Where do you get your modeling ideas

[Rene Schweitzer]

If you checked "other," where do you get your inspiration? Buildings from your childhood? Somewhere you visited once?

[tangerine-jack]

I had to vote "none of these" because it's really "all of the above". I gather thoughts and ideas from this forum, magazines, Home Depot, life experience, Home and Garden magazines, television, and any other source that interest me. I take the ideas and crunch them together to come up with a concept that I then act on. I don't do the prototype angle simply because I view my RR as an escape from reality, so I don't want to be reminded of the real world in my hobbies. I do as I please with my creation. I guess the prototype bunch have a more direct source of inspiration in history and facts, I just prefer, for myself, the flexibility to travel a flight of fancy at a time of my choosing. Thanks for letting me share.....[oX)]

[Anonymous]

Rene
Most of my ideas come from garden railways magzine, and some of my own ,my
railroad is not fancy but it suits me,and i like flowers and small bushes in it, plus i have a pond in it. Ben [:)]

[Anonymous]

I like to search the Library of Congress website to get ideas for my garden railway set in the era between the world wars and to savor the flavor of that time. This view is from Sumter, South Carolina in 1912, but something like this would have been typical all the way into the 1940s, maybe even the ‘50s in rural areas

Here’s the link:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

Regards,
Bill C.
South Jersey

[whiterab]

All of the above would be closer to the truth - but the largest number of things that hit the "To Do" list comes at the end of the day when we are sitting in the middle of the layout watching the sun go down.

"What are we going to do about that rock" usually results in more ideas than we could ever get done. I don't need any more ideas - just need more time.

[vsmith]

All the above for me also.

Its a mixed bag, I use books of specific historic RR's, books on narrow gauge and standard gauge; Magazines articles from GR, the Gazette, Finescale Railroader, Light Iron Digest; Websites (like this one), photos posted by other members, tips and suggestions, etc; and stuff I see at Train Shows, although its only two a year for me out here, the BTS and the Model Train Expo, I still get a couple of neat ideas each time.

Overall the biggest influence is from layouts published in Magazines. Joe Crea's Pitkin Tram, Malcomn Furlow's newest layout (Rene GR should really publi***hat one), and Lane Stewart's articles back in the mid-90's on the Empire and District are still a big influence. Books and forums then help "fill in the details" .

[Anonymous]

All of my ideas come from looking at various things,real,in books or it just pops into my head.Luckily on my bizarre railway I don't follow any themes or prototypes.Anything goes.That helps somewhat as I have no-one that ever sees it to critiise.My favourite pastime is carefully studying something that costs a fortune and then building it out of various bits that we find at work.Does'nt always look quite as good but it's far more fun and about a third of the price!
whiterab.The time thing is so right.Having only a couple of hours to work on something is a real pain.
Troy

[Marty Cozad]

Looking through 1:1 mags and books helps me get around the country cheaper and gather more realistic ideas for the RR.

[tangerine-jack]

I support you 100% troybetts, I get a lot of satisfaction by having no theme or prototype (plus the "thrifty" building concept). This allows us complete creative freedom to grab any ideas we want, from any source at all. Might be why I have a pirate ship in the pond.......funny thing is though, I haven't seen any Spanish..................................[oX)]

"time is an illusion, lunch time doubly so" Ford Prefect- HHGTG (I read the book too, vsmith!)

[Anonymous]

I have the ideas based on all of the above. Mostly, on what I think I can build. That is the fun!

[grandpopswalt]

Rene,

As with most of the others who've replied, I get my ideas from multiple sources. Since I don't model any particular prototype I'm free to use any new idea that appeals to me. I love the geology of the West but I'm also fond of the forests, structures and equipment found on Eastern RR's like the EBT and even the 2' gauge lines in Maine. So I mix it all together to come up with what looks good to me. I'm sure that if I ever get a chance to travel to Austraila you'll find a Kanaroo and Platapus or two on my layout after I return.

Walt

[powlee]

`None of these`.
As I said before, I do not have any structures other than bridges in my garden.
I sat, I measured, we(the wife and I) visited garden centres to choose appropriate plants. The track is laid, taken up, relaid. All part of the fun.
Cheers IAN

[kstrong]

Being a history buff, I find myself using my modeling as an excuse to dive deeper into history. When I see a prototype that appeals to me, I start digging through books and photographs to find out as much as possible about it. Often, that search answers other questions, and uncovers twice as many more. That's part of the fun.

Later,

K

[Anonymous]

I get my ideas from whatever is around me. For example, I had several old solar panels and I had an idea to make a solar powered loco. I also look in books for odd or unusual trains.
Scott

[SandyR]

Most of my ideas come from pictures that I've seen in books, magazines, and on the internet. I have to scratchbuild, because my retirement income is so low. But the satisfaction of building my own stuff is so great...and I can have whatever I want.
SandyR

[toenailridgesl]

All of my structures are based on descriptions in my novel, The Saga of the Toenail Ridge Shortline http://www.trainweb.org/toenailridge/book.html
The book came first, then I make the specific building to represent the description in the particular chapter.

[Anonymous]

From Prototype to my 2 cats (real) railway. I find that gives me the best of both worlds.
Santa Fe Railway
Notbird, Blackie & Old Oak RR
To the 2004 passanger/freight Bluebonnet Express RR

Houston Belt & Terminal with there fleet of 25 EMD switchers
makes it one of the larger switching roads in the country.

[Anonymous]

Hi Rene
I voted none of these
because there was not an all of the above vote
regards John

[Anonymous]

Yes i must agree it is really all of the above, I get ideas from anything really. But we are really free thinkers and we certainly have little interest in copying the past accurately ad nauseum.

We do a lot of work with colourful gravel and small stones and from our travels particularly in the Orient. I have an entire section devoted to Thailand and another to Japan.

The new Area 3 we are working on will be to do with the present and the past, ie a rustic cottage and even a castle right next to a pseudo modern concrete elevated track and we have seen this sort of thing in Europe. eg a modern Micrrowave intallation right next to the the original Olympic track in Greece etc.


Rgds Ian

[Anonymous]

Hey Ya'll

In get mine from all places but mostly from Garden Railways Magazine.

Nick