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John, your philosophical questions for the weekend get ever more challenging! Do you think that constructing a model railroad is anything like making a movie? Or perhaps a play? The layout I am currently building serves no other purpose than being a stage for watching some trains run on it and having fun building it. But: Most forum members will remember the number of different layout ideas I had posted in the past two years. My favorite one was an ISL with an Alaskan theme (one day I am going to build this one!). This layout does not only have a theme, but various scenes, different acts and a plot. Aren´t those the elements of a play or a movie? Do you enjoy viewing a layout where there's a story to be told? (In addition to, naturally, being able to run the trains)? Very much so, Sir! Actually, I am part of that story, either in the role of an engineer, or a conductor, or a dispatcher. Does your layout tell a story? Or if you don't have a layout yet, the one you're planning? Well, again, the layout I am building right now does not really tell a story, it is just a stage for trains somehow "appearing" on  a scene. My switching layout was intended to tell a story, something like "A Day in the Life of..." You can add "Bill, the Engineer on the ARR", or "Trainman Joe" . The story is a day in the work life of this fellow, beginning with the arrival of the car float, the loading and unloading routines, switching jobs etc. Do you think it would be helpful for a modeler to construct a "story board" as an aid to guide him the development of his "signature scenes", and in the general development of his layout? A "storyboard" will certainly help developing the track plan and individual scenic features. We tend to view a layout as a whole, but it is most helpful to break it down into individual scenes and to arrange them along your layout. That´s why I prefer to build shelf-type layouts, or "along-the-wall" layouts, because arranging these is scenes is much easier, just arrange them in a sequence. What other advice do you have for a modeler aiming to tell a story on his layout? Aside from keeping it simple, not necessarily stupid, my advice would be keeping it focused and "clean". Abstain from overburdening a scene with lots of gimmicks, them being static or in motion. Try to avoid "frozen" movements in your scenes, as they may look right in an instant, but not for any length of time.
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