Join the discussion on the following article:
Compact Layout Design
Once again, Iain has produced a most enjoyable, highly informational and fun to read study of model railroad design. It helps that I share his affinity for short line railroading, but the approaches he presents surely have application to many other model railroad concepts. Of particular note, I applaud the way the plans are drawn in the book, whereby the entire plan is readily viewable (no more squinting into the binding!). Well done!
Another in the long line of excellent books that Mr. Rice has written on the subject of short line railroading. This book has many well drawn track plans that are easy to understand. I have used some of his ideas in building my own layout. I would recommmend this book to anyone who is interested in shortline railroading.
Only two ,stars. Not well written and too few layout examples.
Very, very disappointed with the book. Just a lot of general information or chatty. No specifics, no hard information, nothing new or that hasn’t been written numerous times previously. Left me with “Ok, so what”?
Mr Rice certainly has an affinity for short line railroading and how to bring this love ‘to the masses’. I appreciate his ideas on layout design and the fact he understands not all model railroaders have the time, money, nor space for a basement empire. The printing of the book is excellent and as noted elsewhere, the plans can be read and studied without having to squint into the binding. He cogently presents his ideas and makes many compelling arguments for his curvilinear designs. That being said, I would have preferred to see a few more actual example of track plans. Mr Rice does give the home model railroader much to think about and consider as they design their personal layouts. Perhaps that is the actual beauty of this book. Only four stars due to limited number of actual plans presented.
I was disappointed with this book. Very wordy without much substance. I didn’t feel that it helped in designing my bedroom sized railroad.
I like Ian Rice as an author, but this book was a huge disappointment to me and not worth the money. For example, an On30 layout design would have been a nice addition. I also thought the layout designs were overly complex and difficult for the average modeler to build. Sorry Kalmbach, but this was a waste of my money. Better luck next time.
I rate the book three stars. Much of what has been presented by Iain Rice has been stated elsewhere by him in previous books for Kalmbach or in his European offerings. I get the feeling once I’ve seen one of his plans I’ve seen them all and there are only so many short line plans that one can view. Also in the presentation why can’t Kalmbach provide all the data in one easy to read chart including layout height and minimum radius without having to search the text for the information. Next time less philosophy and more track plans. John Armstrong you are missed.
I’ld give five stars. I like very much every book of Iain Rice, so I’ve got (almost) all them. His capacity to use the space is fantastic. Also if it is not possible transalate every layout in an Italian (with italian railways) layout. Bravo!
I enjoy Iain Rice as a Author and writer, but I also found that much of what was said has been written in a number of books. I also found a lack of layouts that were for small spaces. For the money it was a bit of a let down and the only reason I gave 4 stars was Iain Rice.
Iain Rice has some interesting ideas on smaller railroads, scenes, and how to present a layout. The text is more important that the plans. It gave me some things to think about. If you are looking for a plan on every page then this is not the book for you.
I didn’t get much out of this publication and don’t believe it is worth what I paid for it. If I had thought about it I would have returned it.