TA462 BN24, it wasn't that long ago I was in your shoes. On my first real try at building a layout about 8 years ago I got to say it was brutal. Poor track work, poor looking scenery and poor looking loco's and rolling stock. You say your weathering is bad. You should have seen mine, lol. Practice on anything you can, thats the only way your going to get better. Buy up that Tyco stuff and LifeLike lower end stuff at shows JUST for the purpose to practice on. This is my opinion but I find too many hobbiests in general are afraid to do a poor job on a project so they simply don't try. They are afraid of screwing up a perfectly good model. Models can be fixed. I can't even tell you the number of layouts I've seen where NOTHING is weathered or even painted. Walthers kits built right out of the box with no paint. Its weird. Don't sell yourself short, you could very well be one of the next model railroaders we read about in the magazines. The ones that deep down we ALL want to be like.
BN24, it wasn't that long ago I was in your shoes. On my first real try at building a layout about 8 years ago I got to say it was brutal. Poor track work, poor looking scenery and poor looking loco's and rolling stock. You say your weathering is bad. You should have seen mine, lol. Practice on anything you can, thats the only way your going to get better. Buy up that Tyco stuff and LifeLike lower end stuff at shows JUST for the purpose to practice on. This is my opinion but I find too many hobbiests in general are afraid to do a poor job on a project so they simply don't try. They are afraid of screwing up a perfectly good model. Models can be fixed. I can't even tell you the number of layouts I've seen where NOTHING is weathered or even painted. Walthers kits built right out of the box with no paint. Its weird. Don't sell yourself short, you could very well be one of the next model railroaders we read about in the magazines. The ones that deep down we ALL want to be like.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
TA462 Burlington Northern #24 I could care less If I could't match someones level, I have a long life ahead with lots to learn but one of the most basic things one can do with their diesels is paint white the railing(according to prototype) did that to my locos. happiest camper ever, they look so nice now it feels right. Just curious but don't you want to try to be as good as the modellers you read about in the magazines? I don't know about you but after I got my first train set, bought my first Model Railroader and read it I thought WOW, I don't want a grass mat layout and Tyco trains, I want to be just like the guys I just read about with the detailed incredible looking layouts.
Burlington Northern #24 I could care less If I could't match someones level, I have a long life ahead with lots to learn but one of the most basic things one can do with their diesels is paint white the railing(according to prototype) did that to my locos. happiest camper ever, they look so nice now it feels right.
I could care less If I could't match someones level, I have a long life ahead with lots to learn but one of the most basic things one can do with their diesels is paint white the railing(according to prototype) did that to my locos. happiest camper ever, they look so nice now it feels right.
Just curious but don't you want to try to be as good as the modellers you read about in the magazines? I don't know about you but after I got my first train set, bought my first Model Railroader and read it I thought WOW, I don't want a grass mat layout and Tyco trains, I want to be just like the guys I just read about with the detailed incredible looking layouts.
TA462I don't want a grass mat layout and Tyco trains
Russell
Hmmm,Lots to consider....Chadley is a 1.75yupI can assemble, & sometimes, (good days) paint, & wheather sometimes....Electronics, well, sometimes...Layout = [none] a (-9) oooopppsss, yup....
There it is... The Truth.........
Originally, I had a Lionel train set that I tried to turn into a more realistic layout, but after a while I switched to HO for the realism. That was back in the early 1960s.
Now, I model the early 1960s. A good part of that, I'm happy to admit, is to recapture the era of my youth, the time of 19-cent gas, tail fins on cars, and car hops. Back when we feared the Russians as much as we now fear our own government. When trains had cabeese and boxcars had roofwalks. Back before spell checkers told me "cabeese" and "roofwalks" weren't real words.
If, on the other hand, I went back to Lionels, I would want to recapture the layout of my youth. If you're going to model 2-rail in O-scale, great, but I would take great joy in embracing the Zen of Lionel, with tight turns on sectional track, Plasticville buildings, cows looping through a stock car with the doors near the ends on an oval raceway, a G-scale crossing guard popping out of his shed and all the other wonders of that layout.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
BRAKIE Burlington Northern #24 BRAKIE NP2626 Really! Nobody's judging anyone?!? Only you.. that stuff happens on gaming forums *shudders* terrible stuff... terrible. we're all here to enjoy trains or are we? Use to happen here a lot and usually started with you're not a real modeler if you blah,blah,blah and if you don't yadda,yadda.. Those were dark times on this forum. We could never have this civilized( and yes its civilized) discussion during those times.
Burlington Northern #24 BRAKIE NP2626 Really! Nobody's judging anyone?!? Only you.. that stuff happens on gaming forums *shudders* terrible stuff... terrible. we're all here to enjoy trains or are we?
BRAKIE NP2626 Really! Nobody's judging anyone?!? Only you..
NP2626 Really! Nobody's judging anyone?!?
Really! Nobody's judging anyone?!?
Only you..
Use to happen here a lot and usually started with you're not a real modeler if you blah,blah,blah and if you don't yadda,yadda..
Those were dark times on this forum.
We could never have this civilized( and yes its civilized) discussion during those times.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I started out as a definite "1" with my first layout. It had all the features we despise - tin plate track (Marklin), Plasticville structures (Faller & Kibri), a grass mat as scenery. Believe, I was proud of that layout, but then, I was only 11 when I built it. My next layout was maybe a three, my last layout maybe a 7 or 8. Nice progress in nearly 45 years
I am just starting on my final layout. It will be completely freelance, but following prototype practice as much as is possible in a model. I am aiming at a 10, but will be happy with a 9.
BRAKIE Burlington Northern #24 I have a long life ahead with lots to learn but one of the most basic things one can do with their diesels is paint white the railing(according to prototype) did that to my locos. happiest camper ever, they look so nice now it feels right. That's the type of modeling I do..Add or change some details(change out horns if needed,add visors,stuff like that),paint the handrails and like you I'm a happy camper.
Burlington Northern #24 I have a long life ahead with lots to learn but one of the most basic things one can do with their diesels is paint white the railing(according to prototype) did that to my locos. happiest camper ever, they look so nice now it feels right.
That's the type of modeling I do..Add or change some details(change out horns if needed,add visors,stuff like that),paint the handrails and like you I'm a happy camper.
Somewhere between one and ten you change from having a train set to having a model railroad. Where that change occurs could result in a ten page discussion on this forum!
In my own modeling efforts I hope to have someone who knows the area I model see the resemblance between the model and real thing. That being said, a person who knows how the railroad actually operated would see no resemblance at all! My modeling efforts have been focused on recreating the scene, not the railroad. My layout is probably like a cake that looks really good but tastes just okay!
Now...let's not get into one of these things again.
Myself, I tend toward a six or seven...
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
NP2626 I feel it is ridiculous to stand in judgment of others efforts. Freelanced/Prototype, who cares, it is just a hobby; so, enjoy the hobby for what it is, an enjoyable past time.
I feel it is ridiculous to stand in judgment of others efforts. Freelanced/Prototype, who cares, it is just a hobby; so, enjoy the hobby for what it is, an enjoyable past time.
I agree but,I don't think anybody is judging anybody here..I believe we are having a very civil conversation on modeling styles and there's certainly nothing wrong with that on a general discussion forum..
Regardless if a modeler tries to match the way other fella models or models with 110% accuracy or models close enough/good enough one should enjoy what he is doing..
While I try to reproduce my models to as close to the real thing as possible and enjoy immensely the process of doing so and I try to make my railroad and scenery look as though it could easily exist in the real world (plausible) there is no other impetus for my doing this than my own enjoyment of doing it.
I get better over time and my expectations of myself, increase due to having painstakingly built a better set of skills. Although I will likely take a few of my best efforts along with me to a Northern Pacific Railroad Historical Association's annual meeting someday to display, they were not built with that end in mind.
wojosa31 BRAKIE I find it funny that some people simple don't want to try to be better. Sure it takes some time to research a project, it takes time to practice and improve your modeling skills and it takes time to become a over all great model builder. I could never understand why people don't want to be as good as what you see in the magazines.
BRAKIE I find it funny that some people simple don't want to try to be better. Sure it takes some time to research a project, it takes time to practice and improve your modeling skills and it takes time to become a over all great model builder. I could never understand why people don't want to be as good as what you see in the magazines.
I find it funny that some people simple don't want to try to be better. Sure it takes some time to research a project, it takes time to practice and improve your modeling skills and it takes time to become a over all great model builder. I could never understand why people don't want to be as good as what you see in the magazines.
I didn't write that.. TA462 did..
I returned to model railroading, back in 1984 or so, when I bought a house with a basement. My first attempt was a 5x9 kid friendly layout closely resembling "Tyco Guy's" layout, as pictured in the other forum.
It wasn't long until I was replacing the Bachmann and Tyco track with Atlas, and the Bachmann Fs with Athearn Fs and Atlas Rs3s. I was looking for something that looked like what I observed every day at work.
As time passed on, Code 100 track was replaced by Code 83, and more recently Code 70, to make it look right. Equipment has evolved to the point where Kadee, Tangent and Intermountain freight cars now outnumber my Athearn BB cars. The Cabin cars are prototype specific cars from Walthers and Bowser, and the lettering and numbering are beginning to conform to the 1966 renumbering prior to merger with the NYC.
Operation is Yard Rules and Industrial Track, Restricted Speed. No signals no track warrants, mostly using first generation power, EMD NW2, ALCo RS1 and S3 with an occasional RS3, RS11 or RS27 for variety.
Funny part is I'm not competitive. Most likely no one on this forum will ever see my layout or operate it. Yet, I want it to appear like I remember the territory when I last operated over it in 1977 (Which is 10 years after the era I'm modeling).
The biggest danger, is that one day I will attain what I'm looking for, but at that point it will be like going to work.
dehusman IRONROOSTER Is that a Hex B? There are 10 types of people who understand binary, those that do and those that don't.
IRONROOSTER Is that a Hex B?
Is that a Hex B?
There are 10 types of people who understand binary, those that do and those that don't.
Exactly!!!
dehusmanI see it as a competition. With myself. When I see a great model, I ask myself if I can do that, how can I do that.
I see it as a competition with Weekend Photo Fun. WPF, more than anything, has improved my modeling by showing me what can be done and therefore challenging me to achieve that level.
On the other hand, I may already be a 10 because my mermaid is a perfect 1:87 scale.
dehusman TA462 I guess I never found a need to turn the hobby into a competition I see it as a competition. With myself. When I see a great model, I ask myself if I can do that, how can I do that. I may try something 2 or 3 (or more) to try to improve my skills.
TA462 I guess I never found a need to turn the hobby into a competition
I guess I never found a need to turn the hobby into a competition
I see it as a competition. With myself. When I see a great model, I ask myself if I can do that, how can I do that. I may try something 2 or 3 (or more) to try to improve my skills.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
TA462 BRAKIE Rastafarr Even if Tyco guy isn't up to TK's admirable and difficult standards, Stu,Actually Tony's standards isn't all that hard to achieve but,it does take time and above all dedication for doing the research involved with such modeling.. Thats were the good enough for me attitude comes into play. I find it funny that some people simple don't want to try to be better. Sure it takes some time to research a project, it takes time to practice and improve your modeling skills and it takes time to become a over all great model builder. I could never understand why people don't want to be as good as what you see in the magazines.
BRAKIE Rastafarr Even if Tyco guy isn't up to TK's admirable and difficult standards, Stu,Actually Tony's standards isn't all that hard to achieve but,it does take time and above all dedication for doing the research involved with such modeling..
Rastafarr Even if Tyco guy isn't up to TK's admirable and difficult standards,
Stu,Actually Tony's standards isn't all that hard to achieve but,it does take time and above all dedication for doing the research involved with such modeling..
Thats were the good enough for me attitude comes into play. I find it funny that some people simple don't want to try to be better. Sure it takes some time to research a project, it takes time to practice and improve your modeling skills and it takes time to become a over all great model builder. I could never understand why people don't want to be as good as what you see in the magazines.
I did do extensive research on the Kinniconic & Freestone Ry(C&O's Carter City branch) down in Lewis County Ky with high hopes of modeling it some day..I can take you to where the track went,the stations,water tanks to include a spring fed tank,the deep cut and know several stories.
I can switch cars with the best and will be right at home talking to Tony Koester,Allen McCellend,Bill Darnaby and the other top guns on prototypical operation and LDEs..I've study the rationalization of the railroad plant.
I guess I never found a need to turn the hobby into a competition or feel the need to model beyond my needs and I'm very happy with my basic modeling style since it served me quite well over the past 55 years.
Besides this is a hobby that is only limited by the modeler choices.
.
Over the years, I've never gotten the impression that TK advocated being a 10 in accuracy. In fact, he probably shares some of the "good enough" philosophy that his friend Allen McClelland of the V&O expressed. I have not read the current column yet.
I don't like to own anything that does not look realistic to me. The tyco products and grass mat scenery stuff doesn't cut it. I'm not a stickler for accuracy, but I don't want to have a Genset pull a string of 55-ton coal hoppers and would prefer to use an RS1.
I guess that means somewhere between a 5 and an 8.
- Douglas
cuyama Burlington Northern #24 the problem is that many of us are not tony koester trying to follow a railroad exactly to the last screw on the long hood of a Locomotive. That's not what he wrote about. Only the Original Poster is trying to to somehow turn Tony Koester's column into some kind of value judgement about layouts, which it most certainly was not. Koester's column was about using prototype information to make a freelance layout more plausible -- if that's what you want. All this discussion of applying value judgments and awarding style points 1-10 to model railroading is counter-productive in my view. But to be accurate, leave Koester out of it in any case. As Dave H. notes, there are many dimensions along which one may measure themselves in the hobby. Many of which have not been mentioned here, such as reliability, authenticity of operating scheme, replication of real-life job roles, etc. Byron
Burlington Northern #24 the problem is that many of us are not tony koester trying to follow a railroad exactly to the last screw on the long hood of a Locomotive.
That's not what he wrote about. Only the Original Poster is trying to to somehow turn Tony Koester's column into some kind of value judgement about layouts, which it most certainly was not.
Koester's column was about using prototype information to make a freelance layout more plausible -- if that's what you want.
All this discussion of applying value judgments and awarding style points 1-10 to model railroading is counter-productive in my view. But to be accurate, leave Koester out of it in any case.
As Dave H. notes, there are many dimensions along which one may measure themselves in the hobby. Many of which have not been mentioned here, such as reliability, authenticity of operating scheme, replication of real-life job roles, etc.
Byron