My favorite article or articles are the two that featured the Rochester P.A.L. layouts. This is in part because I am from Rochester and grew up with these layouts but more so because during the photographing of the then-current staff it mentioned my father (who was absent when the photo was taken). Thus, I was this close to having a family member appear in CTT! He was never told that they were shooting the photos that night so he didn't attend, and I missed out on history.
Doh!
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
OOoofaa... what a question! So many to choose from! I'll also echo those who said the Dennis' layout building series, any and all of the Len Caperelli articles, anything that documented the Post-1970 to 1990 era, and my favorite layout plan of all time:
Kent Johnson's
Someday I will have the space and time!
Jon
Anything American Flyer both PreWar and Post War S-Scale
KENT JOHNSON and his DADs layout. Along with their good natured banter.
DENNIS BRENNANs and NORM CHARDENAUXs realistic looking layouts.
BOB KELLER and KENT JOHNSONs building the step by step layout of the little logging layout.
laz57
My favorite article was the one on Gilbert HO .
I'd love to see them do an occasional article on some of the early HO lines. Many of them had action accessories similar to Lionel and Flyer. I dabble with my Dad's prewar but my first love is Gilbert HO and Plasticville.
I first subscribed to CTT in "88 or '89 and really enjoy it. The retro articles are the best. I don't really like the emphasis on realism, that belongs in MRR. I also subscribe to it.
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
my layout.
I'd like to say thanks for your kind words about articles I've written, and I'm sure John (Grams) would say the same if he was still here with us. He and I had enormous fun writing the stories and our book.
The Retro Railroad was a particular favorite of ours, so I'm really pleased to hear that some of you enjoyed it. It was fun to build, and once we were done the layout had just the vibe we were seeking. (For those who never had the privilege of meeting John, he was also a nationally-known scholar of jazz, so terms like "vibe" were part of his everyday vocabulary.)
The Retro Railroad will make another appearance in 2012, and I'm pretty sure that Carl has one or two more stories in the drawer - I hope you enjoy those also.
As for my favorite article, for those of us on the staff it's a little hard to choose, but one that really influenced me was the January 1992 story on the Lionel postwar showroom layout. That's not the reason for our special issue on the Lionel showroom layouts, but it might have come up as Roger, Carl, and I discussed the project . . .
Anyway, thanks, and thanks for reading CTT.
Terry
After several days of reflection and consideration there is this one article that keeps coming to mind. I hope that the title I'm referencing is correct, because I am away from my magazine rack and can't check it for sure. But, from March 1994 (I think) is an article titled "How to Build Them Like They Use To". If this is the title (or not) the article is about the acquisition of one half of a Lionel layout board, where indications of track placement and accessories are evident. Some detecive work by the owner revealed that this layout board was built by a Lionel design team. The fate of the other half of the board is unknown and remains a mystery.
The author /owner rose to the challenge of trying to recreate the layout and determined that he got it better than 90% right. It bears resemblance (but not exact) to the layout on the back cover of the 1957 Lionel catalog. The layout captures the cultural ideal of Lionel's post war golden era.
What is additionally neat about this layout is that a train will operate through a number of switches automatically and transit the layout over a route that won't repeat for over two complete circuits.
I pick this article as my favorite because it's a story about a rare find, a back story mystery, restoration, and a really innovative layout that to a large extent epitomizes the genious of Lionel technology. It is a perfect example of Lionel postwar production, and, as a medium size layout demonstrated just about everything Lionel strove to offer. In that a very similar layout appears on the back cover of the 1957 catalog proves the provenance and authenticity of a surviving museum worthy remnant.
My all time favorite article was the 1999 article for John Anderson's 1940-1949 layout's. The photography was excellent (I belive his father was a professional photographer).
There were some great shot's of his 10X15 layout with his 726 Berkshire, 224, and 675 engines and sets all in pristine condition.
If there is any further info on this article I'd like to know about it.
cnw1995 The article was titled something like Is This the World's Greatest Marx Layout? I actually photocopied it to read by the layout. I'll have to lookup the issue and date.
The article was titled something like Is This the World's Greatest Marx Layout? I actually photocopied it to read by the layout. I'll have to lookup the issue and date.
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