KevinWalsh Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 For me, the 'scenics' can be just as important as the operations and track layout. Some of the layouts already mentioned are fantastic in that they draw you into the scene (plus I've had the pleasure of operating a couple of them "Diesels in The Duchy" and "Totnes" (for an hour or 2)). One mentioned, "County Gate", is very scenic but that's all it is, the operations seem to be an afterthought and I'm sorry to say that the layout leaves me cold as I like to see operations as much as scenery; "The Stealth Bomber" on the otherhand shows what IMHO is a perfect mix of great scenics and operations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixteen 12by 10s Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Chee Tor, it inspired me to build at least 2 layouts, and another on the way Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fay Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Holiday haunts, Dainton bank, Leamington Spa, Outon Road, Sweethome Alabama to name a few Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJL Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Pendon-or does that count as a "layout"? Ed In my mind it dose,also Grisedale by Edmund Kilder will be amazing when it is finished. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Southernboy's Frankland has my vote. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sasquatch Posted January 5, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 5, 2013 Dave Shakespears Tetley Mills, what a great setting to run trains through. Although Little Wick Hill is pretty damm good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoovering_crompton Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 (edited) Nether Stowey- The layout that got me interested in N gauge modelling. Dave Edited January 6, 2013 by Hoovering_crompton 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 At the moment it has to be Pempoul. Even if Gordon and Maggie closed and dismantled the railway and made the station into a private house it would still be a brilliant model of a corner of Britanny. Apart from that my favourite is still the Madder Valley. Even though the individual models are of their time- brickpaper on card buildings and dyed sawdust for grass- the overall impression of a small seaport at the mouth of a river with a railway wending up its valley still hangs together incredibly well. Whenever I visit Pendon (as a "friend" usually several times a year) I seem to end up spending longer with the MVR than with the Pendon Parva village scene superbly and inspiringly modelled as that is. I tend to like really convincing townscapes as scenery so there are two other layouts that come to mind. Giles Barnabe's St. Emilie, even though mostly based on well adapted proprietary French building kits, seemed to really capture the atmosphere of a small town in northern France with its deux gares (Standard and Metre gauge) It was also, for a very small layout, great fun to operate. The other townscape that I really liked, though never saw in the flesh, was P.D. Hancock's original Craig. Again this was a port with a light railway terminus next to the harbour but it really seemed to work as a scenic whole and I think that's the secret, to paint a picture in three dimensions of a place that if it existed you'd really love to visit. Strangely enough, I can't think of a single model based closely on a real place that does it for me so perhaps for a really attractive scene the artistic imagination needs free reign. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted January 6, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 6, 2013 For me realism is very important part of a model railway, the way that buildings sit within the model. St. Merryn might not have masses of scenery, but the buildings look realistic. Clutton is a layout that I like as the baseboards have real depth. Trerice looks as if it is part of Dartmoor, so for me 'scenics' are landscape, details and buildings. To be honest I probably like this element of the hobby just as much as the trains themselves! All three layouts I rate very highly. Regards, Nick. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted January 8, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 8, 2013 Must admit the mobile mini layouts Bob Harper has in On3 and On2 are very good but when linked into the rest of the train-set - the layout and scenery are absolutely superb! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunwurken Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 The other townscape that I really liked, though never saw in the flesh, was P.D. Hancock's original Craig. Again this was a port with a light railway terminus next to the harbour but it really seemed to work as a scenic whole and I think that's the secret, to paint a picture in three dimensions of a place that if it existed you'd really love to visit. Strangely enough, I can't think of a single model based closely on a real place that does it for me so perhaps for a really attractive scene the artistic imagination needs free reign. I am not sure if you are aware but parts of Craig have been uncovered and are now in the ownership of the Edinburgh and Lothians MRC and are currently with me, a club member, for safe keeping. For photos see: -https://picasaweb.google.com/112904466287746079405/MoreOfPDHancockSCraig# Malcolm 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Chee Tor and Bramblewick are two which really stand out for me - if you even have to ask why, then I have no desire to converse with you at all! There are plenty of others of course, but these two always impress me! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSG Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I am not sure if you are aware but parts of Craig have been uncovered and are now in the ownership of the Edinburgh and Lothians MRC and are currently with me, a club member, for safe keeping. For photos see: -https://picasaweb.google.com/112904466287746079405/MoreOfPDHancockSCraig# Malcolm That's great; I'm pleased that at least some of it has found its way into safe keeping and the photos are an excellent addition to those taken by PDH himself. Am I wrong, or are these the first time that these buildings have been photographed in colour? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Chee Tor and Bramblewick are two which really stand out for me - if you even have to ask why, then I have no desire to converse with you at all! There are plenty of others of course, but these two always impress me! Agree completely and I would also especially mention Penlan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Alder Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Great stuff in that collection- thanks for the link.He was an inspiration to me as a youth, and it is a treat to see his work "in the flesh" as it were. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I am not sure if you are aware but parts of Craig have been uncovered and are now in the ownership of the Edinburgh and Lothians MRC and are currently with me, a club member, for safe keeping. For photos see: -https://picasaweb.google.com/112904466287746079405/MoreOfPDHancockSCraig# Malcolm I knew that some of the NG stock is in the 009 Society's heritage collection but it's good to know that some of his buildings and other has survived even if as fragments. It was the first version of the CMR that I really found inspiring and the original Craig seemed very much inspired by John Ahern's Madderport. PDH's later versions of the CMR never really inspired me in the same way though of course they reflected his own developing interests with greater scope for operation. It's interesting how many of the early layouts that I found inspiring including the CMR, and Charford came from members of the E&L MRC though PDH seems to have been well under way with Craig when the club was formed in 1951. Do you know when he actually stopped modelling? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted March 23, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 23, 2013 Many mentioned here I agree with, but I'd like to add St Mary Hoo. Pempoul is probably the best I have seen though. I've just deleted an opinion about Pendon - I would get shot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunwurken Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 That's great; I'm pleased that at least some of it has found its way into safe keeping and the photos are an excellent addition to those taken by PDH himself. Am I wrong, or are these the first time that these buildings have been photographed in colour? I knew that some of the NG stock is in the 009 Society's heritage collection but it's good to know that some of his buildings and other has survived even if as fragments. It was the first version of the CMR that I really found inspiring and the original Craig seemed very much inspired by John Ahern's Madderport. PDH's later versions of the CMR never really inspired me in the same way though of course they reflected his own developing interests with greater scope for operation. It's interesting how many of the early layouts that I found inspiring including the CMR, and Charford came from members of the E&L MRC though PDH seems to have been well under way with Craig when the club was formed in 1951. Do you know when he actually stopped modelling? MarkSG There are published colour photographs of Craig in the RM Dec 1979, Apr 1980, Jan and Feb 1993 and in a RM special, Famous Layouts in 1990. All the RM colour photos were taken by PD himself in 1979 and the originals are now with the E&LMRC. The photos in my Picassa Gallery are the first time such close up pictures have been available and were taken for to assist the E&LMRC cataloguing its collection. Pacific231G PD was influenced by John Ahern however the two men only ever met once or twice during their lifetimes. PD was modelling almost to the end and had a small railway in his room at the nursing home in his final days. With regard to the E&LMRC in the 1950's it was indeed a golden age with its founder W Loch Kidston [a founder of the O Gauge Guild and was involved in the early days of Scalefour/P4], PD Hancock [Craig and Mertoford], John Charman [Charford], Ken Northwood [North Devonshire] and the club President, Sir Eric O Hutchison who had been writing in the MRN since its inception in 1925. There was also a young Don Rowland who is still with us and working in Scalefour. Malcolm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denbridge Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Whenever I visit Pendon, I'm always drawn to the Dartmoor scene with the impressive moors as a background to the viaduct. The vale scene is incredible for the standard of modelling, but I find the village too 'busy'. It always looks to me as if they've tried to cram as many buildings as possible into the space available. Typical model railway in that respect. The modelling is superb, but to my mind spoilt by the cramming, not at all like the villages it supposedly represents. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted February 17, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) I regard scenery (still very much work in slow progress at Cwmdimbath) as part of ‘atmosphere’, along with lighting. And the best I’ve ever seen is Arun Quay. Cold, misty damp, and miserable as well as rundown and semi-derelict; ultimately what I am intending for Cwmdim. Edited February 17, 2020 by The Johnster 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 53 minutes ago, The Johnster said: I regard scenery (still very much work in slow progress at Cwmdimbath) as part of ‘atmosphere’, along with lighting. And the best I’ve ever seen is Arun Quay. Cold, misty damp, and miserable as well as rundown and semi-derelict; ultimately what I am intending for Cwmdim. I absolutely agree about Arun Quay and the implied tidal river at low water behind the quay is very cleverly done. The Gravetts achieved something similar with Pempoul with the scenery dropping behind the track but with the "distant" backscene only a few inches behind that. It's interesting that the effect works far even better when you actually see the layout than it does in photographs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Pete Goss's World's End is a railway in a landscape. steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengiant Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Chee Tor, Bucks Hill and Pempoul. If you want to see Pempoul it is on display for a year in Ashford, operated every Saturday and Sunday, I have operated it a few times and clean the stock and track for Gordon in between the times he gets there to run it. Martin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
w124bob Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 I have a couple favs at the moment which have really good scenery, Meanach which features here And the Yorkshire Dales layout on Youtube , by Moudly Raspberry another scenery heavy but actually simple layout well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross34 Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Has anybody mentioned Petherick by Barry Norman? 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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