General Discussion (Model Railroader)

Mileposts. Most prototype railroads have them, few model RRs do.

I thought you were just pulling my leg Chuck, thanks Jeff for clearing that up. I've been through that area many times but missed that old ROW, probably cause I was watching all the coal trains.  

Every layout should have joy and passion,also happy trees(sorry Bob Ross).

At least one yard switcher.

If it's a steam switcher, it should be a small to medium sized loco without leading or trailing trucks.

If it's a diesel switcher it should be an end-cab loco (no short hood or low nose).

Just my opinion, of course.

Only a few of you have mentioned figures.  I've come to find that they are critical for drawing viewers into the layout.  Folks seem to relate to a little person and the layout starts to become more real.  For me, people are in the top ten of must haves.

I had many visitors to my 4x9' HO scale Colorado Western--actually just the division point at Farley, CO, circa 1895.  I built the little town of Farley from plastic kits and a couple of scratchbuilt structures, with the main street running perpendicular to the edge of the table and a longer street running basically parallel to the main line.  At the eastern end of town, this street ended at the engine facility, with gallows turntable--in a timber turntable pit--preceded by the ash pit with bucket crane, 50 ton coaling station, and combination sand house/enclosed water tower.

The streets were lined with wood boardwalks and not only were there gas street lamps, but every building except the schoolhouse was lit up at night--though not every window showed light, as I'd added floors to 2 and 3-story (the Grand Hotel) buildings and partitioned all interiors.  The other end of the parallel street went past a scratchbuilt church and cemetery, turned toward the table edge and went past Orv's Western Woodcraft and Val's, a bawdy house, complete with red light.  The road crossed the tracks on a planked crossing and continued right to the edge.

What impressed my many visitors most?  They loved the "night," with the buildings and street lights glowing yellow from the oil lamps and the street lamps a little brighter because they were gas-lit.  In the daytime, they loved the outhouses and many rain barrels at the corners of buildings.  What surprised me most was how many of them noticed that each turnout had a switch stand, as I consider them de rigueur.  Although seldom seen, even on some of the most famous model RRs, I believe they transform even the most basic trackwork and make it seem much more prototypical.  They don't have to work, although it can be done, but just having them on head ties next to the turnout switch points makes your trackwork superdetailed!

(I spent many, many hours adding interior details and figures to the two saloons and the Grand Hotel dining room, but found that most people never noticed.  That said, however, be warned--or take notice!--that little kids invariably spotted the interior shortly after the town lights were switched on and the room went dark.)

Chuck/tomikawaTT, I know this is PICKY! PICKY! PICKY! but neither I-10 nor the MILW goes/got anywhere near Tucumcari, New Mex; I-40 and The Rock does/did. And I-40 circumvents Tucumcari on the south and where the railroad passes underneath it was no longer The Rock but Sufferin' Pacific--although technically the line to Santa Rosa was built by and was owned by The Rock right up to its demise in 1980!

Autobus Prime wrote:

Obviously, not everybody can have cribbing or tunnels, but if you are one of these people, what do you consider something a model railroad representing some area of Japan or Kansas ought to have, to be interesting and railroady in that Japan or Kansas way?

G'day, AP!

I dunno about Kansas, but I have some thoughts about what would be interesting and railroady for a Japanese layout.

Instead of timber cribbing, which I don't think I've ever seen, I'd have a retaining wall or cutting sides faced with lozenge-shaped interlocking stonework - very common in Japan.

Tunnels on Japanese railways tend to be mainly in the countryside rather than the urban areas I'm interested in modelling. If I wanted a scenic break I'd probably use an overpass instead of a tunnel, either railway or road, as these are a distinctive urban scenic feature. But for a rural mountain scene, a typical tunnel mouth with an inscription above the keystone would be very "Japanese railroady".

Bridges are also a feature that could emphasise the Japanese aspect of a layout. Deck girder bridges are everywhere, often on cylindrical piers faced with cut stone, and painted in colours like bright oxide red, or often turquoise. A big truss bridge with grab irons and bright paint would also work well.

A tall wooden trestle wouldn't be appropriate. I've never seen one in Japan, even in old photos taken during the development of the network. So that's one thing I'll never have the challenge of building.

Some other distinctively Japanese railway features would include the grade crossings with their annoying electronic chimes and illuminated direction indicators, "safety first" signs on engine sheds, spring switchstands with blue and white "S" targets, spindly-looking catenary mast and portals, massively overbuilt versions of same, scissors crossovers, headmarks or nameboards on all types of trains, illuminated destination boards on station platforms, station nameboards in 3 different scripts, wicket gates, and pedestrian foot crossings between platforms, to name but a few.

As for structures unrelated to the railroad, geez, where would I start? Someone mentioned churches before - not too many of them in Japan, but temples abound. Some are enormous, others are tiny affairs, but all are very modelgenic, as are the torii at their entrances. A surprising number of Japanese private railways were built with the express purpose of connecting popular shrines with the government railway, or nearby towns and cities - "sangu" or pilgrimage railways" - so a temple is hard to beat as a typical lineside feature.

Outside the station there is often a bicycle stand or parking lot, often containing hundreds of pushbikes. There is also usually a number of vending machines, of all shapes and sizes, selling anything and everything. Land use regulation and zoning doesn't seem to be a big priority in Japanese cities and town, so it's very common to find residential, commercial and office buildings all intermixed on the one street.

Another very distinctive feature is the very narrow streets and lanes found in urban areas, and the insane ratmangle of utilty poles and overhead wires in every street. The streets should intersect at odd angles, and the corner building should be oddly-shaped to match. Any street with shops ought to be absolutely chockers with advertising signs, banners, posters and stands. Shops and dwellings should range from shiny and futuristic to decrepit, usually next to each other. Other buildings should look like they were built using whatever junk was to hand by a bunch of drunken brickies at the end of a three-day pissup. Older buildings often had storm shutters which were housed in permanently attached boxes on the wall next to the window.

Two non-railroad features I always like to include are the typical Japanese post boxes, and a "koban", which is a tiny one or two-man police station. Kobans are very often located near or next door to railway stations, and many of them have rather quirky designs.

I could keep going with this, but you get the idea...

All the best,

Mark.

What's up with the people who just can't seem to get past what specifically applies to their specific era, location, prototype, whims, etc. and apparently feel they need to critisize and/or shoot down ideas rather than contributing in the spirit that the O.P. intended?

Anyway.  I think this is a great thread and have seen some really good suggestions for things one might want to include in his or her layout. 

Every prototypical layout should have at least one freelanced area just to tick off the rivet counters.

BTW, power transmission, bus stations and wireless communications were ALL invented before 1900.  None of them were in widespread use or necessarily in the form we see today or in a specific area being modelled...but they had been invented. 

 

tin can wrote:

Since my modeling interests lie in rural Texas; I would add a oil pump jack (aka a walking beam).  Models of these pop up from time to time; I have a couple to build.  In real life they vary in size, and the amount of time they actually pump is (or used to be) regulated by the Texas Railroad Commission (who's main function now is to regulate the Texas oil & gas industry).

About six years ago at Mexican Hat, Utah I saw an oil pump jack smaller than a loveseat.  The oil was being pumped into a small steel barrel (20-30 gallons?) on a tiny trailer.

Mark

Bikerdad wrote:

A cow. Every layout should have at least one.

Here you're:

This pic is from my European station "Naumburg" at the FREMO meeting in Heinsberg 2008.

You know this special "cow"? Chocolate brand.  :angel:   

Wolfgang

marknewton wrote:

Instead of timber cribbing, which I don't think I've ever seen, I'd have a retaining wall or cutting sides faced with lozenge-shaped interlocking stonework - very common in Japan.

mn:

Nifty! I've seen interlocking concrete walls here, but not stone. Do you have a photo or a link to one anywhere?

The vending machines somebody mentioned are a good idea, too. I guess anything people habitually use without thinking is good. Somehow, these things are extremely noticeable on a layout, when they're there, and really make it look like a familiar place...others might include trash cans, phone booths, fire hydrants, manhole covers, sewer grates, mailboxes, cellar doors, and electric and gas meters.

Did anybody mention old tires laying in ditches? It's hard to think of any layout in the post-car era that shouldn't have a few tires here and there.

Domestic flowers and shrubs are another good detail. A lot of our scale residences look barren.

I think every layout should have something that is sort of toungue-in-cheek.  We've seen a few on the forums; one of my favorites is the Heartbreak Hotel, complete with Elvis and a hound dog.  On my layout, it's the Stave Brothers Cooperage (barrel factory).  John Allen had a bunch, but I liked Hangman's Bridge the best (it's where a diesel salesman was lynched, according to legend).  These little gags are a way of expressing the fun that the hobby represents.

Well, like I said, I think every line should have people in the cabs on the engines.

BlueHillsCPR wrote:

What's up with the people who just can't seem to get past what specifically applies to their specific era, location, prototype, whims, etc. and apparently feel they need to critisize and/or shoot down ideas rather than contributing in the spirit that the O.P. intended?

You have to look at it like this: you can't just throw out "everyone should have a timber trestle" when vast chunks of the country either never had them or have been gone for the bulk of railroad history.  For example, Pennsylvania has been using steel for structural construction for a long time.  I can think of exactly one timber trestle in half the state that survived into my lifetime, and it was recently replaced with a fill (now theres a feature everyone should have).