MRVP just put out a video about operating on Tony’s layout. I’ve long been an admirer of Tony’s attitude regarding modelling railroading as opposed to model rairoading. Check it out if you can.
The more MR shows his layout and the more I learn about it/how he models, the more I am attracted to it. I especially like that he models the midwest and steam locomotives, both things that I am interested in. He does a great job and I wish I lived closer to NJ so I could see it in person.
That’s how I felt about Tony’s AM and Allen’s V&O.There was lots of information to be found in every article they wrote…Tony’s “Train of thought” column is the first thing I read.
I won’t pony up the extra $$$ for the Video Plus, so I guess I can’t watch it…
Too bad…you’re missing some good stuff!
You guys are missing the point. His layout is about operating, as opposed to running trains in a miniature world. Modelling jobs on the railroad, not entertaining visitors!
Ditto!
I suspect you may not know I been into prototypical operation since the '60s.I still follow Doug Smith’s car card/waybill philosophy…
As far as visitors…I do not entertain visitors since my ISL is 1’ x10’ and designed for solo industrial switching operation based on my 9 1/2 years working as a brakeman.
I also suspect you may know I hate mindless loop running since I have mention it several times.
I can appreciate this aspect of the hobby, I just don’t feel the same way about the hobby that he and obviously you do. I like what Tony has done and that he is attempting to model a time and a place in miniature. However, I chose to go a different direction. I like Freelancing as I feel it gives me the ability to pick & choose anything I like. I have been a prototype modeler for close to 20 years and simply got tired of the manufacturer’s lack of interest in producing models of my chosen prototype, the Northern Pacific! </
I too live in a town with a population of 6000 and we have a club that is over 30 years old.
With us living in western PA we mu
I looked up Doug Smith and found a great article by him on operation. (Dec. 1961 issue of MR) Thanks Brakie.
I see Tony’s layout as an exercise in balance. The trains are authentic without being overly elaborate. He uses simple kit freight cars like Athern Blue Box and Acurail but that’s reasonable. He’s interested in operation and in operations a certain barnyard substance happens. Who wants to see a car you worked over a month on with every grab in place and a completely detailed underbody hit the floor after being rammed when someone slipped up! Structures are appropriate without being cluttered with junk like many finescalers like to do. Scenicing is neat but not overwhelming and appropriate to the Mid Western location. The elaborate operating scheme means that Tony and his operators won’t get bored anytime soon. Everything is subordinated to operations but still the trains run through a pleasing environment that came together in a reasonable amount of time. That’s pretty shrewd planning, I’d say.
You’re welome…That was the article that started my use of car card/waybills and operation.
As a teenager I thought that was a excellent idea while many of the old heads insisted colored thumbtacks on top of cars was better since that method didn’t require writing car cards and waybills for each car.Each industry had its own color thumbtack.I wasn’t to keen on the idea of drilling holes for the thumbtacks in my Athearn and Roundhouse freight cars.
I suspect that very few model railroads are built where the goal for the project is simply running trains around a loop. This being boring, is announced by many who have been in the hobby for a while! However, there are also many aspects to building and operating a model railroad that keep it from getting that way. It’s up to the individual’s tastes to determine what it is that appeals.
I’m fascinated by the fact that people who have been 1 to 1 railroaders would be ever be interested in building a model railroad to continue to do the work they did as a 1 to 1 railroader. I found what I did as a job got as boring as running a train around the very simple loop of track I had as a kid! During my lifetime of work, I was both a delivery truck driver and fork lift driver. So, I find operating my railroad to be similar to those jobs and not all that much fun to do.
I get that many of you are attracted to operation. However, I don’t understand why some of you think we should all share your enthusiasm for operation.
This is a hobby done by individuals and we all have our own way of enjoying it!
The above is not intended to cause ill will amongst us, only to promote looking at others point of view![B]
For many of of us 1:1 railroaders railroading was already in the blood when we hired out since we already had model trains.
However…
After the excitement wore off and the long restless days started taking their toll we was more into railroading for the money then anything and for many of us the only relaxing escape was building freight car or struture kits for our layouts.
That’s interesting, because working a Road Drill could become quite repeticious too. I didn’t do a lot of modeling while I was actively working, but once I retired, I decided to attempt a layout. I found that while I initially limited myself to continuous running, it was redesigned on the fly to reflect the operations I actually worked with.
I’m in the process of further refining the layout to attain a greater degree of operation.