Jump to content
 

Please use M,M&M only for topics that do not fit within other forum areas. All topics posted here await admin team approval to ensure they don't belong elsewhere.

Recommended Posts

Simple question. How do you choose what to model?

 

What I am asking is what interests you and why?

 

You make a realistic location, but what influenced the decision?

 

Are your interests just the locos? Do you build just the shed?

 

Is it the main line with the long rake of coaches behind the express loco?

 

Is it the big stations with lots of points?

 

Is it the quiet station with the little local train?

 

Is it freight, with all the wagons?

 

I ask this question because I have realised I am a DMU fan ATM. They were all basically self propelled coaches, but so many different versions of what was the same basic package. Also, a DMU gives you a complete train very quickly. Of course, this standardisation does have its drawbacks. I have just been focusing on the bodies ATM as I need to figure out how To mass produce the various under frame components . 

 

Knowing myself, my focus will change in the future, but where does your focus lay and why?

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I model the South Wales valleys in the 1948-58 period, for the following reasons:-

 

.I know the area well, living in Cardiff and having many relatives in the Valleys. 


.I like the scenery, culture, and general ‘feel’ of the area. 

 

.I am a old enough to remember the Valleys and their railways before the end of steam and the collapse of coal mining. 
 

.I was 6 in 1958, so the chosen period is partially before my time, but incorporated a fascinating variety of liveries and stock. 
 

.I specifically chose the Tondu area of central Glamorgan because it was an interesting network of very intensely worked single track branches in steep and narrow valleys with a good variety of locos and stock, despite my relatives in the area living in the two Rhondda Valleys.  

 

There are probably as many reasons for choosing a particular type of layout, and it’s location and period, as there are layouts, though!

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

That's a really good question, because I don't really know the answer!

 

I've always modelled the steam era, at least since I became a railway modeller rather than a train set owner, despite the fact that I'm not really old enough to remember main line steam. But I'm also a bit of a history nerd, so I suppose my modelling interests lie in the intersection of history and trains.

 

I typically prefer modelling rural or small town locations - I suppose this is the bit that does reflect my own background - rather than city centre locations, so a rural branch line is my standard setting. All but one of the layouts I've ever got anywhere near completion are basically rural. But steam, generally, works better there than diesel, as it gives more operational interest. So I suspect that that's also partly why I've tended towards steam in the first place. 

 

As to the type of layout, I think if I had the space I'd prefer to still be building the type of layout that I did in my teens, which is a branch ine through station on a typical oval with the fiddle yard at the back and the scenic section at the front. But lack of space ever since then has meant that everything I've done recently has been a shunting plank. I still keep telling myself that one day, I'll get the loft converted so I can have the big roundy-roundy I've always dreamed of!

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I started off with the LMS, but moved earlier until I settled on Midland, 1907, just before black liveried locos appeared. That lasted 1980-2013 or thereabouts. From 2007, a greater interest in the NER began to develop too, thanks initially to a (sadly now defunct) club...

 

Whilst still a Midland  aficionado, a change in personal circumstances led me to discover the delights of the Scarborough & Whitby line. I was planning on building my own model, but chance has led me to become the owner of a model which did the exhibition rounds a few years ago. As it's single track, and thus only one train at a time can run, I will be able to operate examples of every train that ran along the coast, from 1885 to 1967, once it has been cleaned up and serviced. This has allowed me to discover some wonderfully esoteric workings, as research, which I also enjoy, has progressed.

 

Mark

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

A very good question & answering it properly deserves an entire essay.

 

Summer holidays when I was younger was by car, so I missed out on the era when a day-long train ride was part of it. I believe this inspired many to model what they do.

I was brought up within line of sight of the Clacton line & my bedroom actually faced the right way, so I could see class 308s & 309s passing regularly as soon as I was tall enough to see out of my window.

Because this was my first sight of a railway, anywhere without OLE looks naked & unfinished. AC electric classes were therefore the most interesting line to me, particularly class 87s, probably because they were something I never saw at Colchester.

 

When I was younger, the first sight of steam was at Bressingham. Although no longer in service, I was always impressed with Duchess of Sutherland. This led to an interest in LMS.

 

AC Electrics & Duchesses both worked on the WCML. Could I build a layout at home of 1 section which could have alternative scenic sections? WCML in a room at home - No chance...is there?

I was also keen to model a real location, rather than design one with features I wanted. Choosing features usually leads to cramming too much on, which makes the layout look compressed.

 

When Sutherland was given its main line ticket near the turn of the century, I went to photograph it somewhere it should have been working uphill. Emerging from Primrose Hill tunnels would be ideal, so we chose South Hampstead.

On alighting with my friend, we looked east at the tunnels then west at the road bridge. We realised together that this place would be possible because the scenic breaks are actually there, so I was determined to do it.

I wondered if modelling a real location would be restricting, but I find that getting things right is both challenging & rewarding.

I would rather not model a station because I find it difficult to make accurate platforms, but the scenic breaks made this the best location I could find.

 

So I am now working on the LMS version of South Hampstead. No OLE I'm afraid, so it will never look truly complete to me, but the plan is to store the scenic sections then repeat them..with the new characterless station building, concrete sleeper track & the most important part...OLE!

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

The last 00 layout I built and that was a long time ago was a preserved railway. With running practices based on something like the West Somerset preserved railway. That way I could run proper services, But run what ever I liked, when I liked. Since then over the past 10 years I have been involved in helping a friend of mine building a 1930's tinplate layout and 32mm live steam narrow gauge garden layout.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

My hobby has always been about trying to achieve two different objectives. Firstly, the build models, whether it be locos, carriages, track, points, scenery or anything else.

 

The second has been to put these models together into a setting by building a layout that is interesting and enjoyable to operate.

 

Just seeing trains run was never quite enough. I have always wanted them to do something more than that.

 

So the people I have always looked up to are the Peter Denny/Frank Dyer sorts. Good model makers also capable of producing layouts that are absorbing and sustain long term interest operationally.

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

For me, it's a confluence of things. My area of modelling interest is London, particularly the Docklands, in the BR steam era. It's not my only area of interest, but it's certainly the biggest.

 

I fell into BR modelling simply because, when I was getting into "serious" modelling, I had several BR-liveried locomotives. These days, it's one of the easiest eras to model because so much is available, there's so much photographic material (including colour photographs) and there are plenty of people who remember it.

 

I've lived in London all my life, and since I was a teenager, I've been fascinated by exploring the docklands (I suspect watching Tugs at age 6 was a formative influence here). There's a lot of what we might term "industrial heritage" to be seen around there, even though much of it has been eliminated by redevelopment over the years.

 

The final push into actually modelling the area was the arrival of several appropriate ready-to-run models and the publication of a couple of books on the subject, which brought it all into the realm of possibility.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Everything! I want all the things!

 

Seriously though, I think I was as much influenced by what was available when I was growing up as I was seeing the real things. 

 

I saw as much preserved railways as I saw BR, probably more. But BR was all electrics, EMUs, DMUs and a few diesel locomotives in my experience. All in blue and b/g. This was the 1970s and BR was very bland to my eyes.

 

 

Most of what I was seeing at places like Carnforth, Dinting, Southport, Tyseley, KWVR, SVR, etc was available in the Mainline and Airfix ranges with a few from Hornby.

 

In fact most of Mainline's range was locomotives I was very familiar with. LMS Royal Scots, Jubilees, GWR 57XX panniers, Collett Goods, Manors, Moguls, LNER J72, BR 4MT, etc. Throw in a few of the diesels as well, Westerns, Warships, etc.

 

So I ended up with GWR/LMS and the BR equivalents. In that I could run the layout with pre nationalisation, then switch to BR steam and then BR Blue. Based on a twin track cross-country mainline somewhere near the English/Welsh border.

 

Nothing serious, it was just a glorified train set, but that kind of stuck. Although I dabble with some Eastern and Southern, It's still mainly LMS and GWR joint line based, but mostly the BR 1950s/60s era.

 

 

Jason

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Well! As said above - you could write a whole essay on the matter. Me? Always had a train 'set' from when I was very young - Trix Twin on 3-rail bakelite track then 3-rail fibre track. I progressed from there into Hornby-Dublo and 2-rail but straight into Peco and flexitrack - it was fairly new then.

 

I wasn't THAT interested in the real stuff and despite crossing the SWML everyday to get to school, there never seemed to be much activity and when there was some I was too short to see over the bridge parapet (yes, I'm looking at you, Splott Road bridge).

 

I squatted in the loft of the Victorian house in which we lived and made myself a 27' 1" x 7' 6" layout based on a CJ Freezer plan. I also dabbled in a few whitemetal kits (that I still have and all the original stock). THEN (play the music of doom) I discovered loose cars and fast women and lost interest in 'playing trains' - though that wasn't MY view of my hobby.

 

Roll forward 50 years. Having collected oodles of stuff and no particular period or region I am on the brink (yes, yes, I've said that for 3 years now) on the brink of starting a layout in a barn - though I have a lot of building works to do first (hence the delay).

 

What will it be? It'll be about 7.5m x 6.2m (because I can) and based on two linked prototypical stations that will have their own branch lines. It is based on the Welsh Marches area so stock will primarily GWR/LNWR for the early period that I can model, then GWR (late), BR(W) and transition modern/privatisation. The modern will be mostly Rule 1. Plenty of roundy-roundy and shunting and branch-line operations.

 

If I was stuck for room or stock, I'd probably do a typical GWR/BR(W) BLT or a section of the S Wales Valleys, an area with which I'm familiar - I come from the same place as The Johnster.

 

As for what you want ..... what do YOU want? Having lurked on RMWeb for a while, I would suggest that you need to research a bit on a protoypical location and work from there - or at least take note how pointwork is laid out - an easy trap to fall into and not get right. Even if you end with a fictional place, any trackwork should follow prototypical practice.

 

At the end of the day it's a hobby and hobby should mean relaxation and fun (for given value of fun!).

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

Edited by Philou
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Splott Road bridge has been rebuilt to rause it to clear the OHLE, Philou, but you still can’t see the trains!  But there is a view that has opened up on the Constellation Street approach, where the derelict church on the corner collapsed while being demolished (a worker was sadly killed and the SWML  blocked for a day or so,  the up and down mains for several days. 
 

No doubt the site will eventually be developed and the railway hidden again.  

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

The locos and units from when I was a kid, and from a blooming of the interest in railways in my teens. So 40s and 25s which were so noisy they used to scare the living daylights out of me as a 4 or 5 year old, AC electrics which I used to see at Piccadilly station when my mum took me shopping in Manchester, first gen multiple units. The main period is the 80s at the end of BR blue, but also with a growing fleet from the green-blue transition period. And a heritage fleet with a couple of Gresley pacifics, a Western, Hymek, and an Accurascale Deltic, the latter on order. Also the aesthetics of the loco in question. I’m currently musing over the Kernow Warship despite never having seen one in action. I also quite fancy a BR 4MT for the preserved fleet.

image.png.a0c352ffe22fde749ea8d2458c69ed4f.png

Before Wires2-2.jpg

Edited by 97406
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I realised that what I like most about model railways is interesting operation. The rest of it is fluff really. If it runs on rails and there are fun things to do, then location, era, railway company doesn't really matter too much.

 

In terms of what I actually have at the moment, I went with the Southern Pacific because they had a load of Alcos (which make a lovely noise), Black Widow is possibly the finest paint job ever to adorn a locomotive, American operating practice is interesting, and there is (or was) an active scene doing modular American HO layouts.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I kinda fell into modelling the former LSWR and I’ve modelled it for 10+ years. But i grew up in kent with weekend trips on the kent coast line, the marsh link line and RHDR on the regular, kent countryside is one of the most prettiest places in the world. I think though what clinched it is that Wainwright’s designs are some of the prettiest ever to run   
 

After the spontaneous purchase of the Hornby H class train pack I’ve decided to finally follow my heart and start modelling kent. my current layout is just an adapted peco track plan that is meant to represent a fictional station on the line. But I enjoy it and it allows to me to kick back with a beer and watch the trains go round. 
 

Big  james 

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

I prefer to build something that means something to me.

So the home EM Gauge railway of a Lifetime, is of Ludgershall in Wiltshire, MSWJR, GWR, with LSWR, Southern from the South and Midland, LMS from the north.

One side of the both sides of the family had connections to the line.. and I played on the remains of the station.

Then also I've inherited a model railway built on Tiree in the inner Hebrides,  I've lived in the outer Hebrides. So I'm remodeling it in Kyle Line style which I went to school on..

Link to post
Share on other sites

I’ve had a bash at multiple different scales and gauges over the years, very definitely not being a “lifetime layout” sort of person, and the reasons for choosing things have varied:

 

- narrow gauge all the way from 009 to 16mm/ft, often ‘industrial’, because it is just so incredibly ‘funky’ (sorry, but I do t think English English has a word for it), and it has been possible to see ‘industrial’ in the wild, which is seriously better than preserved;

 

- H0 based in Maine USA c1960. The scenery and towns are very picturesque, and the diesel locos ran so smoothly, at a time when British diesel r-t-r was still terrible;

 

- EM LBSCR. History of the area I grew-up in;

 

- Coarse scale 0 ...... because I really like the aesthetic of layouts built c1935-55, and thoroughly enjoy running models that were made then.

 

In short: because.

 

If personal nostalgia was the direct driver, I’d build models based on BR(S) in the 1960s and 1970s, and I did once start down that road, but for some reason it just didn’t work for me - it was as if I could never quite capture the essence.

 

 

Edited by Nearholmer
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

It’s funny that I always wonder why I model what I do.  My dreams were to create a GW/WR engine shed, probably in 00, but more recently in 7mm. But I’ve ended up with an outside, 16mm, pseudo British narrow gauge, imaginary railway running all round the garden in Florida. …bizarre.  I’d still like to do the engine shed in 7mm - but what to with my small 00 collection?   As Nearholmer says, but in my case if it were nostalgia it would be 1960’s WR hydraulics, with a bit of steam, but it’s not. It’s trying to create a bit of imaginary (Midsomer, Ambridge?) England in Northwest Florida.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

The personal nostalgia thing is interesting. I grew up firmly in LSWR territory and I live in LSWR/LBSC territory, yet the LSWR has never particularly excited me. I have an LBSC train, but that's more because I just like Terriers. Which might well be the fault of the Railway Series books and Stepney, which is a whole other kind of nostalgia.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...