RJS1977 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 The RSME N gauge group started to build a model of Reading and Penzance. Track was laid on both sections but the linking boards were never built before numbers tailed off. The Penzance section is still with the club, but I think Reading may have been sold off/scrapped. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Several S&C layouts have been out there too- Kirkby Luneside, Kirkby Stephen, The Little Long Drag, Great Last Project (Jenkinson), Dent, Hellifield, Blea Moor, Long Marton. Not all of these are "large" (20+ft), although most are over that. Not all of them are exhibition layouts- but we're getting on for a full model of the S&C if they would all fit together, and none of them are NE racetrack models. (more like centre sloggers than racetrack...fiddle fuddle, up the muddle...) If you look at the thread on building large layouts, there are a fair % that are not NE prototype. James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted September 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 23, 2014 Dear Mr. Edge, Please Please Please start a thread on Herculaneum Dock. I remember seeing it in Railway Modeller back in the 90s and being blown away by it. Inspirational layout! He says hes going to start one ..but... while we wait... an old shot down the Liverpool Overhead Railway... and the Overhead is a large layout on its own, as is the MDHB track and, of the course the BR track into Liverpool Central... Baz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Accurascale Fran Posted September 23, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 23, 2014 He says hes going to start one ..but... while we wait... an old shot down the Liverpool Overhead Railway... drivers eye view through Herculaneum Stationedited.JPG and the Overhead is a large layout on its own, as is the MDHB track and, of the course the BR track into Liverpool Central... Baz Nice! Be great to see it in one of the mags again, a smashing layout. Sadly my old copy of RM is long gone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted September 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 23, 2014 Perhaps there are some I'm not aware of, but it does seem like there are very few "large" layouts for other regions. Plenty have commented on the plague of GWR BLT layouts - but has anybody ever depicted a chunk of the Great Western main line? Dawlish or Newton Abbot, say? Don't mind me - just thinking out loud... Are we talking exhibition layouts or fixed to the wall type ? And how large do you consider large , true representations or done for fun ? You could have a look at this , still ongoing but trying hard to look Great Western . http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/58785-somewhere-in-devon-now-named-newton-on-teign/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted September 23, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 23, 2014 Ravensclyffe 24'x12' WCML Stoke area?http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/3288-ravensclyffe/ Andi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Clive Mortimore Posted September 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 23, 2014 For those going to Scaleforum this weekend you might see a big train set with diesels running on it, Calcutta Sidings. Then there is Mostyn, it is also not a tiny layout. Again with diesels and P4. Odd thing is that these two and Andi's layout are all LMR based locations. All three layouts are so so different. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 One of the problems with big layouts is that they are big! Not many have space but if you are a scale fanatic, you obviously want to model the whole thing. No reduction in track length and other compromises! This limits ones choices but if rational choices are made then a lot of country can be compressed into a satisfying layout. In an earlier time my OO layout covered Buckfastleigh to Staverton albeit with more curves than the real thing! Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted September 23, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 23, 2014 One of the problems with big layouts is that they are big! Not many have space but if you are a scale fanatic, you obviously want to model the whole thing. No reduction in track length and other compromises! real thing!..... Brian. This is where I'm coming from it's GWR, it's not a "main line" but it's not a branch either , in order to model the station without compression it's 34ft long and at it's widest 10ft, this due to wishing to model its " wind swept emptiness" of a reported 16 acres of platform space. (which I think was a bit of an exaggeration) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Centurion Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Was talking about this other day with freinds. In exhibition terms while one can appreciate the logistics of moving a "beast" around there is IMHO way to many what you might call micro-layouts on the circuit. For me they were a novelty at first but it wears thin where 70% of what you see could be classed as a micro layout. Just more medium sized ones would be nice! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSG Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Was talking about this other day with freinds. In exhibition terms while one can appreciate the logistics of moving a "beast" around there is IMHO way to many what you might call micro-layouts on the circuit. For me they were a novelty at first but it wears thin where 70% of what you see could be classed as a micro layout. Just more medium sized ones would be nice! I agree; I like layouts that reward viewing from more than one point. I have many happy memories as a young modeller of wedging my way into a gap in the crowd at the end of the barrier and then shuffling all the way along the layout in person-sized chunks and only leaving it when I reached the other end. There seem to be fewer on the circuit these days where I'd want to do that, other than the really big ones where it would probably take me all day! I suspect that part of the problem is that the tendency towards smaller houses means that fewer individual modellers have space for anything bigger than a micro-layout. Meanwhile, clubs usually have enough space, and enough volunteers, to do a fairly large one. So both sets of modellers - individuals and clubs - build what they have room for, but there's not a lot in between those two approaches. That's a generalisation, of course, but as a general rule generalisations tend to be generally true Also, maybe we're less comfortable these days with the compromises necessary for a medium-sized roundy-roundy. If you want an oval then bigger is almost always better. But a shunting plank doesn't particularly need to be big to be operationally interesting, so small is perfectly OK for many projects of that nature. So there's no compelling need to make it larger just for the sake of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 How about Westford. At 59', it's a sizable layout and a terminus, but all mainlines have to finish somewhere.http://www.westfordmodellers.co.uk/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dorset Wanderer Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Lots of Exhibition managers just can't afford to book large layouts- either that or punters start off with cost too much etc. etc and don't support. These type of layouts exist but they cost- if large layouts are what you are after there are usually lots at Warley. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Centurion Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Yep good points Mark. There are of course other aspects to, the first being it's obviously quicker to finish something small so you at least have something.....rather then those (I have done it myself) who come up with great idea after great idea but nothing actually ever materialises. Some of them are so small though they may as well be diorama.Take the Train Robbery, nothing actually moves but that makes it no less appealing but actually it's bigger than some micro layouts that just have one line with something going backwards and forwards. It may also be the case that some of the large layouts seen (Bacup for instance) and not built to be exhibited and that's absolutely the choice of it's respective owner. I have helped shift biggies to and from shows and it is a first class pain in the bum, and there is often damage. Not sure what the answer is really. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Yep good points Mark. There are of course other aspects to, the first being it's obviously quicker to finish something small so you at least have something.....rather then those (I have done it myself) who come up with great idea after great idea but nothing actually ever materialises. Some of them are so small though they may as well be diorama.Take the Train Robbery, nothing actually moves but that makes it no less appealing but actually it's bigger than some micro layouts that just have one line with something going backwards and forwards. It may also be the case that some of the large layouts seen (Bacup for instance) and not built to be exhibited and that's absolutely the choice of it's respective owner. I have helped shift biggies to and from shows and it is a first class pain in the bum, and there is often damage. Not sure what the answer is really. Build the layout on a curtainside lorry, drive it straight into the hall (e.g Warley) and open the curtains? (or just exhibit in the car park?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted September 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 26, 2014 Lots of Exhibition managers just can't afford to book large layouts- either that or punters start off with cost too much etc. etc and don't support. These type of layouts exist but they cost- if large layouts are what you are after there are usually lots at Warley. Steve Strangely, if you work out the cost per foot a lot of smaller layouts are far more expensive to bring to a show than some of the "bigger layouts".... Baz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinWalsh Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Very true Baz, however by having a few smaller layouts in the footprint that would be taken by 1 large layout you can give the paying punters more bang for their buck (so to speak) edited for poor spelling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Andy Hayter Posted September 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 26, 2014 Has anyone mentioned Biggleswade yet? Built by colleagues in the neighbouring Middlesbrough MRC and fits the LNER/GNR profile. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted September 28, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2014 Very true Baz, however by having a few smaller layouts in the footprint that would be taken by 1 large layout you can give the paying punters more bang for their buck (so to speak) It depends what on the layout. Herculaneum has 3 railways on it, cwmafon has 4 on it ...interconnected but still operational independently. If you go to the prototypical layouts ..yes they can be samey but then you get bigger trains..like Stoke Summit, Charwalton, Biggleswade, Grantham, Leicester South as fine examples. Shows need a balance but the cost to an exhibition of the micro layouts now appear to be rising rapidly. Barry PS I like layouts of all sizes and shapes so I can stand in awe in front of any good layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Clive Mortimore Posted September 28, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2014 It depends what on the layout. Herculaneum has 3 railways on it, cwmafon has 4 on it ...interconnected but still operational independently. If you go to the prototypical layouts ..yes they can be samey but then you get bigger trains..like Stoke Summit, Charwalton, Biggleswade, Grantham, Leicester South as fine examples. Shows need a balance but the cost to an exhibition of the micro layouts now appear to be rising rapidly. Barry PS I like layouts of all sizes and shapes so I can stand in awe in front of any good layout. Hi Barry I think you have hit the track pin on its head. Size doesn't matter but quality does. Thankfully most the large layouts so far mentioned in thread are of a high quality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Regarding exhibitions, don't forget the distance it has to travel will decide whether a layout attends or not. It's often impractical for "large" layouts to appear at one day shows due to the time it takes to put together and take down. If it requires an operating team of 6 that require overnight accommodation for 2 nights, that can significantly put up the costs of a layout whereas if it's a "local show" then people are happy to drive home and come back the next day. This may be why you often see many of the same layouts appearing at all your local shows. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Strangely, if you work out the cost per foot a lot of smaller layouts are far more expensive to bring to a show than some of the "bigger layouts".... Baz Not necessarily. My own show is put together partly from local layouts, partly from a friend on a "quid pro quo" basis - I go to his shows, he comes to mine (with several layouts!) and we don't charge each other expenses, and a couple of car-sized layouts from slightly further afield. As a result, I can put on the show for the equivalent cost of one large layout requiring van hire and fuel. Owners of large layouts often prefer to do two day shows or would require setting up on Friday, neither of which are possible with my show. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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