Worlwide

[SteamFreak]

Perhaps this is at least part of the reason why North American railroading holds a particular fascination for modelers from other continents.

That, and really huge honking diesels.

And what about our giant whistling steamers?

 

[Grubby]

US prototype modelling is also very simple.  Good quality, highly detailed models with sound and DCC are available versus modelling Australian prototype which is a lot more difficult with mostly resin kits, expensive locos and no common gauge for track.  Fitting sound etc is of course possible but more difficult for the average modeller.  Most of what I see produced by average modellers, I would not be content with.

 

tl:dr I model US because Australia is beyond my abilities to get to a standard I am happy with.  

 

 

[Dallas Model Works]

People model whatever floats their boat (which is weird given that it's trains we're yakkin' about).

Certainly there are a lot of people here in N.A. who model European railroads.

The foreign has always seemed exotic and thus interesting to many no matter where one lives.

What is particlularly interesting about railways (Canada) and railroads (US) is how integral they were/are to building these geographically gigantic countires.

A happenstance of human and technological progress, but rail travel and the growth of these countries happened simultaneously.

Perhaps this is at least part of the reason why North American railroading holds a particular fascination for modelers from other continents.

That, and really huge honking diesels.

 

[andrechapelon]

First of all, in print you are only very rarely going to see any articles published dealing with foriegn railroading over here, simply because of the editors' concern that they likely would not appeal to their North American readers (just look at their history in MR, RMC, et al.). Having seen a number of foreign model railroading magazines in my travels, I can vouch that I've rarely come across any U.S. prototype articles in them.

Have a look at "Continental Modeller", published by Peco. Almost every issue features US prototype layouts built by people who aren't American and don't live in the US.

Mark.

 

 There's no fewer than 3 North American related articles in the February, 2008 "Continental Modeler". http://www.peco-uk.com/Publications/ContinentalM_this.htm

Andre

 

[arkansasrailfan]

Seems like everyone models Canadian or American railroads.
Because everyone thinks US RRs are more exciting

Just because there is an article on 1 modeller in Japan that models US prototype does not mean that "everyone" models US railroads.  In my experience the vast majority of folks model the RR's that they are familiar with, ie their own nations trains.  There are of course exceptions, as there are several modellers on this forum from Europe and other parts that model US RR. But I think you will find that they are very much a minority in their own countries.  One thing that I think does have an influence is cost.  We moan about the high cost of the hobby in the US, but one stop into a European hobby shop and you can quickly see that US prototype trains can be purchased via the web for a lot less than European prototype trains.

Simmon is correct. Further, I consider it utterly naive to think that listing a handful of foreign hobbyists known to model American railroads is some sort of indicator that American prototypes are wildly appealing to many, if not most, overseas.

First of all, in print you are only very rarely going to see any articles published dealing with foriegn railroading over here, simply because of the editors' concern that they likely would not appeal to their North American readers (just look at their history in MR, RMC, et al.). Having seen a number of foreign model railroading magazines in my travels, I can vouch that I've rarely come across any U.S. prototype articles in them.

Likewise, on-line on such sites as this one, you are unlikely to encounter folks who are actually modelling anything other than U.S. prototypes, largely because of the differences in the appearance of location/terrain, structure types, equipment and operations. Even the basic form modelling takes elsewhere is often different (Japan and England, for example). Sprawling, panoramic, layouts so commonly illustrated in state-side magazines, are quite rare in most other countries.  

Infact, seeing just how few foreign individuals tend to show up here dramatically points out that those modelling U.S. prototypes outside North America and who are not transplanted former U.S. residents, must be fairly rare and amount to no more than a couple of percent of worldwide hobbyists, at most.

CNJ831

Maybe someone should start a "foreign RR modeler" thread.
I now remembered now that many model foerign rrs in foreign countries.
A RR club member has a Soviet grain boxcar(HO), and a gon I think

[Lillen]

First of all, in print you are only very rarely going to see any articles published dealing with foriegn railroading over here, simply because of the editors' concern that they likely would not appeal to their North American readers (just look at their history in MR, RMC, et al.). Having seen a number of foreign model railroading magazines in my travels, I can vouch that I've rarely come across any U.S. prototype articles in them.

Have a look at "Continental Modeller", published by Peco. Almost every issue features US prototype layouts built by people who aren't American and don't live in the US.

Mark.

 

There are a lot of people in Sweden who do American railroads. Of the people I know, at least half of them have at least one American engine even though they might not model a US road. A fair bunch of people do model a US road and not a Swedish layout.

 

Magnus

[marknewton]

First of all, in print you are only very rarely going to see any articles published dealing with foriegn railroading over here, simply because of the editors' concern that they likely would not appeal to their North American readers (just look at their history in MR, RMC, et al.). Having seen a number of foreign model railroading magazines in my travels, I can vouch that I've rarely come across any U.S. prototype articles in them.

Have a look at "Continental Modeller", published by Peco. Almost every issue features US prototype layouts built by people who aren't American and don't live in the US.

Mark.

[marknewton]

That article about Hitomi Okuno's New York Central layout in Japan this month shows that wherever you live, you can model a railroad anywhere. This guy lives in Tokyo and he models the NYC. What do you think?

I would rather see an article featuring a Japanese prototype layout, but that's just me. But as you say, you can model anything, regardless of where you live. I'm from a flyspeck town in Australia, but I model the railways of a Japanese metropolis.

Cheers,

Mark.

[andrechapelon]

I agree with the OP, the NYC inspired layout in this months MR is cool, but I wonder if there are others abroad, that don't rub shoulders with the founder of KATO, that may have layouts just as nice?

Here's another Italian modeling the US in N scale: http://sp-coastline.blogspot.com/

Denny's Austrian N scale layout was of a very high standard of modeling. I would expect his model of the SP to be of equal quality.

Andre 

 

[tomikawaTT]

I'm surprised to not see Chuck (from the USA), Modeling Japan in September of 1964, post on this thread.

I agree with the OP, the NYC inspired layout in this months MR is cool, but I wonder if there are others abroad, that don't rub shoulders with the founder of KATO, that may have layouts just as nice?

I hadn't posted earlier because I hadn't read this thread earlier.

I am not alone.  Mark Newton (from Australia) models Japanese traction in 1:80 scale - and won Spacemouse's 10 X 12 layout contest with a Japanese transit line layout in HOn762.

We tend to model the things we find interesting.  Since most North American modelers have never been out of North America...

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[andrechapelon]

Simmon is correct. Further, I consider it utterly naive to think that listing a handful of foreign hobbyists known to model American railroads is some sort of indicator that American prototypes are wildly appealing to many, if not most, overseas.

I find it rather interesting to see that you think the links to overseas US modelers were an attempt to prove that there is massive interest in US railroading when I only provided the links to a question about whether or not there were overseas modelers of the US scene whose layouts were on a par with the one in the March, 2008, MR.

It was a question about quality, not quantity. The answer to THAT question is YES.

Andre

 

[Lillen]

A couple of other thoughts to add.  MRR rarely features modelling of non US railroads.  I recall an article on a British prototype a few years back, but it is not at all common.  This forum is probably the most active gathering place for US prototype modellers on the web, so most of the foreigners that are here are into US trains.  The ones that are not are on other forums specific to their needs.  The point being that if your exposure to foreign modellers is only on this forum or in the MRR mag, then you are seeing a very skewed sample.

The other point I wanted to make is that modelling US RR's is actually relatively in-expensive. It always amazes me just how expensive locomotives are over there.  It would be a lot cheaper to purchase from US web and mail order houses than to model a German or Swiss RR for example. So cost is one thing that might influence the construction of a US layout overseas.

One big negative is space.  We are very fortunate to have large basements and lots of spare rooms to build our models.  Europeans and especially Japanese in general do not have access to modelling space like we seem to in the US.  US railroading is often "big" modelling.  For many overseas it is just not a practical proposition to model such scenes. 

 

All of the above is true in my mind. I'm a European and I model US roads for a number of reasons. other swedes who are not into US railroading do not go to these boards to the same extent. It doesn't give them very much.

 

The point on prices are also true. you call 200-300 dollar engines expensive. We call them dirt cheap. A normal Swedish engine will usually run you around 600-800 dollars for a small electric engine. A passenger car is toughly 75 bucks for a normal(not as nice as Walthers in my mind) car. And so on and on. You guys are lucky.

 

Then space, I'm lucky to currently have 15 square meter garage to play in. That is bigger then normal in Sweden. I'm going to build either a 40 sqm train house or a separate house with enough space on the down floor for 75 sqm. Now that is huge in Europe.

 

One more thing, availability, their  is very few Swedish on the market, their are some brass steamers in small runs but these costs between 2000 and 3000 dollars. With American stuff I can choose. I can even choose which manufacturers Big boy I like the most and get that. I like those options.

 

 

[CNJ831]

Seems like everyone models Canadian or American railroads.
Because everyone thinks US RRs are more exciting

Just because there is an article on 1 modeller in Japan that models US prototype does not mean that "everyone" models US railroads.  In my experience the vast majority of folks model the RR's that they are familiar with, ie their own nations trains.  There are of course exceptions, as there are several modellers on this forum from Europe and other parts that model US RR. But I think you will find that they are very much a minority in their own countries.  One thing that I think does have an influence is cost.  We moan about the high cost of the hobby in the US, but one stop into a European hobby shop and you can quickly see that US prototype trains can be purchased via the web for a lot less than European prototype trains.

Simmon is correct. Further, I consider it utterly naive to think that listing a handful of foreign hobbyists known to model American railroads is some sort of indicator that American prototypes are wildly appealing to many, if not most, overseas.

First of all, in print you are only very rarely going to see any articles published dealing with foriegn railroading over here, simply because of the editors' concern that they likely would not appeal to their North American readers (just look at their history in MR, RMC, et al.). Having seen a number of foreign model railroading magazines in my travels, I can vouch that I've rarely come across any U.S. prototype articles in them.

Likewise, on-line on such sites as this one, you are unlikely to encounter folks who are actually modelling anything other than U.S. prototypes, largely because of the differences in the appearance of location/terrain, structure types, equipment and operations. Even the basic form modelling takes elsewhere is often different (Japan and England, for example). Sprawling, panoramic, layouts so commonly illustrated in state-side magazines, are quite rare in most other countries.  

Infact, seeing just how few foreign individuals tend to show up here dramatically points out that those modelling U.S. prototypes outside North America and who are not transplanted former U.S. residents, must be fairly rare and amount to no more than a couple of percent of worldwide hobbyists, at most.

CNJ831

[Pruitt]

At the Timonium, MD Great Scale Model Train Show (www.GSMTS.com), there's always a vendor who specializes in Russian models. Quite a decent selection, too. I'm not sure if they're importers or manufacturers.

Every time I see their wares, I get intrigued at the thought of modeling Russian railroads.

[simon1966]

A couple of other thoughts to add.  MRR rarely features modelling of non US railroads.  I recall an article on a British prototype a few years back, but it is not at all common.  This forum is probably the most active gathering place for US prototype modellers on the web, so most of the foreigners that are here are into US trains.  The ones that are not are on other forums specific to their needs.  The point being that if your exposure to foreign modellers is only on this forum or in the MRR mag, then you are seeing a very skewed sample.

The other point I wanted to make is that modelling US RR's is actually relatively in-expensive. It always amazes me just how expensive locomotives are over there.  It would be a lot cheaper to purchase from US web and mail order houses than to model a German or Swiss RR for example. So cost is one thing that might influence the construction of a US layout overseas.

One big negative is space.  We are very fortunate to have large basements and lots of spare rooms to build our models.  Europeans and especially Japanese in general do not have access to modelling space like we seem to in the US.  US railroading is often "big" modelling.  For many overseas it is just not a practical proposition to model such scenes. 

[andrechapelon]

Here's another one. The guy's Dutch. Some fantastic SP modeling. Videos, too.

http://www.railserve.com/jump/jump.cgi?ID=18308

Edit: Well, he may be Dutch, but it appears he's in Canada.

Andre

[KingConrail76]

Again Andre, you've put my foot in my mouth. I'd completely forgotten Wolfgang's Westport Terminal RR, which is Very nice indeed. I quite admire his "abused" gondolas in the last video clip.

The others (with exclusion of Pelle) are new to me, and I will check them out when I get a chance.

<edit> spelling

[andrechapelon]

I'm surprised to not see Chuck (from the USA), Modeling Japan in September of 1964, post on this thread.

I agree with the OP, the NYC inspired layout in this months MR is cool, but I wonder if there are others abroad, that don't rub shoulders with the founder of KATO, that may have layouts just as nice?

 

Well, there's Carsten Lundten in Denmark with a nice N scale layout based on Raton Pass. http://www.lundsten.dk/layout/

Pelle Soeborg, another Dane, did a nice contemporary layout based on the UP (ex-SP) in the Mojave, CA, area. http://www.soeeborg.dk/railroading.html

Wolfgang Dudler's US based layout in Germany: http://www.westportterminal.de/wt.html

Angelo Battistella's US based layout: http://www.railserve.com/jump/jump.cgi?ID=5422 . Also appeared in the Janurary, 2008 MR.

There's more. Google will eventually find them for you.

Andre

[KingConrail76]

I'm surprised to not see Chuck (from the USA), Modeling Japan in September of 1964, post on this thread.

I agree with the OP, the NYC inspired layout in this months MR is cool, but I wonder if there are others abroad, that don't rub shoulders with the founder of KATO, that may have layouts just as nice?

[dinwitty]

Seems like everyone models Canadian or American railroads.
Because everyone thinks US RRs are more exciting

Just because there is an article on 1 modeller in Japan that models US prototype does not mean that "everyone" models US railroads.  In my experience the vast majority of folks model the RR's that they are familiar with, ie their own nations trains.  There are of course exceptions, as there are several modellers on this forum from Europe and other parts that model US RR. But I think you will find that they are very much a minority in their own countries.  One thing that I think does have an influence is cost.  We moan about the high cost of the hobby in the US, but one stop into a European hobby shop and you can quickly see that US prototype trains can be purchased via the web for a lot less than European prototype trains.

 

Spoil Sport 8-P

 8-D

Anyone want to model the transcontinental train that goes from the west side of Russia all the way to Paris? Between some countries they have to change trucks for gauge changes, then back.

 

[arkansasrailfan]

okay......how about "many" instead of "everyone". I was just pointing out that it seems to me that everyone models US RRs

[simon1966]

Seems like everyone models Canadian or American railroads.
Because everyone thinks US RRs are more exciting

Just because there is an article on 1 modeller in Japan that models US prototype does not mean that "everyone" models US railroads.  In my experience the vast majority of folks model the RR's that they are familiar with, ie their own nations trains.  There are of course exceptions, as there are several modellers on this forum from Europe and other parts that model US RR. But I think you will find that they are very much a minority in their own countries.  One thing that I think does have an influence is cost.  We moan about the high cost of the hobby in the US, but one stop into a European hobby shop and you can quickly see that US prototype trains can be purchased via the web for a lot less than European prototype trains.

[arkansasrailfan]

Seems like everyone models Canadian or American railroads.
Because everyone thinks US RRs are more exciting

[Packers#1]

That article about Hitomi Okuno's New York Central layout in Japan this month shows that wherever you live, you can model a railroad anywhere. This guy lives in Tokyo and he models the NYC. COOL. What do you think?