lot on eBay. 

After all that as I started planning my attack it really set in how expensive model railroading is, even little N-Scale. Between model cars and full scale hot rods there was no room (both physically and budgetary) for a 3rd hobby so I sold everything to a nice older guy for $700. He and his wife had sold their big house in Colorado and he had to tear down his huge basement HO layout and sold off everything. They were now in a 2-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles so my little layout would fit perfect in a corner of his spare bedroom. He was having major train withdrawal so he was happy to get it. I'll probably regret it some day but I'm sure he'll take good care of it and I applied the money towards a 283 Chevy engine for my '32 Ford Pickup.  

[Dave Van]

Cool track plan!!!! 

[oldnslow]

I too am infected with the train bug , but my bent is On30 Narrow Gauge . Since this was a minuscule portion of the real train world I get to freelance a lot . Drives the rivet counters bonkers . I love it because I get to build whatever I want , how I want . Now I'm experimenting with radio control and battery power , works great and no wiring !

Edited September 19, 2018 by oldnslow

[Dave Van]

Wow.......cool to see another On30 modeler. I by chance am sitting here working on a On30 stock (cattle) car. 

Looks like Peco track....just ordered more myself. A little diesel

A few of my On30 scratch freight cars....

[iamsuperdan]

If I had the space, I'd be very into doing a layout. As it stands, even a tiny N scale layout would be too much. 

When I was in to slot cars, I thought about doing a model train style layour for a slot car track. And there are enough 1/32 scale kits that it would be easy for scenery and static cars in the layout. But again, imagine the space needed to do it right!

 

 

I've thought about G scale, as we have large backyard. But whenever I've brought it up, wifey gives me the look. Married guys, you know what I'm talking about. lolz

So no garden trains. Yet. 

 

I've also thought it would be great to build a 1/24 replica of the Giger train.

[cobraman]

That is wild !  I love it.

[OldTrucker]

I sold all I had in the late 80's except my old Marx set from the 50's that is now my youngest grandsons, after I realized that none of my boys had any interest in model railroading.

Besides I had moved it one too many times already and the last big move to a smaller place meant reducing the size of just getting out and I chose the latter.

I was into HO scale and had cars and houses and the normal things but I would have never put anyone else down because they did something out of the ordinary and only a few of the model railroaders I knew would have been that anal about it.

I do remember being called up to a meet with the head of the club I belonged to the night before a show over the display one guy had set up.

He was the last to finish that night and when the club vice president walked through to make sure everything was secure for the night (didn't want to burn down the school gym!LOL) he saw the guys layout and thought it inappropriate!

At 10:30 that night they called and told him to either change his display or pack it up.

He had a scene with a stopped Amtrak and a police car and ambulance it depicted a hobo (I guess it was) that had been struck by the train and was partially dismembered.

I will say his entire setup was quite impressive but also agreed that the particular scene wasn't appropriate for an event that would have a lot of young kids attending!

He chose to pack up and go home.

There are always going to be disgruntled people no matter what it is that is being shown even in 1:1 car shows this kind of argument goes on but so goes life!

[Little Timmy]

Well......

Since everybody else is "coming clean" about their train Addiction, so will I .

I have been building train's since 1969. I have had many layout's , and I tend to prefer steam. But I also like second generation Diesel.

Here's a shot of my narrow gauge two truck Shay.

A shot of my SD-9.

And a shot or two of my AS-616.

Everything has been in storage since 2010 , so please excuse all the missing / damaged part's , and "layer's" of  dust.

OK.  Just one more....

This is my Scratch / bash of a Caboose combine.

 

It's still under construction...... has been , off and on,  since 2009. 

[Dave Van]

Cool!

[Oldcarfan27]

On 9/18/2018 at 6:25 AM, iamsuperdan said:

Hey, I just noticed the Bullitt car chase going through town! I wonder how many hubcaps this Charger lost. 6 or 7?

My son and I always talk about how we want to build a train layout and what elements, themes and "hidden Mickey's" we want to include. On one corner, we want to do a "Back to the Future" theme with a miniature Hill Valley and old west with a certain DeLorean jetting between them. Another idea we have is to set up a desert scene like the movie "Cars". And somewhere else we want to build a 50s theme with nothing after 1958. We thought about building a table with a large mountain in the middle as a dividing line, to separate multiple themes from being viewed at the same time. And run trains on long tracks behind the scenes, so as to keep them from looking like they're running in circles. I've also thought about synchronizing different scales of the same train at different locations away from the point of view, as a sort of "forced perspective". To make it look like the same train is going farther away into the distance. 

Ah, so many dreams, so little time. 

[NYLIBUD]

Hey I just noticed the car chase too.Thats pretty cool.I also like the Wayne's World AMC Pacer cruising around.Ive used JL cars in some of my old HO dioramas,and I always thought they looked fine.

[OldTrucker]

Man! All this is giving me the itch to get a train again! I asked the wife if we could get rid of the furniture so I could put in a good display and she told me if I want a divorce I can!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's some pretty fine 3-rail O-scale modeling...

 

[Dave Van]

I love the gritty city look........my layout is set 1955 or so......a diner I built...

 

[iamsuperdan]

On 19/09/2018 at 11:41 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Hey, I just noticed the Bullitt car chase going through town! I wonder how many hubcaps this Charger lost. 6 or 7?

My son and I always talk about how we want to build a train layout and what elements, themes and "hidden Mickey's" we want to include. On one corner, we want to do a "Back to the Future" theme with a miniature Hill Valley and old west with a certain DeLorean jetting between them. Another idea we have is to set up a desert scene like the movie "Cars". And somewhere else we want to build a 50s theme with nothing after 1958. We thought about building a table with a large mountain in the middle as a dividing line, to separate multiple themes from being viewed at the same time. And run trains on long tracks behind the scenes, so as to keep them from looking like they're running in circles. I've also thought about synchronizing different scales of the same train at different locations away from the point of view, as a sort of "forced perspective". To make it look like the same train is going farther away into the distance. 

Ah, so many dreams, so little time. 

 

16 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

Hey I just noticed the car chase too.Thats pretty cool.I also like the Wayne's World AMC Pacer cruising around.Ive used JL cars in some of my old HO dioramas,and I always thought they looked fine.

 

That layout was probably my favourite of the show. So many little easter eggs like that. It's the kind of layout I would end up doing if I was going to do it. I'd go for realism, but I'd be adding all kinds of goofy and fun stuff.