I know this magazine is for garden trains, but couldn't we have a section for INDOOR layouts?

[Independent Operator]

Tom,

Really interesting pictures of your indoor layout.  I do G Gauge in my backyard in Seaside just down highway 1 from you.  If I had the space in our house I would most likely  do it indoors.  It was hard enough negotiating the outdoor space with my wife and I know indoors isn't going to happen here.

I know there are a bunch of G gaugers in the Santa Cruz Area and there are only three of us in the Monterey Salinas Area, one in Castroville and one in Prunedale (that I know of).  A couple of these are world class railroads and thats putting it mildly.

If you'd be interested in doing some kind of joint visits please contact me.

Rudy Jager

[e-mail]

 

 

 

 

 

[St Francis Consolidated RR]

tomgb

St. Francis - shortly after you started this thread you indicated you would provide some more photos of your indoor layout.

Hoping you'll follow up with some.

Tom

Hiya Tom, I appreciate the interest, I really do, but I ain't going to be posting any pictures any time real soon....I just took the reciprocating saw to a huge section of my freight yard so I could reach the upper tracks, which, foolishly, I didn't finish BEFORE I started working on the yard. I'll post some pictures of the upper level of track when I get at least some of it finished. I hope I'll be able to cut out an access piece that I can slide in and out and build in the engine house entirely on it. I might post some pictures of my little disaster just for the heck of it.

[tomgb]

St. Francis - shortly after you started this thread you indicated you would provide some more photos of your indoor layout.

Hoping you'll follow up with some.

Tom

[St Francis Consolidated RR]

Rene S

RAW is an amazing format that allows for better reproduction--I've seen tutorials and it blows jpegs out of the water.

It's also amazing how much "yucky" stuff sticks out once you photograph a scene, isn't it?

 

    1.   I wonder if my camera, which is supposedly a good one, shoots in that RAW format...I'll check it out.

    2.   I read somewhere that John Allen would study photographs of his work to see if it held up to his standards for the very reason that you see flaws more clearly in photographs.

    3.   Thanks for your input in this discussion!

 

[vsmith]

Marty, just your text and signature pic is showing up.

[Marty Cozad]

My other post was blank because I had not upgraded my IE9 to compatablie with this site.

hope this works now

[vsmith]

The fixed layout had a backdrop the pizza doesn't and it really needs something. Most of the time I use a Nikon L18 Coolpix which has alot of features for a small camera but I also have a Fuji that supposedly has all the bells and whistles imaginable. I don't like it as I have to break out the instructions just to change a setting and spend more time setting it up than taking pics LOL

[Rene Schweitzer]

OK thanks Rene, I'll try to clear off the O gauge Marxist layout garage to the side so I can take some better sample shots, I presume they should be shot in the highest pixel mode. If it can edit out the junk on your end (should you chose to accept it) thats fine with me. I dont know if my camera will do RAW format, I'll check. I might also try wheeling it into the driveway and take some shots outside in the sunlight which might get the best results but I'm a little gunshy as I dont want some of my so so neighbors to be checking it out.

Most "point-and-shoot" types of digital cameras don't have RAW settings, and if yours doesn't, shoot at the highest setting possible. (RAW is an amazing format that allows for better reproduction--I've seen tutorials and it blows jpegs out of the water.)

It's also amazing how much "yucky" stuff sticks out once you photograph a scene, isn't it?

[dwbeckett]

Greg that's Marty's outdoor RR the bridge is longer then my back yard is wide,

Dave

[Greg Elmassian]

Is that your indoor layout Marty?

[Marty Cozad]

[vsmith]

double post edit

[vsmith]

Rene S

Rene, any position on digitally blacked out backgrounds?

 

Vic, we generally prefer unedited photographs (shot in RAW format if possible) to allow for the best reproduction. You might want to drop Marc Horovitz an email and send him a sample photo of a "cluttered" background, and tell him what you've posted here. He's quite good in Photoshop and Illustrator, and perhaps you can work together to get the best results.

OK thanks Rene, I'll try to clear off the O gauge Marxist layout garage to the side so I can take some better sample shots, I presume they should be shot in the highest pixel mode. If it can edit out the junk on your end (should you chose to accept it) thats fine with me. I dont know if my camera will do RAW format, I'll check. I might also try wheeling it into the driveway and take some shots outside in the sunlight which might get the best results but I'm a little gunshy as I dont want some of my so so neighbors to be checking it out.

[Rene Schweitzer]

Rene, any position on digitally blacked out backgrounds?

 

Vic, we generally prefer unedited photographs (shot in RAW format if possible) to allow for the best reproduction. You might want to drop Marc Horovitz an email and send him a sample photo of a "cluttered" background, and tell him what you've posted here. He's quite good in Photoshop and Illustrator, and perhaps you can work together to get the best results.

[Andrew Simpson]

Hello Mick, that is a great video! Look forward to some more

Cheers from Andrew

Sandbar & Mudcrab Railway

[Mt Beenak]

Like Andrew, I live down under and I have the best of both worlds.  I have an indoor layout in my garage and an outdoor layout in the garden next to and behind the garage.  I have fully scenicked the indoors, modelling the edge of the sawmill and settlement, while the outdoors is the 'bush' where the trees are felled.

Indoors: http://www.youtube.com/user/mtbeenak?feature=mhee#p/u/1/58IG_hVbOQg

Outdoors: http://www.youtube.com/user/mtbeenak?feature=mhee#p/u/7/s547C3cn1pg

A bit of both: http://www.youtube.com/user/mtbeenak?feature=mhee#p/u/16/iHdB_Lgv9yg

I recommend both.  Model what you want.  There are no rules.  Build a single line loop on the ground with a starter set or build a complete, accurate scale model of the railway you remember when you were growing up.  Spend $500 or $5,000,000.   It doesn't matter.  There are only two important things.  1: Enjoy what you do, and when you are ready, 2: share with the rest of us.  Either through the magazine, the forums or on you-tube.  If you model exactly the same thing as me, I will read it and compare it to mine.  If it is different I will study it for ideas to steal, or just for the enjoyment of it.

And what do I want to see in the Magazine?  D. All of the above.

 

[tomgb]

Marty, your points are all perfectly valid and appreciated. I don't think the intent here is to start a preference squabble over indoor or outdoor layouts, just to get a little more recognition of indoor ones. Most of us indoor types would probably prefer to be outside if we could. However, to quote your previous post  "outdoors is a back breaker, dirty ,hot , cold windy year round JOB."  That does not exactly make it sound like a lot of fun.  But I understand you still think it's best and we're not trying to change your mind.

Tom

[Marty Cozad]

I was really tring to help his cause by showing how differnt  the two really are .

many folks with big yards still will use very little of the space for trains.

[Andrew Simpson]

I have an outdoor layout, but to save carrying trains outside, I have built tracks & sidings in my shed. I cut tunnels in each wall for the trains to pass in & out.

As it is on bench work it makes a great time to work on "stuff" as the trains do their  round of the yard. As I have many visitors it also makes a great starting point for those who are coming from smaller gauge trains to garden railways. Engine sheds, coal, fuel, cranes, loading docks, show that it is not just a "staging area".

This seems to grab peoples interest, then we watch as the trains head outdoors for the trains for a run. Many follow the train around the layout  and enjoy what they see.

We now have 6 operators in my area from a simple visit to an indoor/outdoor layout. We have different interests in the garden railways. One loves gardens, one loves buildings, one loves electronics, another builds wagons & carriages. They all complain about carting stuff and setting up to run, and then to pack it away at the end of the day but I am one of the few to have trains stored on the sidings reading to run.

 We all like garden railways, but what one person likes has no interest for me and that also works in reverse as they may have no interest in what I like. That will not stop there good ideas though.

Yes I would not mind seing and bit more inddor stuff, as much of the many layouts have been built from ideas that others show, especially from photos

Cheers

Andrew - Sandbar & Mudcrab Railway

[tomgb]

 Here are 6 more indoor layout photos with a little explanation. These are the last.

The turntable is home-made using a lazy susan base. I add animation here and there on my layout so added a couple of flashing red LEDs on posts at each end of the table which aren't correct, I know. I  wonder if any turntables were ballasted either. I maybe went too far here without checking first.

The platform is scratch but the houses are very inexpensive raw wood units from a Michaels Craft store that I've dressed up a bit.

This is actually an inexpensive and a bit overdone birdhouse "restaurant" but the price was right. I put screen over the bird access hole (not shown) and it became an attic vent.

This is part of my old N-scale collection now used as a ride-on scale train for animation in one room for my big trains that's still under construction. You might recognize the graphic under the "Ken's" title near the peak of the roof.

This is a mill kit. I modified the porch, lit the interior and motorized the waterwheel.

I showed this from another angle in a previous post but the lower shot looks nice.The gazebo is one of those $6 raw wood hobby store bargains. The bluebird in the foreground tree probably scales out to the size of an eagle though.

Now to  put something together for Rene if i can. 

[TJ Lee]

Tom,

Great pictures! Thanks for posting them. Indoor G is pretty cool.

Best,
TJ

[tomgb]

St.F.: I know I would like to see some more shots of your layout. Your detail looks very good. Actually, it was your starting this thread that finally got me to take the plunge and figure out how to post photographs (which I did in somewhat clumsy fashion) and get myself active on this site that I have been a mostly viewing member of for several years.  Maybe I'll add a few more pictures of my own.

Rene:  I did write one "Tip"  piece for the GR magazine which was published a while back and have written for other fields (ham radio, music box restoration and even N-scale) over the years so will try to put something together for your consideration.  Maybe I just needed a push. Time to get busy, I guess.

Tom

[St Francis Consolidated RR]

      Hello Ladies and Gentlemen......I'm the guy who started this discussion.....let me post a couple of pictures of part of my indoor g-scale, large-scale, 1:24, 1:32, and 1:20.3, not to mention some 1:22 objects.....as I mentioned above, I try to stick to 1:24 on everyting that isn't track or actual locomotives or rolling stock (I can take and include some other pictures if anyone's interested, maybe this weekend):

 

[vsmith]

Marty Cozad

I love this hobby as a whole. I got out of indoor HO scale to see if I can handle the challenges of outdoor model railroading. I KNOW some folks need to have it inside. thats great

 for me "personally" its cheating. Indoors can do so much better work and detailing than we can outdoors because we have to with stand the weather, etc.

Its too easy to work indoors, you use many of the same methods and materials that are shared in MRs mag, outdoors is a back breaker, dirty ,hot , cold windy year round JOB.

 

Now, why am i still doing this???????

Outdoors I have real plants that grow and change, real snow to plow, real dirty to move. And the sun sets are to die for.

The thing is Marty, that not all of us have a big chunk of Nebraska as our backyard.  

I read on MLS where a well known long-timer will be planning a new layout and the minimum size he wanted was 75' x 100' ..seriously? Thats LARGER than my ENTIRE home and property! Alot of us are forced by space constrictions or or other circumstances to move indoors into spare rooms, garages or basements. I'd love to outside, even have plans for where I want to put it, but I dont have permissions from the land use czar so no joy.

I dont think a seperate forum would solve anything here, there is one on MLS for indoor layouts and its been mighty quiet in there of late. I've had my layout building logs here for several years, whether it was indoors or outdoors never really mattered. Since I finished it I havent had much to say about it. I am also considering adding a scratched turnout to the lower circle and using a piece of Aristo 21" dia track to connect the lower circle to the fiddle yard. Thats going to be a large job as everything would need to be made from scratch. Of course if I build it, Lewis Polk will come out with a ready made 32" diameter turnout by next summer LOL

I'd like to submit the final tiny incarnation of my layout to GR but its inside the garage, and the backgrounds are rather cluttered, I want to digitally erase the junk in any pics but Kalmbach has a "no digital alterations" policy, so I'm in a dammed if I do, dammed if I dont position.

Rene, any position on digitally blacked out backgrounds?

[Rene Schweitzer]

If you'd like to see more indoor layouts in Garden Railways, submit your photos and articles.  They can only publish what they get.

 

Matt couldn't have said the above better--send us your indoor photos and articles! 

[tomgb]

The point of this thread, I assume (because I didn't start it), was to see if there might be enough interest among indoor "garden" modelers to request a forum category devoted to indoor layouts only. While I am suitably impressed with the outdoor displays I have seen, I don't miss the idea of the large amounts of dirt, rocks and earthmoving that are involved in many of them. And then there's the maintenance of plant trimming, ballast adjustments, repairing weathered items and so forth. I bow to those who are willing to put in all the time needed. On the other hand, outdoors gets you the ability to handle larger groups of visitors, work with ample elbow room, and enjoy nature's built-in backdrops (and sunsets).

On my property I'm dealing with a significant slope and 85 mature redwood trees that both limit where can run track and provide me with a steady rain of dead tree material that would require a track cleaning before each run. On the plus side, working indoors I can build scenery or run trains in any weather and I need spend very little time on maintenance. I did have to expend a bit of horsepower in moving many framing and plywood materials  downslope to create a belt-to-chest high deck for my layout which is spread through several rooms under my main floor each with limited and sometime awkward access. At my age, I have no desire to go through the heavy part of the construction process again. Mostly, what I have works for me because it's about the only way I can have a railroad. True, I don't have sunsets.

[Marty Cozad]

I love this hobby as a whole. I got out of indoor HO scale to see if I can handle the challenges of outdoor model railroading. I KNOW some folks need to have it inside. thats great

 for me "personally" its cheating. Indoors can do so much better work and detailing than we can outdoors because we have to with stand the weather, etc.

Its too easy to work indoors, you use many of the same methods and materials that are shared in MRs mag, outdoors is a back breaker, dirty ,hot , cold windy year round JOB.

 

Now, why am i still doing this???????

Outdoors I have real plants that grow and change, real snow to plow, real dirty to move. And the sun sets are to die for.

[Southwest Chief]

Garden railways may be the title of the magazine, but it is the general "G" scale magazine. 

So Indoor G scale layouts are covered in Garden Railways, just not as often as outdoor ones.  The new product info and vendor lists applies to G scale layouts if you are indoors or outdoors.

Classic Toy Trains is the O scale (and a little bit of S scale) magazine, Model Railroader is the HO and N scale magazines.

 

If you'd like to see more indoor layouts in Garden Railways, submit your photos and articles.  They can only publish what they get.

[tomgb]

I'll see if I can get the missing 3 shots to show and then give it a rest.

Tom Beckett

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