Those of us modelling overseas - are we just as biased as 'UK ONLY' types?

[brianusa]

Rarely do I visit layouts, mainly because there aren't that many!  So being a loner, I enjoy my tinplate layout and rolling stock all by myself.  I am quite happy to sit and watch the trains go by  and sometime I just sit and take it all in.  Changing consists ( is that title permitted?) provides variations from goods to passenger trains, sometimes double headed.  Running trains  around the centre of the layout where smaller curves dictate small engines provides another variation.

So anything resembling prototypical operation is out of the question but the pleasure of simple running is what its all about.

        Brian.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Like many on here, I have wide interests, my own poison being German and Japanese. I am naturally drawn to them, as well as anything else just a little unusual. I like good quality modelling even if it isn't my primary interest. What I am not fussed about are the usual identikit steam and green layouts, which show little imagination, or even any attempt to portray a time or place. 

 

That said, I do spend time at every layout I see at a show...you never know where that little bit of inspiration may come from...

 

Do I have a bias? Yes I probably do, but in part that is a reaction to what I see as the need for overseas layouts to have to go that extra mile in order to get invites to shows. I get the feeling many shows will favour an indifferent UK layout over a better overseas offering.

 

I don't get some of the comments people make at shows, at best it makes them look rather foolish, I recall a comment at the Southampton Eurotrack show a few years ago. 'Nice show, but too many foreign layouts'...

 

 

[47137]

 

When I go to an exhibition I usually look at the setting of a layout first, not the trains. Some layouts create a feeling of one-ness (or unity if you prefer), they look "right" and invariably the location is "somewhere I haven't been before". The location could be a faithful model of a real place or completely imaginary or somewhere in between. A convincing imaginary place is still another place I haven't been; so many layouts represent a time many years ago and my inability to go to a place doesn't impinge much.

 

I think I suffer with some Continental and especially North American layouts because I know so little about what places look like. I spot an Airfix/Dapol engine shed or a Metcalfe building only too quickly but I don't know my Kibri from my Vollmer or my Faller. When I see a model building I want to see how it fits its location and I sometimes feel lost looking at fine models in overseas locations. I am more open to conviction when I see hand-made models especially walls and buildings.

 

I suffer especially at depot type layouts and I struggle to engage with them. This might be because I know so little about the subject but more likely there seems to be so little context for the model trains. I do sadly sometimes conclude "there is nothing to see" ... of course there may well be masses to see but if this is (say) a showcase of privatisation liveries then it goes over my head.

 

I suspect my exposure to modern Continental models has turned me into something of a mechanisms snob and when I see finger-prodding at a show my first thought is "I wonder if that is a Hornby or a Bachmann" followed by "well I was there once". But to me this is less important  than the setting. I am happy enough to accept, "the train is the key to a successful layout" but I am happier in a well-modelled setting waiting for the next train than looking at beautifully-modelled trains in a location I don't connect to.

 

I have been captivated by some Continental layouts and turned off by others. I think the reasons are the same as those for British layouts, but my decision-making process gets hampered by a lack of knowledge. I hope this isn't "bias". I do know, if a layout as a whole doesn't convince me then I will still be admiring at least one of the models on show there.

 

- Richard.

[Ross34]

Hmm.. interesting.

 

I got into model railways because my dad was an enthusiast. When I was 3 or 4 he took me train spotting around the north west. Then we moved to South Australia - I grew up there - and as a consequence the railways of South Aust & Victoria became an indelible memory. When we eventually moved back to the UK I modelled UK railways. Mostly because 1) Nothing Australian was available (not good stuff anyway) 2) Cost was a factor and 3)...it was just so much easier. But despite the fact I enjoyed the modelling aspect, if I'm being honest it all, in the end, left me pretty much unfulfilled.

Eventually, Australian HO becomes readily available - its good quality - and after years of putting in the hours at work, I have disposal income.  Its a no brainer - at last I can recreate my youth and love of the SAR & VR. And to me thats the whole point - you need a "connect" or a passion for your subject. If you have that I'm convinced a good layout will follow regardless of where in the world its supposed to be.