… from the prototype to the garden layout?
Very selectively!! By realizing what is possible considering the space, the money, the time and the effort/stamina available.
I use scotch helps the transference
Yeah, after enough of that you could/should have a double track line with twice as much traffic.
We are more concerned with plausibility than reality. Also, if you come up with something for which there is no prototype, plausibility is all you have.
Lots and lots of plants and not overcrowding with structures etc… and creating areas where the train disappears. I try to focus on a few selected areas for my buildings and the rest get plants. Im with Todd concerning plausibility rather then reality. I run a lot of things that are not prototypical I feel this helps because I can build what I like.
I do not try to achieve railroading reality but I am in with the plausibility crowd.
Living on the Eastern side of the Atlantic means that I have to view what other do and pick up clues and advice through magazines such as Classic Trains. Classic Trains has much in its pages covering the ea (1950 - 1970, +/-) that I model.
I also have a great advantage in that few, if any, visitors that come here know much, if anything, about North American railroading and its practices. Even so, I feel that I like to have things are correct as I can make it - as HJ’s post said initially, within the constraints of space and money.
Now this is where the reality arises. As far as time is concerned I do have that and stamina? well it did help my limb movements a lot when I built my railroad and that still applies some eight years on. Outdoor railroading, I find, is not only therapeutic but bodily beneficial.
I play with trains to escape reality, why would I want to transfer it ?
You’ve seen my layout, I use a sledgehammer and a crowbar.
Don’t make it too real! Once all the theoretical bills come in for diesel fuel, insurance, RR retirement, infrastructure improvements, you’ll be in the red before you know it!
Gary Buchanan said:
I play with trains to escape reality, why would I want to transfer it ?
Well said Gary.
My RR is reality in that I have used it to haul firewood, leaves, weeds, vegetables. It is a real RR just in minature.
To help make our trains more realistic we need to use selective compression. Hiding a train through a long tunnel or behind something is a good way to trick the mind into saying “where is that going?” I like to leave boxcars out on sidings year round to give the illusion that a train might be coming by anytime to pick them up.
I enjoy making my layout look real (at least the parts of it I have time to finish, which aren’t many), and I enjoy doing a good model because that’s the way I am, but the reality is (no pun intended) it’s a very enjoyable personal hobby, not a meaningful job, and I reach the point where I don’t have the money or time, and sometimes the skill, to complete the transfer.
Recently my priorities have been work and kid activities and my RR projects have taken a back seat. Dang.
I dunno about y’all, but I jes play with trains.
Translation:
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I just play with trains.
Gary Buchanan said:
I play with trains to escape reality, why would I want to transfer it ?
LOL Damn right! It’s my own world, and it suits me just fine!
LOL Tom and Mike, I second that! Or, I third that?
Either way, the scenes in my mind are plenty good for me most of the time. Eventually I might actually get a town built.
Relax guys, relax. I got a T-shirt that says “If I cant remember it, then it never happened”.
Mind you, it doesn’t have any bearing on my perception of reality, on or off the layouts.
I find it really amusing that anyone doing this hobby and especially in this scale would make any odious comments about how others see their layouts. Especially considering the reasons why we get into this hobby in the first place. What matters most is not being unkind or judgmental about what others do and instead focus on being polite and objective as well as supportive. To many, myself included, what ever one wants to build, as far as this hobby is concerned, is totally up to that individual. I like it when others are supportive and NOT nefarious in their commentary about what I do or don’t do.
I am sure we can all agree that this hobby is both expensive and fun, but it also requires that we try and be open minded and not overly critical of others simply because they decided to try and do something different or even difficult.
Stacy
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
Relax guys, relax. I got a T-shirt that says “If I cant remember it, then it never happened”.
Hans, I dated a girl like that once. Past tense, very, very, past tense.
Stacy Krausmann said:
I find it really amusing that anyone doing this hobby and especially in this scale would make any odious comments about how others see their layouts. Especially considering the reasons why we get into this hobby in the first place. What matters most is not being unkind or judgmental about what others do and instead focus on being polite and objective as well as supportive. To many, myself included, what ever one wants to build, as far as this hobby is concerned, is totally up to that individual. I like it when others are supportive and NOT nefarious in their commentary about what I do or don’t do.
I am sure we can all agree that this hobby is both expensive and fun, but it also requires that we try and be open minded and not overly critical of others simply because they decided to try and do something different or even difficult.
Stacy
Stacy, expensive is in the eyes of the beholder. I have been doing my railroad mostly on the cheep. Some folks would say I spent a lot of money on it, and I have, but in small steps and pieces. I never paid MSRP for anything on my railroad, and many of my cars are second hand Bachmann cars that I reworked a bit and repainted.
Most folks are supportive, and encouraging. Sometimes it may not feel that way, if they are pointing out a pitfall they have been through themselves. But they are just trying to warn someone to not repeat that mistake.
Hans,
Just give me your phone number and I’ll randomly call you. Then I’ll give you 90 minutes to get from what ever you are doing to the layout. Than you’ll sit at the layout staring into space for about 2 hours. Then you’ll get one train out of the shed and build a train. Wait 2-3 more more hours. Travel about 1/4 of the way down the layout, and randomly stop because the dispatcher told you to. Wait again for 1-2 hours. Repeat until you have ‘worked’ 12 hours… Than drive to a hotel and wait for the next phone call. It might be in 8 hours, or maybe I’ll let you sit in the hotel for 24+. Oh and I’ll only provide you with $6 for a meal every 8 hours you’re in the hotel because after all you are at your “Away From Home Terminal”… 
Craig
David Maynard said:
Stacy Krausmann said:
I find it really amusing that anyone doing this hobby and especially in this scale would make any odious comments about how others see their layouts. Especially considering the reasons why we get into this hobby in the first place. What matters most is not being unkind or judgmental about what others do and instead focus on being polite and objective as well as supportive. To many, myself included, what ever one wants to build, as far as this hobby is concerned, is totally up to that individual. I like it when others are supportive and NOT nefarious in their commentary about what I do or don’t do.
I am sure we can all agree that this hobby is both expensive and fun, but it also requires that we try and be open minded and not overly critical of others simply because they decided to try and do something different or even difficult.
Stacy
Stacy, expensive is in the eyes of the beholder. I have been doing my railroad mostly on the cheep. Some folks would say I spent a lot of money on it, and I have, but in small steps and pieces. I never paid MSRP for anything on my railroad, and many of my cars are second hand Bachmann cars that I reworked a bit and repainted.
Most folks are supportive, and encouraging. Sometimes it may not feel that way, if they are pointing out a pitfall they have been through themselves. But they are just trying to warn someone to not repeat that mistake.
I have tried many types of hobbies throughout the years. Model railroading is by far the most rewarding and confounding. Just the other day I priced (for fun mind you), new Bachman Dash 9’s in HO scale. These locos were selling for $150.00 dollars a piece. Now this may not seem like allot of money, but for a few hundred more, I mind as well buy an entire HO set with track. Such were the woes when modeling in HO scale. That is one reason I gave up on HO. (No slant on you fellows that still HO), it is not for me.
Expense is something we must inevitably deal with regardless of scale or scope. I think being cheap is really okay. In fact, I support anyone that spends little and makes allot out of it.
Being supportive requires one to be totally transparent in their commentary and not nefarious or hurtful. In this age of computers, everything can appear very impersonal and therefore can become misunderstood real quickly. js
Stacy K