Rene: Q regarding indoor layout in Feb 07 issue?

[vsmith]

I was dissappointed there was no track plan regarding the indoor Jones Island layout in the current issue.

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http://www.trains.com/grw/default.aspx?c=a&id=523

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Is there any reason why this was done? GR has been very good about putting track plans and photo keys to accompany the articles which makes orienting the pics to the layout very easy. I have to say without the plan its almost impossible to really put the photos in relation to the article or to get a good overall of the scope of the layout and how the trackage really works.

[Anonymous]

Vic,

Another showing of MR not knowing what the other hand is doing and pushing the dead line.

William

[Curmudgeon]

William-

 

While I sometimes have issues with them, I do believe that is not the case.

This was a somewhat rushed feature for reasons you or anyone else don't need to know.

However, this railroad was featured in a much earlier GR, and maybe it is shown there.

 

If Rene wants to say more, I'm sure she will.

[Rene Schweitzer]

Vic,

I am sorry you were disappointed. Curmudgeon is correct. This article was rushed to production due to the fact that the author was terminally ill with cancer. Due to the author's health, we did not request a trackplan.

Fortunately, the author was eventually able to draw a trackplan, but it was much too late for us to use. It will be published in Model Railroader, along with another article on Jones Island, later in 2007.

[vsmith]

Vic,

I am sorry you were disappointed. Curmudgeon is correct. This article was rushed to production due to the fact that the author was terminally ill with cancer. Due to the author's health, we did not request a trackplan.

Fortunately, the author was eventually able to draw a trackplan, but it was much too late for us to use. It will be published in Model Railroader, along with another article on Jones Island, later in 2007.

Thanks Rene

I didnt mean to sound unsympathetic,  I was informed off-forum what occured with the authors passing and can completely understand Kalmbachs efforts on his behalf. As I said I have great respect for the author as it was his Mexican themed RR that inticed me into the great indoors in the first place. I was just curious as I was very interested to see how it was layed out in such a tight area and was hoping that it might eventually be made avalable as part of the existing on-line article?

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I'll keep my eye out for the future MR issue. I have to say I'll definelty keep an eye out on the MR forum after to see what some of the "its not HO" whinners have to say about it. Its a terrific layout, one of the better I've seen in any scale, but theres a small but vocal group of grippers on MR who seam to beleive the title should be "Model HO ONLY ALL OTHER SCALES GO AWAY Railroader". I dont know if you read any of the "smoke and fury" when Malcomn Furlows wild west layout was featured. Oy vey! This one should get a good "discussion" going when its published also. 

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Speaking of which Furlow should be just about done with it by now, any chance of seeing it in GR soon???? hint hint?

[Rene Schweitzer]

Vic,
I just spoke with a staffer at MR. The Franzen trackplan/MR story won't be published for 6-12 months, as the staff needs to contact his widow for information and, understandably, are giving her time to grieve. But it will be published in the future.

As for the Furlow railroad, I will pass along your comments to Marc Horovitz.

[Anonymous]

This was a somewhat rushed feature for reasons you or anyone else don't need to know.

I am sure it was also like the inserts, we did not need to know till last sec..

[vsmith]

No William,

Read the above post by Rene. The author was terminally ill, Kalmbach wanted to publish it so he could see it before the end, so they left out whatever they didnt have time to add. That included the the layout plan. It sounds like they went way beyond the call of duty for the guy. For that I take my hat off to Kalmbach. You should too.

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Rene, we can wait for the MR issue later this year, next year. Let his widow have as much time as she needs.

[devils]

What a loss the layout was fantastic, Good layouts like this are certainly a fitting tribute to someone so talented. Thanks GR for making the effort to get it into print for him and I can't wait to see more in MR.

Paul

[FJ and G]

I enjoyed the Jones Is. article and feel badly about the author. Out of curiosity, I'm wondering why there are indoor layouts, when the focus is supposed to be on the "garden". These types of articles might be more appropriate in GRR's sister mag MR.

Also, in the last issue of GRR, there was an indoor layout that took up 6 or 8 pages and was more toylike in quality, something perhaps that would have been more appropriate in GRR's sister mag CTT.

As a subscriber, I think it appropriate to give my views.

[vsmith]

Probaby because while both these were indoors, both were large scale, and as such showed yet another aspect of what can be achieved in large scale. I didnt care much for the Dec layout for the same reason you stated, a little CTT for my tastes but it was very nicely done for the way it was intended to be and I have no problem with it being there, its yet another way to play with our trains and might get someone who doesnt have room or doenst want the hastles of outdoors railroading to considered indoors because they saw something that was appealing to them.

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Dont forget, MR has also published garden RRs in their magazine to represent yet another aspect of model railroading. I find it very funny when they do so as inevitably the HO Only mafia ( the guys who think only the scale and railroad they model should be exculsivly covered in MR just for them) start crying and whining when something outside of their narrow definition of whats right gets published.

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Its a big world in model railroading, in scale, gauge, and phylosophy. I could point out that your layout is O, so why are you not over on the CTT forum, arent they O exclusivley? Of course I know that your outdoors, so the GR forum is the right place for you, but in O your going to have questions that may be only answered at the CCT or the MR forum. Even if we are in the garden, we still can relate directly to the other aspects of the hobby, be that me looking for weathering information on the MR forum, or say Marty Cozad's foreys into the Trains forum for graffiti technics for his outdoor layout or into MR to show those little scale guys where the most fun is

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Don't forget, GR doesnt find the layouts they publish, the readers submit the layouts to them, if they are short of outdoors layouts, then an innie might be just what the editor ordered. I suspect that for the publishers, photograghing the indoor layouts help fill the gaps when winter buries most GRs in the cold stuff.

[dwbeckett]

Having moved my railroad indoors, I Think I can do more with it then just run trains. The temp outside right now is 17 deg ( weather bug ) where the DNRR resides. after residing in northen cal for the past 17 years ( A record for me ) with winter temps in the mid 50's I am not looking forward to spending anymore time out doors then I need to. Also where to new house is it gets very windy ( next doors kiddy pool has climed the rock wall and fence ( 11' approx)). if it's not nailed down it will blow away. So back to the Topic, That railroad is highly detailed, it looks to be a loop with sidings and is seperated by view blocking wall. the author did a very good job with what he had, I Too am sorry he passed away.  

[Ray Dunakin]

I don't mind the occasional indoor layout. In fact due to my interest in realistic modeling, Mr. Franzen's layouts were much more interesting and informative to me than some of the toy-like outdoor layouts, even though my modeling is also done outdoors. Also, those modeling outdoors in a small space can learn what is possible from some of these indoor large-scale layouts, where space is almost always at a premium.

Same goes for layouts in other scales. It may not be exactly the same as what I do, but good modeling is good modeling and there is much that can be learned from what others do despite scale differences.

[Benjamin Maggi]

Was there ever a trackplan published for his G scale indoor layout? I really liked what he did, and wish I could have seen how it all "fit together."

I know this is a really old post, but I haven't seen the trackplan yet and wondered what became of it.

[vsmith]

Rene, any updates?

[udo]

Is a model railroad completely on bench work a garden railroad just because it is outdoors? I have no problem with indoor layouts in GR. They are all garden trains.

Udo

[Benjamin Maggi]

Bump.

[Great Western]

I am delighted that this thread has been given another airing. 

It caused me, and I am sure it will do so for many others, to look again and re-read about this lovely creation in large scale modelling.

My railroad is in my garden amongst the plants, bushes and trees, as are the majority of large scale railroads I guess.  However, there are many superb railroads in basements and large rooms which are just as newsworthy. On the basis of "outdoors only" we would have been denied the pleasure of reading about this model, incidentally set in one of  my favourite States.

On my large scale railroad I have few structures - there are not many places to site them - but indoor work usually allows for street or township scenes.

There are, in this highly detailed opus of John Frantzen's, many interesting models and structures. For those of us living outside the U.S.A. we can see a glimpse of a world which has passed and is, in itself, a record of how things were.  

John's health, mentioned by Rene in her post of January. 9th 2007, makes me wonder if he is still running his trains.   Whatever the answer is it can be quite categorically said that this article is a wonderful, and hopefully lasting, tribute to his work.

[Rene Schweitzer]

An update: John passed away just before the article was published. The staff of MR has been in touch with his widow. The article was going to run in late 2007, but with Neil Besougloff coming in as editor at MR and learning the ropes, it got pushed back in the schedule.

[Great Western]

Many thanks Rene for the update.   RIP

[FJ and G]

VSmith: so O gauge in the garden shouldn't be run in GRR? Only Large scale indoor and out?

 

FYI i did contact CTT and they said my garden trains were not appropriate in CTT (when Neil was editor). 

[vsmith]

VSmith: so O gauge in the garden shouldn't be run in GRR? Only Large scale indoor and out?

FYI i did contact CTT and they said my garden trains were not appropriate in CTT (when Neil was editor). 

Little late on the reply to my post from '07  but of course not, besides thats not what I said. What I was refering to was that at the time of the posting if I remember correctly you were doing O in the garden, but O isnt the primary scale here so there could be a situaion where you would have to post questions on the CCT forum, which is O dominate, just as I have to post questions on the MR forum for issues like indoor scenery. Thats all, what you were doing at the time was perfectly acceptable for this forum and the magazine from my perspective.

If its O and in the garden its fair game for GR, if it HO in the garden or On30, same for Gn15, 7/8" or any gauge. Its just that G is by far the most common garden gauge so thats what 90% of the coverage in GR is about. I think the indoor G layouts get coverage in GR mostly to show that the gauge has potential inside as well.

I know being indoors and large scale makes my layout an odd duck, I have to straddle the fences of two camps. I think large scale gets shown in MR to highlight a different aspect of model railroading, either with a garden layout, or an indoor layout showing a new possible scale to fiddle with other than them tiny trains they usually prefer.

Sorry to hear the CCT forum said what you were doing was "not appropriate" ....pretty closed minded IMHO...but then theres always a certain portion of any hobby group that thinks the hobby should be about only what they are doing, and not what anyone else might be interested in. Keep doing what yer doing, thats where the fun is.