TEAMYAKIMA

Absolutely brilliant and I love the photographer

Having thought about my last post for 30 minutes or so, I guess the motto should be : "It's better to exhibit a good model based on an interesting place, than a perfect model of a boring place." Obviously, that statement refers to exhibition layouts - it may also apply to home layouts, but that is not the issue under discussion.

Maybe one way to sum everything up, is that 95% of 'reality' is boring. What do I mean by that? If I walk down my local high street on an average day, there is not a building on fire, there are not police cars/fire engines/ambulances with vibrant flashing lights. I will not generally be passing a wedding couple posing for photographs outside a church and it's very unlikely that I will see a funeral taking place. I think the secret is to replicate the 'average' in as extraordinary way as possible as opposed to the 'extraordinary' in an average way. Or to put it in another way, one question I ask myself before I add some new cameo is "Will this be a feature or a gimmick?" Feature = let's do it Gimmick = no! In the early days of P4 there was quite a large Ex-GWR (I think) branch line built by a P4 pioneer which was in many ways perfect - but boring. It was perfect and boring for the same reason - it was a perfect model of a boring place! There were very few trains, very few people, very few road vehicles - because that was what many country branch lines were like in the pre-Beeching era. The modelling was absolutely superb, the entertainment was virtually non-existent.

Yes, good point - very odd situation in what we like to call a totalitarian state 😉

YES, I note your use of inverted commas - it's really the opposite of a tweak which is designed to make things more interesting than reality - it's a "tweak" that makes things less interesting than reality. And also 'YES' to you as well. Both contrasting opinions are valid in contrasting situations. It's a case of 'horses for courses'. EXAMPLE : The double- track main lines on my Chinese layout are dead straight and the exhibition manager of a well-known major exhibition posted on RMweb that he would never book my layout because he didn't like layouts with dead straight track, he liked layouts where the track swayed artistically across the scene. PROBLEM: My layout is set inside an expanding Chinese city and typically the tracks are dead straight - that was a given when I designed the layout, that is one of it's USP's. When Chinese cities expanded into virgin territory they tended to expand in straight lines. This is not a perfect photo, but you can see my point - I hope.

I've been putting more thought into this and there is something I can 'get away with' because China is such an unknown country as far as 99.9% of viewers are concerned. If I was being 100% accurate in portraying China in 2001 (as I attempt to do) most diesel hauled trains would be green DF4's - the Chinese equivalent of a blue class 47 - and most passenger trains would be hauled by a blue & white DF11 - the Chinese equivalent of a Deltic. But each of my diesel-hauled trains has a different class of loco or at least a different colour of loco where the same class is repeated in one case. So, again each train has it's own personality. Each loco was a 'possibility' in NE China in 2001 but in reality you would never see the variety of locos you see on my layout at one location on one day - but 'That's showbiz!'

Again, I couldn't agree more.

I've been trying to think of examples of what I mean with reference to my own layout. In case anyone doesn't know. let's start from the premise that my layout is Chinese HO and the vast majority of potential viewers know little about China and even fewer know about Chinese railways and so my layout had to have some 'extras' - some eye-catching features which grabs the viewer's attention. Two relatively subtle 'tweaks: 1. My bi-directional line at the front of the layout has four steam hauled freights - two in each direction. They are all hauled by QJ 2-10-2 locos but the average 'Joe Public' doesn't know or care, they could as well be 9F's for all he cares. So, how did I tweak things? One train is single headed, one is conventionally double-headed, one is double-headed, but tender first and the last is double-headed, but tender-to-tender. If all the double-headed trains were conventionally set up they would all look 'the same' to Joe Public, but by having three distinctive set-ups I have made each one unique and Joe Public is wondering what the next one is going to be like. And yes, I did see those three variations in the same place in China and so whilst 'unusual' it's authentic. 2. Each of my ten freight trains is distinctive and different - either they are a distinct style e.g. loaded coal, empty coal, oil tanker train etc or if they are 'mixed freights' each will have a unique set of four or five or six freight cars directly behind the loco and so each train is distinctive and stands out (hopefully).

I couldn't agree with you more. It's like in a film or play when the director tweaks reality to move the plot along in order to keep our interest going.

Absolutely, and probably that train (B set and prairie?) would be exactly the same train every time and if there was to be a freight train you would have to see that B-set about six times before that one freight a day made an appearance.

I totally understand your point and don't disagree with your thinking behind it, but ................................... I come to this 'discussion' from a point of view which differs from most modellers. I have an 'exhibition-only' layout - it is simply too big to be set up at home. Therefore, irrespective of what I think, it will only ever be operated at public exhibitions and it will only get invites if EM's think it will be popular with visitors. Consequently, to an extent, those who have layouts which a home life and but which can be exhibited can have far greater freedom to decide the 'tone' of their layout, whereas I and those like me have to always bear in mind how everything would go down with the paying public.

One 'feature' that we have tried on my triple tracked roundy-roundy was to have two (or sometimes even three) trains passing in the scenic section - which was very dramatic. The problem, especially when we had three crossing each other, was the time it took to get the 20ft long trains back into their fiddle yard roads so that we could release the next train on that/those circuit(s) i.e. the upside was the WOW! factor of the passing trains, the downside was the inevitable long gap before the next train could appear. Just to clarify - the route selection process changes points at both ends of the FY loops at the same time and that means that the next fiddle yard release cannot be made until the previous train is back safely in its allocated road.

Twickenham & District MRC's Open Day this year was a great success and as a follow-up we are holding an OPEN EVENING club night this Friday August 4th where potential members can get the flavour of a normal club life. We will be setting up our Multi-Gauge-Running-Track which caters for 99.9% of models from 'Z' to 'G' - including TT, EM and P4 - the only known scale/gauge combination we don't cater for is 4mm scale on 21mm gauge track i.e. Irish 5ft 3inch gauge - and 'YES!' we did have a visitor to our Open Day who modelled in that gauge! Our clubroom is KERSWELL HALL, WILLS CRES, HOUNSLOW, TW3 2JF and we will welcome visitors from 7.30pm and please bring something to run!

This year's Twickenham & District MRC Open Day was even more successful than last year's and as a follow on we are holding an OPEN EVENING CLUBNIGHT this Friday August 4th where our Multi-Gauge-Running-Track will be up and visitors and potential members are invited to bring models along and give them a run. We can cater for 99.9% of models from 'Z' to 'G' including TT, EM and P4. The only gauge we don't cater for is Irish 4mm scale on 21mm gauge track - and 'YES!' we did have a visitor to our Open Day who modelled that! Our clubroom is KERSWELL HALL, WILLS CRES, HOUNSLOW, TW3 2JF and we will be open for visitors from 7.30pm

This is real musing for you .................................................. When is it right to 'tweak reality' on an exhibition layout in order to entertain viewers? Let me begin by saying that I believe that exhibition layouts are there to entertain visitors to an exhibition and I do accept that different people are 'entertained' by different aspects of a layout - just like some people prefer Test cricket to what is nowadays called 'The Hundred' . First of all, many/most layouts tweak reality in a similar way to the way that 'Eastenders' tweaks what it's like to live in the East end of London e.g. on an average day in a specific location you wouldn't see the variety of trains in a given 20 minute period that you would see in a 20 minute viewing of an exhibition layout. Let me make it clear that my definition of 'tweak' is a slight exaggeration of reality not having a a class 90 o/h electric hauling pre-war PO wagons. In my case I was thinking about coach interiors. I spent weeks adding interiors to one of my long passenger trains and at home if I took the coach off the track and handed to you, you would be able to see all that detail - but at an exhibition no-one could see it as it rumbles by. So, I added coach lighting and now everyone can see the detail - but in reality if you were standing on an embankment or looking out of a hotel window you wouldn't see inside the coaches like that. Many/most coach windows are now tinted and some have curtains and so allowing viewers to be able to see the interior detail is very popular, but at the same time it's unrealistic. Consequently, if I were to have my layout photographed for a model magazine, I would turn off the coach lighting because my peers reading a model magazine would think it unrealistic, but the average visitor to the average public exhibition thinks it's great. It may be unrealistic, but I think it's justifiably unrealistic because it entertains the paying public - thoughts?

For clarity : Is that Chief Operating Officer ?

Well, that's about all from me for now - time to take a break. I'm always saying that I want to get on with other things and now is the right time to start. All the outstanding issues have been dealt with and whilst I might still tinker once in a while, everything is pretty much in place for our next outing - TAUNTON in October. It's time to start digitalising all those slides of Cuba, South Africa, Argentina etc. Our next confirmed shows are TAUNTON (October), Warley (Nov) and Manchester (Dec) - I hope to see some of you at those shows - TTFN.

And, just to prove it .................. TBH I am a bit disappointed - I'm sure those mirrors were exactly vertical when I glued them in place - I hope it's a distortion in the photo - I've just checked and yes, it is simply a distortion in the photo.

Unfortunately, it was a railway modeller - apparently! I'm told that it was just as hot in 2022 - but the view was that that was a fluke and was very unlikely to happen two years running - DOH! Now there is good news and bad news. The good news is that they won't be using the garden centre greenhouses next June. The bad news is that they will be using the garden centre greenhouses next February!

I've gone back to another unfinished project - the road roller on the trailer - it's a poor photo taken on my phone with the flash turned on. Yes, before anyone comments that it needs ropes or chains - I know - but with my limited skills I think it shows that at least I've tried. Also, bare in mind that eventually it will be surrounded by several police motorcyclists and no doubt they will be asking a few pertinent questions. And, before anyone asks, YES, the truck does have wing mirrors!

Moving on from IRDOT's .............................. I do have a nasty habit of putting off a big job and when I finally get around to tackling it, making it an even bigger job and, so it was with the D38. As I have said, I bought the D38 about ten years ago and never weathered it, but all that's changed now that we are going to make it an exhibition regular. Once I began giving the D38 my full attention, I noticed something which hadn't occurred to me before - the little blue cabins at each end have full interiors - in white! Well, an hour or two later ( YES, an hour or two )......... Now, I know what many of you are going to say - nobody at a show is going to notice that interior as it passes by - and I agree with that and that's why I added a worker looking out of the window in a high viz jacket in what they call (in the film industry) the final cut. And TBH the same thing still applies - 99.9% of exhibition viewers will miss that - and that's where the front-of-house man comes into play. Their job will be to interact with viewers and warn them to look out for this 'new feature'. I rest my case, m'lud.

All I can say on that is "It's possible, but there is no way of knowing for certain now, either way." I think it's best to forget IRDOT's for the moment. I am confident that the IRDOT's controlling the Faller have never caused any problems at a show and I have taken steps to re-enforce that confidence. Q: Am I right to be that confident? A: We'll find out at Taunton.

Speaking of silhouettes .... here's one in China in 2015 - real everyday steam not a tourist line

I've only just found this post. I was there in Feb 2005 myself. We timed our visit to coincide with a Farrails tour which was supposed to charter steam across the pass, but we found steam still in everyday action anyway. I'm working my way through your Flickr account. I'm very jealous that you went as early as 1988 - my first was 1993. BTW do you model Chinese railways? Do you know Peter Haworth?