Wow Factor

[bike2steam]

One of the few occasions in which I agree with Iain Rice where he explains 'balance' in a layout in his book 'Layout Design', coupled with a model of an actual location which has got the  look, and 'feel' spot-on correct - that's the kind of layout that gives me the 'wow' factor. 

[The Stationmaster]

One of the few occasions in which I agree with Iain Rice where he explains 'balance' in a layout in his book 'Layout Design', coupled with a model of an actual location which has got the  look, and 'feel' spot-on correct - that's the kind of layout that gives me the 'wow' factor. 

I think you've hit the nail on the head there - it is all about looking right and feeling right plus to me at least looking as if it could or would be capable of being worked right (i.e. it has believability in its operational appearance.  However having added the latter the 'wow' tends to vanish from my eyes when it looks as if it could be 'worked right' and very definitely isn't  -which is sometimes how layouts with a very high standard of modelling simply fall short in my eyes.

 

Incidentally size of the layout is in my opinion irrelevant - most recently there were several excellent examples of this at Trainwest where 'wow' (as I saw it) could be contained in quite a small space, and was.

[coachmann]

For me, layouts are like yer dad........Special to you but just another bloke to everyone else. That said, I thought 'wow' when I saw a video on RMweb recently (can't find the thread) that showed a layout that had been set up outdoors with DCC sound Diesels running past the camera. 

[Ian Hargrave]

And for a perfect example of "small is beautiful", look at Meadow Lane TMD on RMWeb front page,In an area a little larger than an old fashioned Punch and Judy box,you find an artistically crafted,atmospheric experience,with a strong emphasis on light and sound.It is meticulously detailed and rewards and involves the onlooker because there is always something happening.If you can't see it,you hear it coming .....you are constantly involved and delighted. It repays the time spent in just looking.By "Lochnagar" ( Alex ) of this forum.

[JimF51]

From a 'across the pond' viewpoint, not being able to attend exhibitions, but if I could...

 

What would 'Wow' me would be the subject. I am interested in the pre-grouping period, and the SER, LCDR and SECR lines. I would feel more 'wow' at seeing a layout that depicted such, at say a lesser standard of modelling, than a high museum standard layout of other lines, or time periods.

 

Just my US 5 cents worth

 

Jim F

[pirouets]

2 for me that have that WOW factor at different end of the size spectrum

 

Copenhagen fields is a supurb model of a chunk of London with the railway as a key part but not the dominating part of the model

Hedges Hill Cutting. Would be lost in a corner of Copenhagen fields but it was excellent modelling creating a simple yet well formed landscape, again with the railway as part.

 

I think from this it is back to what bike2steam & The Stationmaster have said as both of these layouts had balanced.

 

At the other end of the spectrum I do remember watching a Hornby 3 rail system for a long while at Warley once thinking WOW because I was back as a 9 year old just dreaming about playing trains.

[Tony Wright]

WOW Factor!

 

Just a selection of mine............ More to come

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

And a few more............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

And some more......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With hundreds to choose from, I thought I'd just make a modest selection. I'll dig out some more...........

[Nimbus]

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!!

 

Which is what I was doing at its Watford appearance a few years ago. The chap next door said, to no-one in particular "It's another A4."

I had to ask: "How many years since you last said that?"

 

The Nim.

[bike2steam]

Nice selection Tony, but personally my favourite being the 8th one in the second batch,  ( King at Dawlish-esque scene) the 'depth of field' in that scenery is superb, and more believable. It reminds me a little of a Don Breckon style painting.

[Tony Wright]

Which is what I was doing at its Watford appearance a few years ago. The chap next door said, to no-one in particular "It's another A4."

I had to ask: "How many years since you last said that?"

 

The Nim.

I didn't include Stoke Summit for obvious reasons, though I'm glad it had a wow factor for some. It must have been popular because it went to nearly 70 shows from 1997 to 2013. It won't be seen again for several reasons, including much of the stock having been sold and a difficulty now in manning it. Sad to say, one of the principal operators died last year, another regular is too infirm now and I no longer attend shows. Anyway, like all layouts, it reached its 'best before' date. Obviously, it didn't appeal to all - one critic at a York Show informed me that 'all it was was trains running by - look, there's another one, and another........' When I thanked him, he seemed quite bemused, but that's what we'd set out to do at Wolverhampton - make a 'credible' 'watch the trains go by' layout. And, it was the trains that mattered - most of which, locos and stock were made by the 'gang of six'. Correct locos (no easy-option RTR to begin with) and correct carriages (no Bachmann Mk.1s to start with) and almost all kit-built freight stock. We used to take out about 100+ kit-built locos with us (40 needed at any one time), about 200+ carriages (mainly kit-built) and too many wagons to count.

Another critic from Caledonia claimed that the only trains he saw move were in the fiddle yard, and nothing on the front. For that to be true those trains must have disappeared in Stoke Tunnel or underneath the Westby bridge because they had nowhere else to go but the front. Either that or we was just a chump. He also thought the operators were 'enjoying themselves too much'.    

[coachmann]

He also thought the operators were 'enjoying themselves too much'.    

Aye, and you can have sex so long as you don't enjoy it....   

[andyram]

Which is what I was doing at its Watford appearance a few years ago. The chap next door said, to no-one in particular "It's another A4."

I had to ask: "How many years since you last said that?"

 

The Nim.

 

I was doing the same at a previous Nottingham show. Being too young to have spotted trains in the days of the steam it was the nearest I have ever got. A brilliant layout and such a shame it will not be seen on the exhibition circuit again.

 

I agree with some others on here - Crumley and Little Wickhill is another that carries the wow factor.

The layout I was referring to in a previous post was "Dagnall End". I found the name in an old Hornby Magazine.

 

I also think that Summat Colliery is superb!

[Iain Popplewell]

Aye, and you can have sex so long as you don't enjoy it....   

 

 Thanks for the offer Larry, but I hope you don't mind if I decline.

[silverlink]

After reading all the posts here about 'Wow' layouts its obvious we all see things in a different way, I think post 36 just sums up the true brilliance & diversity of our hobby and the many ways we model it. Yes, I always liked Stoke Summit when Tony was with it but there again we both love the same thing in layouts and the stock we run on them.

Perhaps I'm been a bit controversial here but I'd like to ask 'what about all the really bad layouts that can be seen on the exhibition circuit' where no trains ever seem to run, badly laid track, mixtures of un-prototypical rolling stock, constant hand-of-god, layouts at seat height with no lighting, I could go on. We all pay good money and travel long distances at great expense to these shows so why should we have to put up with it. Out there we have some wonderful show organisers who we can rely on for a good show but alongside these there are those that just seem to be filling halls with anything that they can find.

Sorry if I've upset you but its just how I see it, some truly 'WOW' layouts but also some real c**p.

Ian H     

[bike2steam]

Controversial - perhaps, but what good does it do to be negative when the information is out there to make sure modellers can get it right.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Controversial - perhaps, but what good does it do to be negative when the information is out there to make sure modellers can get it right.

We can all get into rivet counting, with operations and infrastructure just as bad as rolling stock or locos. Fine as the stuff in post #36 is, much better than i could achieve, there's at least one operating mistake, and one bit of infrastructure that sticks out like a sore thumb. Two others are either not quite clear from the picture or need to know the context of what is going on to decide if it is right.

[newbryford]

 New Bryford had it in the old days, I cannot comment now as its been a long time since I saw it!

 

Hi Steve,

New Bryford is back - see it at the DEMU Showcase at Burton-on-Trent on May 31/1 June or in the next issue of BRM magazine.

 

Cheers,

mick

[newbryford]

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.

 

 

 

I think someone's "wow!" is not only each to an individual, but changeable -well it is to me....

 

 

'wow' is very personal and subjective.

 

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.

 

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”.

 

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'...

 

 

 

For me, layouts are like yer dad........Special to you but just another bloke to everyone else.

 

What's the phrase?

"You can't please all of the people, all of the time........"

 

Cheers,

Mick

[andyram]

Perhaps I'm been a bit controversial here but I'd like to ask 'what about all the really bad layouts that can be seen on the exhibition circuit' where no trains ever seem to run, badly laid track, mixtures of un-prototypical rolling stock, constant hand-of-god, layouts at seat height with no lighting, I could go on. We all pay good money and travel long distances at great expense to these shows so why should we have to put up with it. Out there we have some wonderful show organisers who we can rely on for a good show but alongside these there are those that just seem to be filling halls with anything that they can find.

Sorry if I've upset you but its just how I see it, some truly 'WOW' layouts but also some real c**p.

Ian H     

 

I never realised you had seen my layout at an exhibition!

[298]

I don't think it is about quality (as that is in the eye of the beholder), I don't even think it is even about gimmicks (as they can give a biased view). It is something that just clicks when everything comes together, whether intentional or not. Like listening to "Jolene" at 33rpm....

[sir douglas]

One of mine has to be the amazing work of Ron and his Manchester Central, ive seen crumley & little wickhill a few times, a few years a go, the idea of a end on view of a valley instead of a side view blew me away.

 

Another (I think at the wakefield show 2012) a Finescale layout of a pre-forth bridge, firth of forth dock scene,

 

although O14 is becoming more popular and more used, I still find an O14 ffestiniog layout fascinating

[298]

Ive never tried that...is there a sub-liminal message in there?

 

Never seen a "crap" layout either, Ive seen plenty that are not to my tastes, but if we all had the same tastes life would be ever so boring....theres room for a non PC joke there too

 

No message, it just sounds better....

 

The funny thing about "crap" layouts, is no-one says "Right, my next project is going to be crap. Where's the secondhand track that has been sat on, faded Peco backscenes, and green looking limestone ballast without raised shoulders...?" But these layouts seem to appear on the circuit with justifications such as they inspire newcomers to build an exhibition layout to that standard.

[AngryMeerkat]

The wow factor for me is a layout that looks perfect.

 

Not perfect in that the modelling is amazing or the operation is to an exact timetable, but perfect in that it's exhibition standard.....

 

Generally I don't go to exhibitions, the main reason being that 'exhibition layouts' mostly aren't that amazing. Missing ballast, grass so thin that grey baseboards are showing through, paint flaking off, and generally unkempt seems to be the norm, and these things take minutes to touch up!

 

I wouldn't care if things aren't exactly to scale or from the right era, as long as what's on show is to a high standard. I don't mind seeing RTR loco's straight from the box so long as they don't stop at every set of points or randomly stop on a dirty piece of track.

 

I know this sounds harsh, but if you're showing your work off in an exhibition then spend those few minutes touching up and making right. I know my modelling isn't anywhere near exhibition standard, so I would never exhibit my layout for fear of personal embarrassment.

 

Mark