Model Railroad Design Theory 101

[jfugate]

On the portrait photographer thing ... it all depends on your perspective.

If people feel it's worth the money and are willing to pay the price for the photos, is anyone holding a gun to their head to make them buy the photos?

A good business man charges whatever the market will bear. We can feel sorry for the "poor guy" who would pay those prices, but business is business. If it's a rip off, then people would eventually wise up and that would be that.

If the business kept thriving and wasn't illegal then that's not a shady operation but a legitimate business. The prices might be high, but if the quality is also high, then you happily pay it. And since when is making a good living a crime?

[Anonymous]

I feel that we should not question JA's lifestyle. From the books and articles I have read about him and his work which contributed greatly to the hobby... his passing is a great loss to us all.

We should not be questioning this man's life.

[jfugate]

HighIron:

Agreed. Hearsay and speculating is tantamount to gossip, especially if it slanders John's good name. It's even worse to do that when someone has passed on.

[BRAKIE]

Guys,The best layout design is NOT found in a book..You see a layout should be based on YOUR givens and druthers..You can look at deferent layout designs to see how some author shows his givens and druthers but his design may not fit your needs.I have seen layout designs in books and magazines that made no sense at all and was nothing more the a glorified train set loop.So,I urge you to design your own layout that fits YOUR given and druthers.

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BRAKIE

Guys,The best layout design is NOT found in a book..You see a layout should be based on YOUR givens and druthers..You can look at deferent layout designs to see how some author shows his givens and druthers but his design may not fit your needs.I have seen layout designs in books and magazines that made no sense at all and was nothing more the a glorified train set loop.So,I urge you to design your own layout that fits YOUR given and druthers.

I wouldn't do it any other way. Still, I'm only 5 months into this hobby and i figure I've got a few years ahead in building a basement layout. I'd want to make as few mistakes at the design level as I can. I figure if I read what the greats say about layout design, I might just avoid a few rookie mistakes down the road.

[exPalaceDog]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

On the portrait photographer thing ... it all depends on your perspective.

If people feel it's worth the money and are willing to pay the price for the photos, is anyone holding a gun to their head to make them buy the photos?

Please don't get the Old Dog going again on this subject.

As for these portrait photographer. One of their methods was to stop at the gate and offer th GI a ride downtown. Instead they ended up at his "studio". And somehow, by the end of the evening, the GI ended signing a legal contract for maybe $300 of photos.

The Old Dog can't believe the JA was in this crowd. But the Old Dog wishes that he had stayed out of this business.Some busineses are so dirty that they make anyone involved look dirty.

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate
A good business man charges whatever the market will bear. We can feel sorry for the "poor guy" who would pay those prices, but business is business. If it's a rip off, then people would eventually wise up and that would be that.

WRONG! A good business man will try to make a reasonable profit and no more.

Consider your local hobby shop. Maybe he has finally gotten a couple of those new MP1500's in. Remember, he is a small operation. He gets his stock after all the big mail order houses have gotton all the stock they want. If the customer really wanted that engine ASAP, he would have mail ordered it. Also consider that mail order houses probably can sell engine at price that is less then your hobby shop can buy it for. The hobby shop has on one advantage, it can hand that engine to you accoss the counter, you can get it "right now". But if you are willing to wait a month or two, the mail order house can give you a much better deal. If the hobby shop wants to move that engine, they had better be offering it at a "good' price. They might be able to get enough, to make a small profit. But if they get greedy, the mail man gets the business.

Also consider this, if the hobby shop tries to sell everything at maximum the market will bear, someone is likily to open a shop with more reasonable prices. The hobby shop I deal with often sells items at less then MSRP. Some of that clearly is to move inventory that is not selling too well. But funny thing, no one else has tried to open a hobby shop nearby.

Have fun

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Stuckarmchairing

Avoid 101 track plans at all cost, those plans are obsolete by todays standards, and dont offer much in the way of realistic operation, theres sidings and yards but no staging.

I dont even know why MR publishes it.

Welcome from DownUnder.

I think you are being a little unfair to 101 Track Plans. Not all are spaghetti bowls

Whilst it is not linear sincere I am using plan #66 'Eureka Shasta and Southern' by Bill Wight as the plan shows me that I can fit an 'O' scale layout with 60" curves in a double car garage.

The layout will sit on steel storage shelving 1800mm (6 FT) above the floor so that a compact car can be garaged underneath.

The layout datum is approx 50" above a false floor I have built in one half of the garage - the other half being occupied by the compact car.

The garage ceiling is 2900mm (9FT 6"). 400mm (16") below this I will place round the walls staging. At this height the staging sits just above the garage door rails whilst the main layout sits approx 400mm below those door rails.

101 Track Plans saved me 'design angst'.

Oh and by the way, by twisting Eureka City yard I can get a small rail-water transfer.

Another book of interest is 'The Big Book of Model Railroad Track Plans' by Robert Schleicher, published by MBI Publishing Co (www.motorbooks.com).

As others have done I also recommend both books by Iain Rice which are published by Kalmbach.

regards

John L

[Jetrock]

QUOTE:
Please don't get the Old Dog going again on this subject.

As for these portrait photographer. One of their methods was to stop at the gate and offer th GI a ride downtown. Instead they ended up at his "studio". And somehow, by the end of the evening, the GI ended signing a legal contract for maybe $300 of photos.

The Old Dog can't believe the JA was in this crowd. But the Old Dog wishes that he had stayed out of this business.Some busineses are so dirty that they make anyone involved look dirty.

If you have some specific evidence that John Allen did this sort of thing, then show it--if not, then stop spreading such a ridiculous and specious rumor. It is obvious that you really don't know much about John Allen's life and are pulling these sorts of associations out of thin air.

I do recommend picking up a copy of Westcott's "Model Railroading with John Allen" and reading it. If you did, you would know the rest of the story.

Allen was a photographer--he studied photography and fine arts at UCLA. He didn't get rich taking photographs of GIs--he received an inheritance, which he parlayed into a respectable stock portfolio, and was known for his frugal living habits. "The Old Dog" took two unrelated parts of the man's life and assumed the relationship between them.

Lumping John Allen in with these unscrupulous folks is kind of like assuming that all Vietnam veterans are mentally unstable and violent, merely because some folks came back from that war with psychological problems--inaccurate and unfair. If you can't get over your own personal prejudices, kindly keep them to yourself!