Wow Factor

[Steven B]

Several threads on several exhibitions mention that there were no layouts with the "wow factor".

 

So, which layouts have the "Wow factor" and more importantly (for those building the next generation of model railways) why?

 

Happy modelling.

 

Steven B.

[highpeak]

I think this may well be one of those topics where there will be as many different answers as there are participants, because one modeler's WOW might be another modeler's YAWN.

 

The layout that had the biggest WOW factor for me was the Manchester MRC's 2mm layout representing the Midland in the Peak District, Chee Tor. The WOW came from the sensation that I had been delivered back in time, because while the station was a work of fiction, it captured the atmosphere of those days spent watching trains at Millers Dale to perfection.

 

I have been very impressed by the standard of modelling on many layouts, it was that extra dimension of replicating something with which I was very familiar that gave Chee Tor the WOW.

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Gresley beat for me, lots of action of proper locomotives gives it the 'WOW' factor. Other layouts are ones with lots of detail and action, or something unusual (like the moving lorry on 'End of the Line')

[Claude_Dreyfus]

For me, there are very few really amazing layouts; those with the 'wow' factor.

 

My suggestion for a wow layout is Pempoul...modelling of the highest standard.

[PaulRhB]

There's so many, Bridport Town, Chee Tor, Rowlands Castle, Shades of the Harz, Exebridge Quay (edit thanks to Mickey as I only got the name half right!), Glenuig, Disentis, Filisur to name just a few as other names escape me at present. I've gone specially to shows to see many of these and not been disappointed by them, some I've been to see several times

[bbishop]

What a wonderfully impossible question! There have been a few, mostly LSWR, but also Mostyn, Charwelton, Pempoul, Gresley Beat, Portchullin, Adavoyle; so quite an eclectic collection. However, the first one was a layout at an Easter show in the Central Hall the best part of 50 years ago. It was called Bushampton, and was an 7mm LSWR layout - I spent an hour staring at an Adams Jubilee parked in a siding.

 

Bill

 

Edited to amend "the Irish one" to Adavoyle.

[grahame]

'wow' is very personal and subjective. For me it has to tick all the boxes.

 

For example 'Gresley Beat' is mentioned by many as a 'wow' layout for them, but it's not for me - sure the modelling is great, the size is very impressive and even the location is of interest, but it's doesn't tick all the boxes for me and, therefore, I wouldn't consider it a 'wow' layout. Not many layouts do - but then there are quite a few that I like very much, admire greatly and would pay to see again.

 

And I'm not so sure that an exhibition has to have a 'wow' layout or 'wow' factor to be considered great or worthwhile.

 

G.

[Geoff Endacott]

This seemed like a very useful thread for lining up Trainwest recruits - except that many of the layouts mentioned have already been to the show or are booked to appear over the next few years. I have never seen Gresely Beat but that will be put right next year - it's coming to Trainwest 2015.

 

Geoff Endacott

[James Makin]

No ones mentioned Pendon yet, so just throwing it in!

 

Wibdenshaw is the latest layout I've seen to make me go 'wow', but it's definitely not size for me, it's the ability for a layout to transfer the viewer to a certain time and place, I don't think you can describe the ingredients in a set formulae, but when it's done right, that's when you get a 'wow' from me!

[PaulRhB]

As others have said it is very personal but I'm not looking for perfection ticking all the boxes. Something that captures the atmosphere and you could view for hours despite any imperfections is what defines 'wow' for me personally. That said some of my list are so close to my idea of perfect that I couldn't suggest any improvement apart from my interests are so diverse I'd need all of my choices

[Nimbus]

I was lucky enough to see Chris Pendlenton's 'South Shields' when it had its outing to the MRJ show at Central Hall.

It was the layout's interpretation of locality in combination with the excellence of Chris' mechanical engineering that nailed it for me. 

 

'Hal O' The Wynd' acting as 160 tons should, as it moved off, prompted me to thank Chris for going a long way towards making up for the 

lack of a real A1 to watch. That was when I learned that the Tornado project had recently committed to its build, which dates the show.

 

The Nim.

[TheSignalEngineer]

For me the biggest factor is the Turn-Offs. A fine layout can be spoiled by lack of attention to details of how the railway worked. One layout which I have seen at several exhibitions and has featured in magazines I always walk straight past because I don't like the sight of a train running with a single A-type container sitting right at the end of a conflat. Would probably have derailed before it got out of the yard in real life. The same layout has open wagons with loads which would have ended up on the floor at the first coupling snatch.

[Ian J.]

Anything by Chris Nevard (his micro layouts always seem to be so full of feeling for the detail);

 

Pempoul for its attention to detail;

 

Stoke Summit (and similar layouts) for its length and relative bareness, revealing something of what 99.9% of railway actually looks like.

[trisonic]

To me size has nothing to do with it, nor location. It could be British, American or somewhere oddball like Cuba. It’s not just sumptuous details - it's that impossible to define “feels right”. By the way that includes the whole package - lighting, viewing position, everything.

 

I will not post a list because I’m sure to leave one out that I really like.

 

Best, Pete.

[Steve Purves]

I'll second 'stoke summit' That wowed me back at a show in grantham many moons ago whilst demoing for DEMU, New Bryford had it in the old days, I cannot comment now as its been a long time since I saw it! Copenhagen fields has it in buckets. Holiday Haunts was probably a wow because of the scale of it, I always remember seeing it at the NEC years ago. One other was Dysearth Road, pioneering the TMD layout/DCC sound etc...

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Have to mention that the view from the concourse along the platforms of Lime Street is a stunner. I had this practically to myself at the NEC show, everyone else five deep for the side on view.

[Philip Jackson]

There's a permanent model railway at Butterley on the midland railway that certainly WOWS me whenever i see it

[johndon]

I was lucky enough to see Chris Pendlenton's 'South Shields' when it had its outing to the MRJ show at Central Hall.

It was the layout's interpretation of locality in combination with the excellence of Chris' mechanical engineering that nailed it for me. 

 

'Hal O' The Wynd' acting as 160 tons should, as it moved off, prompted me to thank Chris for going a long way towards making up for the 

lack of a real A1 to watch. That was when I learned that the Tornado project had recently committed to its build, which dates the show.

 

The Nim.

 

I was lucky enough to see it at the Newcastle show a number of years ago.  Unfortunately, I didn't know enough about it at the time to really appreciate what I was seeing...

 

John

[TheQ]

I have not yet had a wow at a show mostly because I've already seen those layouts in a magazine, the layouts I like such as Rowland castle are my favourites due to the modelling ability of the builder. The biggest WOW I've had is Ron Heggs Manchester layout under construction in this forum. I would love to see it in real life but there is no chance of that.

The Q

[steve fay]

Leamington Spa every time is see it which is quite a lot these days, holiday haunts and my favourite on the exhibition Dainton Bank making its exhibition return as a memorial to the main guy behind it.

[PLD]

All of the factors mentioned so far are relevant to the first impression you get of a layout, and that's what sticks in your mind from first viewing. After a few viewings though, that impact is dulled a little - 'familiarity breeds complacency'...

 

As a prime example from one of the shows in question; that for me was the reason that Leicester South didn't particularly stand out at York last weekend. It was the layouts second or third appearance at York and I must have seen it at least 2 dozen times in total. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the layout and I'm sure it still has that impact on someone seeing it for the first time, but having seen it so often I tended to pass it by and prioritise those layout that were new to me...

[Peter Kazmierczak]

As an impressionable young lad in short trousers, the two layouts that gave me the "Wow" factor were the

0-gauge "Kirtley" that used to live in Derby Museum and that (what seemed at the time) gigantic model at Alton Towers.

[andyram]

Good scenic detail always helps with the wow factor for me. Rowlands Castle has definitely got the wow factor. There was also a Southern Region layout, set in the London suburbs, complete with a working underground section. The name escapes me at the moment though!! Glen Gillie is another of my favourites. Excellent scenery and the attempt to include the smell of whisky!

 

Stoke Summit for its size has the wow factor too, especially if you position yourself by the tunnel entrance, the layout is set at the height that from this vantage point you could almost be train spotting!!1

[Iain Popplewell]

For a layout to have that elusive "Wow" factor almost by definition it must stand out from the common herd.Excellent modelling helps, but it's inspired imaginative modelling that does it for me.

 

Crumley and Little Wickhill.  A large exquisitely modelled 009 layout with imaginative baseboard shape.

Dewsbury Midland. Excellently modelled mill-town in a multilevel landscape and providing true spectacle.

Bramblewick.  A layout so perfect in it's conception and execution that it can almost move me to tears, my favourite by far.

 

On a different note, one thing all these layouts have in common is they all run perfectly. No matter what "Wow" factors a layout might have possessed, they count for nothing if the layout fails to work reliably.

[LNER4479]

Any of the David Jenkinson layouts, although I've only ever seen them in books and magazines. Although I was probably going to be drawn to large, prototype layouts in any case, his work appeared during at an impressionable time for me.