Many of us have built Christmas layouts which often feature snow, Christmas villages, etc. People can look at them and immediately understand the theme. There are a few folks that build Halloween layouts too. CTT had a great article a couple of years ago about building a Halloween layout.
I think there are other themes we might explore.
For example, I am thinking about modeling Mayberry from the Andy Griffin Show on my (still in the planning stages) O gauge layout. Granted, the theme would be more subtle, but I can have: Andy’s Sheriff Office, Floyd’s Barber shop, Aunt Bea’s house, Otis the town drunk leaning against a street light, and of course, Barney fighting crime. Maybe I’ll letter a locomotive for the Mayberry & Mount Pilot Railroad. To me, the fun is seeing people discover the signs, buildings and characters.
I remember that Model Railroader once had an HO track plan for a Dukes of Hazzard layout. There are numerous military themed layouts out there. What about an old west theme from Gunsmoke or Bonanza? A sci-fi layout from the X-Files? Of course your theme might be from a novel, a movie, a legend, a song, a holiday or something else.
What kind of theme layout would you build?
Dr J
My theme is the NM desert, from scenes in my memory and my first love from the island of Miyako who now lives 8,000 miles away and who I haven’t seen or heard from in 25 years.
I would love a Mayberry -themed layout - in fact, I taped an episode somewhere where Andy takes a train to the state capital for something. I’ve seen some interesting theme layouts displayed by professional layout builders at local train shows - like a Juraissic theme complete with dinosaurs and Conrail engines going through a jungle, or a baseball theme with the IC train running a loop around the real model - of old Comiskey Park. My last layout was 'Thomas the Tank Engine" themed - I used N scale Thomas engines (Japanese - and English for that matter - N scale is 1:148 instead of 1:160) I imported directly from Japan, then built a realistic British-rural themed railway - I had some great books to help (as well as the Thomas videos - the modeling in them - at Gauge 1 scale - is pretty neat). Had a minute Sir Topham Hat - his blue car - engine houses, etc. There’s some neat pictures from an old CTT of an Area 51 layout - complete with aliens landing and military forces arrayed against them. My current layout is more of a mismash - I think I don’t trust my skills to do something more ‘high-rail’ - it’s very tin-platey. … 
The layout I am planning will include references to my friends and business associates. Each of my clients businesses are represented - however as they would appear in the 40’s/50s.
One of my clients is a bank that has a fleet of Yellow PT Cruisers for courier vehciles. The bank buildings are all painted yellow. I am modeling a “bruke building” kit into a bank painted yellow and am looking for teh right 40s/50s counter part to the pt cruiser so I can intersperse them throughout the scenes. I can make clear decals to adorn the cars.
Others I will feature on billboards, or since I work for a number of equipment manufacturing companies, their plants will be featured. One gets plastic resin for injection molding from rail cars, so I can model the pneumatic conveying from railcars to silos.
Makes it interesting for visitors.
Thus far my favorite is teh billboard outside the fineral home company I work for:
FIRE SALE
Ask About Our Cremation Specials
Our present layout has the flavor of Downtown Willoughby, our home town, in the early 1900’s.
Here is a pic of Willoughby in 1914
and here is a pic of Spanky’s Cove
and of course we have our circus layout
and we do the Christmas and Halloween layouts.
Remembering Mayberry in Spanky’s Cove,
Sitting on the front porch, drinking an ice cold Cherry Coke.
Where things are black and white,
Picking on a six string,
Waving at people, calling them by their first name.
Watching the clouds roll bye.
tom
(inspired by “Remembering Mayberry” by Rascal Flats)
Good idea Dr. John. Would love to see that. I hope mine is going to be more modern. I am working on the NS and the coal it hauls on long trains. The CN will have the upper level and haul grain.
Nice, Spanky!
I think you’ve really captured the spirit of Mayberry on your layout.
Hey, Tom, I know that song! You are so creative! Our home town is similar to yours - 
though not necessarily recognizable anymore - look what a local group is selling as a fundraiser. Too bad they’re relatively small: http://www.cl-hs.org/CERAMIC.HTM
The City has keep downtown very historice.
As Willoughby is today
Doug - It’s great that they are making models of your town, Do you know what size they are?
t0m
Working on one now for gauge 1 tinplate. I guess you’d call it a Halloween setting, but very industrial.
spankybird It’s good to see some Ohio towns aren’t big on the bulldozer.
underworld
[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
Hello All: I think the Mayberry theme would be great, ( the Chief could probably advise you on all of the research). Regards Steve
if i did 1 it would be of “Hooter Ville” and the Cannon Ball form Green Acres!
I’d probably do an Area-51 alien kind of thing. But it would have to have a schlocky 50’s science fiction look to it. Those aliens from the 50’s were more comical than anything else ( you know, the little green men kind of thing ) and for the most part were benevolent. Lionel and K-Line have offered alien themed products but Lionel’s are now, for the most part, only available on eBay. I’ve tried in the past to bid on those items on eBay only to be sniped in the closing seconds of the auction by those with far deeper pockets than I. Drat!
My theme is railroads of the southeast from the late sixties to the present time. With a few exceptions I get equipment for SR, L&N, GM&O,IC and others. Of course, I have an NYC SD-80 mac ( couldn’t resist )
George
They’re on display in the high school - I’d say they’re somewhere between HO and N.
Dr John,
This layout in England is 75 years old!
http://www.bekonscot.com/model_railway