Model Railroad Planning 2014

Just got my copy of Model Railroad Planning 2014 direct from Kalmbach Publishing. As usual, it is full of interesting articles and some excellent model railroad photography.

The first article is "operating a busy passenger terminal" which is based on the New Orleans Passenger Terminal (NOUPT). The modelled station is huge and exceptionally well done, including fully lit interiors. The layout is HO scale.

The next article is the "Southern Pacific's Siskiyou Line" in N scale. The layout size is 25 x 27 feet which is pretty big for an N scale layout. One of the things I like about the articles in MRP is the emphasis on the decision-making process in designing a layout. This article didn't disappoint in that department.

"Alice Street in 4x8 feet" is a prototypical track plan based on the Santa Fe rail-marine operation out of Oakland, California. There are some fascinating historical photos (B&W) here.

The next article is called "A moving experience" about a layout built for a newly purchased retirement home. The original layout based on Moscow, Idaho (I think the Americans pronounce it moss-cow) was featured in Model Railroad Planning in 2008.

My favourite article is "Switching for breakfast". This article describes the prototypical train operations for switching (shunting) the large Post Cereals food complex at Battle Creek, Michigan. A description of a typical shift switching the industry was very informative. For me, the best part of the article was a table showing the different spots (positions) within the Post Cereals complex that had to be switched with what particular product (receiving and shipments).  This table alone gave me plenty of food for thought in just what variety can be achieved with a single, large industry on a model railroad. A HO and N scale track plan accompanies the article providing suggestions for how the prototype can be modelled.

A short article on five layouts in four different scales that occupy 14 x 34 inches was next.

Lance Mindheim follows with an article, "Simple plan, plenty of action" based on a southeastern USA switching layout. Lance makes a nice distinction between planning and design - planning deals with more strategic issues that will inform the decisions about overall layout design (track arrangements, for example.). The suggested model railroad layout plan is for a room size of 12 x 13 feet. Lance includes both a plan of the layout and a plan showing switching options.

"Big train, small layout" has an interesting circular design based on a figure eight. It is a portable layout used for model railroad exhibitions and is a little bit different to the norm.

Byron Henderson's article, "North Western's Chicago commute" offers some thoughts about a model railroad track plan 8 x 20 foot in size. The layout is based on the Chicago & North Western's commuter services between the North Western station and the western suburbs of Chicago. Again, the thinking behind the layout design is what is key to this article.

"Slogging up to Locust Summit" is a model railroad based on the Reading Co.'s train operations over Locust Summit near Gordon, Pennsylvania. The track plan fits into a space of 31 x 40 feet and includes plenty of big hauling steam locomotives on this predominantly coal-hauling route. An interesting depiction of a typical day at Gordon gives a nice summary on operations. There are some nice model photographs in this article as well.

Tony Koester next goes out on a bit of a limb with an idea about modelling the same town on two decks and switching cars between them. This idea could be a way to save on available space.

My other favourite article from Model Railroad Planning 2014 is the article by James McNab: "Choosing the right place at the right time". The article describes the importance of time and place in consideration of design and the need for being selective about motive power and rolling stock. It is important to balance traffic levels for certain times of the year (for example, seasonal factors play a major role in agricultural production). James' layout is the Iowa Interstate Grimes Line. The article has both model and prototype photos. Videos of this layout are available on the Model Railroader website to registered viewers: see www.ModelRailroader.com

Model Railroad Planning 2014 ends with articles on staging yards, improving a published (Atlas) track plan, space-saving use of "wye-less wyes", dummy tracks, and modelling a passenger terminal in 15 x 18 feet.

While the focus of the annual is on US modelling and prototypes, there is enough information and thinking potential here for anyone interested in model railways to find something of use. As usual, this publication is of high quality and recommended.

Opinion

In my role of armchair modeller, I tend to spend quite a bit of time reading model railway magazines and blogs on model railway topics. They all pretty much give an opinion or two on some aspect of the hobby or on life in general. For example, you can see some of the blog sites in my blog roll that I will often refer to, even if the updates are as slow as my own! What amazes me, however, is how worked up some people can be in their derision of people's modelling preferences and their modelling efforts, and in some cases, the person as well. Model railroading is supposed to be fun, is it not?

Recently, I was going through the blog of US modeller Lance Mindheim. Lance had his layout featured in the December 2013 issue of Model Railroader. The layout is a great example of taking inspiration from the prototype (Miami, Florida, in this case) and building a really nice model railroad. The composition and scenic elements of the layout are superb. There really should be no doubt that Lance is darn good modeller with a quality model railroad. And, as an aside, I hear Lance is to be a guest speaker next Easter at the New Zealand Model Railway Convention in Hamilton, New Zealand (home of the Chiefs rugby union team).

In Lance's blog entry for 30th November 2013, entitled "Live by the sword, die by the sword", Lance has compiled a number of derogatory comments from a UK forum about his layout and his layout article in Model Railroader. It seems that there are some people who don't like the dimensions of Lance's layouts. Building layouts using a standard 6' by 1' baseboard size irks some people. Other comments are critical of Lance's views about model railroading, particularly his expression about "modelling the ordinary". One US commentator didn't like the fact that an image of Lance's layout in Model Railroader had been digitally enhanced with the addition of a photo backdrop instead of showing the basement plumbing!

Lance shrugs off these comments and so he should. Lance is a very good modeller; one who thinks seriously about his modelling while at the same time enjoying the hobby as well. One of the greatest ironies from the criticisms is the fact that the UK model railroad magazines regularly feature micro-layouts which gives pause for thought for those who don't like shunty-plank designs!

The other interesting observation from these criticisms is the comment about Lance's personal views that he expresses sometimes in his model railroad blog and in his other blogs. Personally, I don't know why this is a problem when millions of bloggers around the world are just airing their opinion on pretty much everything. Blogs, by their very nature, are opinion pieces. I could go on, but I don't want to offend anyone with a lecture on the impact of social media on contemporary society...

Whatever ones opinion and whatever the way one chooses to express it, the model railway hobby includes people with umpteen different views on everything from layout planning to scenic detail and operational preferences. Note that I am talking about opinion, not fact. HO scale is 3.5mm to the foot - that's a fact without too much argument. Opinions about a layout in HO scale is another matter. The variety in what modellers do in HO scale (and other scales) is enormous and something we should cherish no matter what our own selective interests may be.

Variety and newness can help instigate our own thinking, whether it emanates from some feature we dislike on a layout or something we find fresh and appealing. Sometimes something that didn't interest us last year is now of immense importance as it now coincides with some modelling work we are doing now, rather than previously when we had just a passing interest. Newness can thus mean relevance at a certain point in time.

People are in the hobby for a range of different reasons and with a range of different skill sets. Individual preferences will abound but we are all part of our common hobby. Like humanity itself, essentially we are all the same. Where we differ in our preferences and approaches in doing things, we should take the opportunity to enhance our knowledge rather than simply deride those who take a different path to our own. It would be a boring hobby and a boring Australia if it were any other way.

That said, may you all have a safe and enjoyable festive season and New Year.

Scale ACT 2013

The ACT Scale Modellers' Society has it's annual Scale ACT event this weekend at Kaleen High School in Canberra (also the venue of the annual Canberra Model Train Expo which will be on again next year 29-30 March).

There is a range of models on display including aircraft, shipping, and military armour such as tanks. Here are three images of what you can see from the many models on display throughout the venue.

In addition to the models on display, there are many commercial stands selling kits, after-market detail parts, decals, and modelling tools. Rather surprisingly, there were hardly any jars or tins of paints for sale from any of the vendors. This was disappointing as I was expecting to be able to see a wide range of brands and paint colours used in aircraft and military modelling. It looks like I will have to wait until the Australia Day holiday weekend in January when Cancon comes to town with the war gamers and military modelling vendors.

If you like plastic kit modelling and want to see some good quality examples, then take a visit to Scale ACT at Kaleen this weekend.

Canberra NMRA Convention a huge success

The 2013 NMRA Australasia Region Convention is over for another year. The convention in Canberra was a huge success from what attendees were saying throughout the weekend. The Committee should be very satisfied with how the convention went and with the layout tours that were on offer.

PHOTO: Rob A. hosted an operating session and an open house as part of the Convention. Rob's layout is based on a fictional NSW-Victorian railway line on the east coast of Australia between Eden (NSW) and North Geelong (VIC).

The facilities at the convention location were good; the clinics were well attended; the food was sufficient; the ladies' program was very much complimented; and the layout tours were interesting. The opportunity to visit the ARHS Canberra Division premises in Kingston on the Sunday afternoon and look over progress on the restoration of Beyer-Garratt 6029 was also very popular - details about the restoration of 6029 here.

The dinner at Ainslie Football Club was made even better by the outstanding after-dinner talk by local modeller Stephen H., who combined a wicked wit with a wonderful knowledge of history, the law, and railroading into a very entertaining presentation.

The convener of the Canberra Convention, Viv B., commented to me that there were two critical factors for the success of the convention: good planning and organisation in preparation for the event itself. The fact that there are several ex-military personnel on the Committee would no doubt have helped in that department.

Choosing a venue with good facilities and where clinics could be held without undue noise were paramount. The physical separation of the main hall, the classrooms where the clinics were held, and a good-sized area for vendors and for attendees to talk with each other really made everything work well together. Excellent signage helped direct people into the building and where to find all the rooms and amenities. Good parking was also provided at the event location. A good variety of interesting presentation topics with the provision of the necessary IT equipment were also important considerations. Interestingly, because of the physical separation of most of the areas, a public address system was not needed (even in the main hall). A good ladies' program was also important.

Overall Viv and the team should be congratulated for putting on a terrific NMRA Convention. Well done to all involved!

The 2014 NMRA Australasian Region Convention will be held on the Gold Coast in south-east Queensland. Further information about next year's convention will be posted on the NMRA Australasia website as it becomes available.

National Model Railroad Association Convention 2013

The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Convention for 2013 is being held in Canberra. The Convention is being held on the weekend of 21-22 September at the University of Canberra High School, Kaleen (was the Kaleen High School) 104 Baldwin Drive, Kaleen, ACT. Kaleen is on the north side of Canberra.

You don't have to be a member of the NMRA to come along. The Convention registration form can be downloaded from the Convention site. There are some great layouts to visit, including Kangaroo Valley; the layout of Stephe Jitts (his layout was featured in AMRM February 2012)

 

The organising committee has put together a great program of presentations and clinics that should be of interest to all model railroaders, no matter what prototype you follow. The presentations include the following:

Eddie Gallier	3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping
David O'Hearn	Fences - Prototypes and Modelling Them
Brad Hinton	Modelling the prototype from afar: The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern
Gavin Hince MMR	TBA
Geoff Langbridge	Colour Isn't Colour
Allan Garbutt & Phil Collins	Storage Yards - Building A Better Mouse Trap
Phil Badger MMR	Beyond The Fence
David Low	WW 1 Narrow Gauge
Bob Best	Taking Measurements from Photos
Rob Nesbitt	Catenary, A brief history and modelling notes
Jess Brisbane	History of the Maine 2 Footers
Stephe Jitts MMR	The Science and Fiction of Wheels
Chris Minahan	Communication and Model Railway Operations
Erik Bennett	Advanced DCC - How It Works

Layout tour information can be found here.

I hope you can join us in Canberra on the weekend of 21-22 September for what looks to be a great weekend of model railroading.

Oh, and by the way, Floriade will be on at this time along with a host of other Canberra attractions including the Australian National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Australian War Museum, Botanic Gardens, and the new National Arboretum. And hopefully the warm weather we have enjoyed this week (20C+) will continue throughout the rest of September. So why not make a long weekend of it and enjoy the Convention and the local attractions too!

Congratulations AMRM

The 300th issue of the Australian Model Railway Magazine (AMRM) is a significant achievement.  As the recent articles on the history of AMRM attest, many people have contributed to the production and commercial success of the magazine over the past fifty years. Bob Gallagher and Alan Brown were to my mind the cornerstone of that success.

The current issue (June 2013) of AMRM continues the tradition of featuring Australian model railway layouts. Glenburn is a truly wonderful layout depicting a time that is often not often portrayed on a model railway. Over the years there have been many fine layouts depicted in the pages of AMRM which have provided an inspiration to us all. I must add that I was very impressed with the photo taken by John Burford on page 55 of the current issue showing a nicely lit cameo scene from his new On30 layout. John's reminiscences are similar to mine as well.

I bought my first copy of AMRM (Issue 79) from Micro Models at Hornsby in 1976. In those days Micro Models was located in the Westfield Plaza shopping centre. Micro Models still exists, under different ownership, and is now located on the Pacific Highway at Hornsby. The success of this hobby store over an equivalent amount of time as AMRM is also worthy of note.

That first issue of AMRM for me was the trigger to take model railways seriously and to focus on Australian (NSW) railway modelling. Up until that time, I had the usual assortment of Triang/Hornby models from train sets acquired as presents over the years. I had no permanent space for a layout so the model railway was only put up occasionally, on a carpeted floor no less!

In that particular issue of AMRM were articles on The Mayfield Lines, the SAR 720 steam locomotive, making styrene windows, and three pages of reviews. I was later able to visit The Mayfield Lines in person, an O gauge wind-up model railway in the garden of Len Clark. Ironically, this type of model railway was already "old hat" but it emphasised to me how much the hobby had to do with imagination as much as it did with constructing a piece of railway reality.

I studiously acquired back issues of the magazine and bought each new copy as it appeared in the hobby shop. Around the same time, and not far from where I was living at the time, was Mansfield Hobbies at Waitara. I would have to say that it was a combination of AMRM and David Anderson from Mansfield Hobbies who established my direction into the model railways of NSW.

While many years have passed since those days, and I now model a US prototype railway, AMRM was a part of my model railway development. And while I may decry the cluttered page layout of the magazine and the front cover that needs a modern facelift, I don’t fail to appreciate the hard work that goes into the regular production of the magazine and the exceptional quality of the photographs - James McInerney is to be congratulated.

And speaking of model railway magazines, I should add that my involvement with the Australian Journal of Railway Modelling ceased in October 2011, four months after the magazine was successfully relaunched at the Epping Model Railway Exhibition with issue 11. Stephen took full control of the administration, sales, distribution, communication, and publishing of the magazine after that date. I hope that another issue will be forthcoming because AJRM has given us some excellent articles in the past.

Geoff Nott

I am sad to report that noted Australian railway modeller, Geoff Nott, died today in Sydney. Geoff will be remembered for his skilled creative work on a number of classic model railroads including the famous Muskrat Ramble. Geoff's most recent layout, Smuggler's Cove, was built over the past two years with fellow modeller, Michael Flack. The photo below, taken in September last year, shows Geoff on the left and Michael on the right.

Geoff and Michael presented at the NMRA Convention in Gosford last year. Smuggler's Cove was exhibited at the Convention. The layout (pictured below) was another superb scenic extravaganza; defined by brilliant scenery, composition, and craftsmanship.

Geoff had a wonderful and gifted artistic talent for model railways, and was always willing to share his knowledge and expertise with a full range of people, especially children. I remember his contribution at exhibitions where he and colleagues gave many scenery clinics and demonstrations. The photo below shows Geoff at a scenery clinic at the Epping Model Railway Exhibition in 2011.

Recently, at the NMRA Thousand Lakes Region Convention in Minneapolis which I attended in May, tribute was paid to Geoff as a wonderful inspiration for model railroading. At the time, I knew that Geoff had been battling cancer but I didn't know to what extent.

The news today was still a shock -  Geoff was a wonderful person and will long be remembered.