Which layouts have really inspired you?

[Chrislock]

Without doubt the real thing is the overarching inspiration. But what is the "real thing" when it no longer exists?

 

So yes, the prototype is key. But other modellers' efforts and how they perceive and interpret the real thing does provide inspiration too.

 

Thank you

Peter

 

Speaking as someone who is trying to recreate a site which no longer exists,and for which there seems to be detail missing, for me the inspiration comes from two things:

 

A photograph taken near the station in the early 20c, which I am trying to recreate; and

 

Research - often you reach frustrating dead ends, but then occasionally you get a break through and that can be quite exciting.

I suppose I come to modelling morer through an interest in History than anything else.

 

The models I find inspiring are generally of the old Midland, though I can appreciate the work of master workers regardless of period.

[westerner]

Whilst the present discussion is interesting and informative, have we run out of "LAYOUTS that have really inspired us" which is the header to this thread?

Edited September 25, 2011 by westerner

[Happy Hippo]

Whilst the present discussion is interesting and informative, have we run out of "LAYOUTS that have really inspired us" which is the header to this thread?

 

 

No we haven't run out of layouts. There was plenty of inspiration from all the layouts on display at Scaleforum yesterday (and today!!).

 

Regards

 

Richard

[60091]

Became interested in railway modelling c1980. Dating from that time the layouts/modellers (in no particular order) who had the greatest influence were...

1 Wyndelsham Cove. Barry Norman. 30 years ago this layout was the first I saw which took detailing and overall atmosphere to a new level.

2 Ian Futters. Lochside and small Scottish urban layout. Forget the name...think it was called Burnfoot? The first time I saw weathered blue diesels and realised it was ok to model, the then, current rail scene!

3 Scotland Street. I remember watching this for ages at the York show c1989/90? Different overall shape and design with the station at the rear and an interesting goods yard giving ,what seemed like, endless shunting potential.

Moving on 25-30 years I'll list 3....or 4 current favorites which continue to impress and inspire-

1 Wibdenshaw.

2 Farkham and/or Easington Lane.

3 Blackgill. First seen on this site..Tyne Dock-Consett in P4.

[HeavyDuty]

I can think of four in particular:

 

1. Shell Island, which taught me that minimalism can be atmospheric;

 

2. Southerham, which introduced me to SR electrification;

 

3. Maybank to Radley Jct., which showcases the scenic strength of N scale; and

 

4. Charmouth, which electrified my latent interest in UK NG.

 

Edit - sorry, I missed the three layout limit... but I stand by my choices.

Edited October 10, 2011 by HeavyDuty

[br2975]

Whilst I stand by my earlier selection; reading through a variety of magazine back numbers this weekend revealed a handful I had forgotten about:-

(i) Tetfield, 4mm GWR 'BLT' by H.H.Tetlow

(ii) Torpoint, 4mm GER 'BLT' by John Harrison

(iii) Milldale, 4mm narrow gauge well executed rabbit warren by George Grainger (IIRC)

Also

(iv) Rhosnewydd Jct. 4mm 'EM' late 70s early 80s in the Wrexham area.

(v) Hedges Hill Cutting, 2mm 'sarf of the rivvu'

 

The quality of modelling has improved drastically over the years, and these layouts are evidence of that.

 

The Gaiety 57xx and Farish 51xx shunting Tetfield are testament to that, compared to the faded and weathered Cl.40 on Rhosnewydd, but as with all things, this hobby evolves.

 

Brian R

[pirouets]

I can do 2 out of 3, only because the pile of choices for the 3rd layout is still to big.

 

1. Totnes. I saw this yesterday and it is a beautifully crafted layout with both large area's of countryside and then the station placed into the location. Just beautiful.

 

2. I'm another Buckingham fan.

 

3. One day I will be able to work this out, but not yet.

[John of York61]

Gainsborough Central (Roy Jackson)

 

North Shields (Chris Pendleton)

 

Blakeney (Geoff Kent)

[John of York61]

Hi All

 

My Top Three

 

1. Chippenham by Roy Ball

 

2. Stoke Summit

 

3. Tonbridge West Yard

 

Mainly because I've had a chance to operate all three and they all operate like a real railway. I like operating railways rather than watching them and in the abscense of my own model railway each of the above hasgiven me the chance to do so.

 

Ian

Quite agree....went to Roy's house 30 years ago with Mike Cook and some of the "Yatton" group to have a go on Chippenham: I liked the sequence which took weeks to run through.

[finelines]

As an exhibition layout, Garsdale Road showed how to do it and I don't think it has been bettered. However when I built something similar, having been inspired, I found it was exactly what I didn't want!

 

Roger

[Mike J]

Although I've contributed to this thread already, one that has come to light since my original posting is Bradfield Gloucester Square.

I'm in the process of planning something in N gauge which started out as something quite similar, but has moved on a bit now. (I didn't want to do an exact copy)

I find this layout stunningly realistic in both its modelling and operation.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Just come across this thread. Cracking idea but so hard to cut it down to three!

 

Partly a reflection of my age:

 

1) Garsdale Road (EM David Jenkinson)

2) Buckingham (EM Peter Denny)

3) And then? Tempting to go for Jenkinson again even though that layout never got completed).

Also very tempted by some of the S Gauge layouts

Millers Dale in O Gauge at Matlock?

But I think that I will give the final place to Chiltern Green (N MRC)

[cheesysmith]

Three layouts. Number three would be either wibbenshaw or tetley mills for northern grot. Number two is jsw new street, just for the constant attension to detail and maintaining constant standards. Number one, I dont even know what its called. Remember seeing a article about making interlocking in a old RM and the author used photos of his own layout, in 7mm with EM1s and proper bullhead raul. Just the pictures of the uncompleated layout made me think woodhead.

[Guest]

If I may, the three that do it for me are:

 

1. The Hudson, Delaware and Ohio, the HO club layout of TMRCI in New Jersey. At 40' by 120', this isn't just big, it's epic! Some excellent modelling, too.

 

2. Meredale , the 0-16.5 layout of (I think) one Maurie Graves. When they were young, I'd take my two sons to as many exhibitions as possible. If Meredale was appearing, I could never get them away from it. It was, after all, a very fine piece of work.

 

3. Basingstoke, the N-gauge layout of Farnham MRC. This station figured prominently in my childhood so to see it reproduced so well was just fantastic.

 

There are many others, all scales, all styles, but these three head the list for me.

[A Murphy]

1)Buckingham

 

2)Blackgill

 

3)Copenhagen Fields

 

Best wishes,

 

Alastair

Edited August 30, 2012 by A Murphy

[Michael Delamar]

Bevleys, by the Lowery's, perhaps a bit too 'clean', but for simple sweeping lines difficult to beat in the period.

 

 

I remember the Bob Symes video which featured it.. with Mrs Lowery operating but with Dave commentating, my dad would always say "she's got a deep voice hasnt she"

[nickwood]

The first one is from early recollections of avidly reading RM in my youth - Marthwaite (David Jenkinson I think but stand to be corrected)

Second would be Gainsborough Model Railway Society's Kings Cross to Leeds in 0 gauge - I operated Leeds station on many ocasions in my teens

More recently Geoff Forster's, Penhydd

[Clive Mortimore]

Having just read the post in this topic a lot of people seem to be inspired by the same layouts. I hope this shows these are excellent layouts not just modellers jumping on the band wagon.

 

I can only think of one layout that really inspired me not that other layouts have given me food for thought on modelling, presentation, atmosphere etc. My inspiration was Sundown and Sprawling by Mike Cole. Mike wrote a few articles in the late 1960s about his layout and its stock. Here was a modeller scratchbuilding diesel locomotives, the same locomotives I was trainspotting. If Mike could make a diesel locomotive maybe one day I could. Well I did but don't have to anymore as all the classes I have wanted have been or will be produced

Edited August 31, 2012 by Clive Mortimore

[Bruciethefish]

I too have just come across this thread, and there are some interesting choices. While I don't often really get a chance to have a good look at exhibitions, three that have captivated & inspired me are;-

 

Thunder's Hill by Pete Bossom, a 3mm scale SR period LBSC layout, beautifully modelled & almost entirely scratchbuilt.

 

Inkerman Street, Full of atmosphere with superb detail, though for some unexplicable reason I failed to see it a 'Railex' this year..

 

The Gresley Beat. Not so much for inspirational modelling, but for the sight of such long trains running....

 

There have been many others I've liked & enjoyed over the years, but the first two, at least have at least given me an understanding of what I'd need to achieve in order to be happy with any layout I built...

[bluebottle]

Come on boys, put your toys back in the play pen, and get back to what OP asked about, what layouts have inspired you. As I said in my reply David Jenkinson's Garsdale Road was one. It was not a real place but it was the M.R. on the S&C, the type of track plan was correct, the building were about right, that was what it had going for it. It was not a big layout IIRC about 10' X 12' but the trains were a good representation of what you may see on that line and that worked for me.

 

OzzyO.

 

Actually, Garsdale Road was based on Dent station, and, apart from one additional siding, followed the track layout exactly. However, Jenkinson considered that he had made too many compromises because of restrictions of space (13'x9'), and, as he said in his book “Historical Railway Modelling”, “...felt obliged to give it a change of name: it was not the real Dent if you see what I mean...” Despite that, when I first set foot on the real Dent, I felt I was in David's model...

It did inspire me to plan a layout based on his, and, probably more importantly, to read his “Rails in the Fells” and other books on the S&C. The room available to me at the time, however, was only 9'x6', and I abandoned the idea.

So, in practical terms, my inspirations, as with so many others with limited space:

The works of Ian Futers, particularly “St Catherines for Loch Fyne” - an impression of importance in only four turnouts!

Mac Pyrke's “Victoria Square” - a variation on CJF's “Minories”.

Steve Hall's “Halifax King Cross” - A small urban station amidst West Riding Grot.

[Steve O.]

Hi,

It's...

Allied Marine (Railway Modeller 1978?) due to the attention to detail and industrial locos / setting (coincided with early Tanfield trips).

 

Ravensworth (Birtley MRC ~1982?) for the open space, sweeping curves and stepped gables on the station building.

 

Bredon (Railway Modeller? 1990?) for Peco set-track that convinced me that scratchbuilt track / EM gauge was a(n admired) 'nice' not a 'need' for me personally (time, skill, existing stock restraints).

 

So many more but frustratingly, can't remember the names!

Cheers, Steve.

[Physicsman]

My three - all recent layouts. Not ignoring the "classics", but these three have inspired me to improve my modelling, which is what the OP wanted...

 

In no particular order,

 

Tetleys Mills (Model Rail 1997 and in various subsequent guises) - got me back into modelling after 20 years.

 

Garrochburn (MR 2006, HM 2008?) - the railway placed beautifully in context within tons of Borders scenery.

 

Kirkby Stephen West (RM 2003?, HM 2007) - classic OO gauge S&C layout - great job by Ian Macdonald!

 

Jeff

Edited September 1, 2012 by Physicsman

[Revolution Ben]

Hello all,

 

Layouts that have inspired me...

 

"Acton Mainline" by Croydon MRC - saw it at a Model Railway engineering show in 1995 (I think) and totally renewed my interest in railway modelling - also convinced me that N was the scale for me...

 

"Shaw Port" - Steve Farmer's layout. I remember chatting to Steve for ages at St Neots one year and admiring his scratchbuilt N Gauge engineer's stock - inspired me to have a go myself at scratchbuilding, something I now enjoy.

 

And finally... the one that started it all

 

"D Bowe's London Midland in 4mm" - this was in Railway Modeller in 1977 - the first issue I bought. It was a huge loft-based depiction of the WCML with blue diesels and electrics depicting the (then) current scene. Having only ever seen 8x4 layouts or trackplans this was a revelation and got me totally hooked!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[298]

"D Bowe's London Midland in 4mm" - this was in Railway Modeller in 1977 - the first issue I bought. It was a huge loft-based depiction of the WCML with blue diesels and electrics depicting the (then) current scene. Having only ever seen 8x4 layouts or trackplans this was a revelation and got me totally hooked!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

 

Was that the layout on the cover of the August 1977 edition (with a green title)...?

 

It's funny you should mention that Ben, I can remember going into a newsagents when visiting my Granny, as she had promised to buy me a comic. I must have been quite insistant as I definitely recall her saying it was quite expensive when compared to what she thought I'd like, I think I chose it because I recognised the Triang 81's and catenary which was obviously more interesting than the Beano or whatever. I must have been just over three years of age, and it was my first modelling magazine (I have another copy somewhere, I think the original was cut up for the photos).

 

My Son recently passed the same milestone, but would rather have a Charlie & Lola comic (which due to market forces, are nearly as costly as railway magazines). I can but hope...

[JohnR]

Well, one layout which has inspired me recently is Dave777's layout for £100.