Large Scale Central

Trying to settle on a theme

Indoor and Micro
#1

Hi all,

So, here’s the situation I am in: after about 25 years of being away from the hobby, I am finally setting up my LGB layout again, with plans on expanding it to eventually cover an 8 x 8 foot space in a spare bedroom. When I initially received the layout for my 8-year old birthday, the theme of a layout was…well, a bit mixed. The layout was essentially one of the European starter sets (Stainz loco, gondola, and Chiquita Banana boxcar) expanded into an oval with a couple of sidings.

So anyhow, being a kid at the time, the layout kind of expanded with whatever suited my fancy. The original layout, as set up by my father, included the Pola Swiss chalet house, Silverton station, detached car garage, and a European-style railroad crossing. As time went by, the Pola American water tower and the Pola (German) railway shanty were added, along with a handful of German railway signs. One of the last pieces of scenery added to the layout was a German semaphore signal.

The rolling stock stayed fairly consistent - everything, minus a caboose, was/is European, so at least that didn’t become all mixed up.

So, the conundrum I am in is, where do I go with all of this in trying to figure out a theme? I have this nice lot of European railcars and scenery to go along with it, but then I have the American train station and water tower that I am trying to figure what to do with. I’d rather not pack away the American stuff and replace it with all-European items, because the layout as a whole does have a lot of sentimental value to me (my father did put a lot of effort into setting it all up in its original form). At the same time, I don’t want a layout that doesn’t look geographically consistent. I just want something that looks good and that I can be proud of.

So, what should I do?

#2

Hi Luke,

After reading your post, here are some random reactions (that may or may not apply or make sense).

  • 8x8 is kinda small; so how tight of a radius are you ok with?

  • Can you work with two levels, and upper shelf / half being Euro, a lower shelf / half being US (or vice versa)? Maybe with bridge-extensions from both, invading the other, but appropriately themed for the half being “invaded”.

  • Any opportunity to go outside for one, and stay inside for the other?

  • As you become more invested in the hobby, you’ll be making more purchases. Probably a lot more. If economically forced to decide, which of the two would you trend more towards?

There are worse kinds of problems to have. :wink: Good luck!!

Cliff

#3

Perhaps you could use all of your existing structures and equipment where you would have two towns or areas.

One town has a European flavor similar to Solvang (about 200 mi from you), the other is more American in flavor. You could create a back-story where tourists from the American town take an excursion train to the European village.

As they say, it’s your railroad and you can do whatever you want. Oh, and welcome!

#4

Luke maybe this will help. Just stage your RR in Ohio

http://visitsugarcreek.com/ (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#5

Luke Wallace said:

Hi all,

So, the conundrum I am in is, where do I go with all of this in trying to figure out a theme? I have this nice lot of European railcars and scenery to go along with it, but then I have the American train station and water tower that I am trying to figure what to do with. I’d rather not pack away the American stuff and replace it with all-European items, because the layout as a whole does have a lot of sentimental value to me (my father did put a lot of effort into setting it all up in its original form). At the same time, I don’t want a layout that doesn’t look geographically consistent. I just want something that looks good and that I can be proud of.

So, what should I do?

#6

Luke, I already solved this problem. I have a few European pieces on my total American mountain railroad. How you may ask? Because they were shipped over here cheap for a railroad back East, and my railroad bought them out of salvage from the eastern railroad. Hence, they showed up in the mountains for next to nothing cost-wise.

(Or you could go backward, America to Europe.)

Also if you have a European ex-patriot architect working for your American railroad, it would be only natural he would have a European flair to his designs for buildings.

I don’t care if anybody likes it or not, it works for me!

edit: I meant Luke!

#7

Luke,

Your conundrum matches mine as we set up the Oberammergau, Ogden, and Olomana Railroad! Lots of stuff with lots of sentimental value and no apparent theme all linked together with Wild West PLAYMOBIL!

As conceived, I wanted to make a Hawaiian sugar can railroad, where the little European locos and rolling stock would all work out OK. As it turned out, what would grow and available material put the whole road in a bit of generic place. Over time (2 years of operations), we find we roll American rolling stock on one day and European on another. The natural aesthetics seem to push it in that direction. Other times, an OBB steamer pulls D&RGW gloss and, frankly, we still have fun. Oh, and yes, the PLAYMOBIL makes a quarterly appearance and the Wild West comes to Hawaii (home of the paniolos!).

I think all of the rationalizations listed above work (Hawaii had locos and rolling stock from Europe, for instance.) but I weigh strongly on the it’s-your-railroad-do-it-your-way column. As one member mentioned, in time your purchases will reflect your long term goal, and, in our case, little industrial cars are starting to pop up as their larger and older counterparts return to special service duty!

Have fun! We are!

Aloha,

Eric

#8

The European buildings can easily be explained. There are a few collections of European style buildings around here. They were built as shops, or stores, to attract the tourists.

#9

The town of Leavenworth, WA is in the heart of the USA but has a Bavarian theme. So why not have a German RR that has a town with an American theme. A tourist trap for wayward Germans looking for a hamburger and a Mike’s hard lemonade.

And 8 by 8 is small by Large Scale standards but don’t let that stop you. Take a look at Vic’s stuff on here and what he does on a 20" diameter circle. 8 by 8 isn’t traditional but with the right equipment can work and be highly detailed.