Way back in the 1960s, I think I was greatly influenced by John Allen's Goree & Daphetid. My crude attempt at copying on a 3x8' figure 8 layout: Since then, I have been influenced by David Barrow's Cat Mountain, Cyril Durenberger's Houston East & West Texas, and Greg Johnson's Southern Division. However I have been influenced somewhat more by reading Westcott's "101 Track Plans" and John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation," and by study of the prototype.
The Clinchfield (Model Railroader Magazine) showed me the potential of N Scale. Blue Ridge Subdivision (Ken Borowski) showed me the fun in ops. Downtown Spur (Lance Mindheim) set the bar high for realism. Cat Mountain & Santa Fe (David Barrow) for the modular inspiration. Naugatuck Valley (David Popp) good things can come in small packages. Tehachapi in N (our own ChrisKLAS) for showing how awesome a big N layout really can be. This will be the N Scale layout of the century.
I would have to say it was the layout my friend Danny built. He recruited me to help finish his Mississippi Valley Railroad layout in the months running up to the NMRA/ NTRAK joint convention in Houston in 1989. He signed up to be on one of the layout tours and was under the gun to get as much finished as possible. I learned so much from that experience and that layout influenced me greatly in the years to come while building my NTRAK modules. This is the only photo I have that was taken on that layout.
Oh, well, its still easy for me. The absolute game-changer during my thought and design process? David Haines' Raton Pass. I sorta knew what I wanted to do, but that reinforced everything and definitely made me up my entire game. The Cat Mountain & Santa Fe series with backdrop painting was copied on my layout and worked well, but the integration of actual photos of the real areas blew my mind and you'll see a lot of that on my layout now. And all the scratchbuilt buildings; not just an approximation....and getting dead-on the equipment, trains, operating patterns. Yeah. I even had the privilege of writing him and letting him know before he passed.
Hard to pin it down to just a few. John Allen of course. The V&O and AM in the 70's configurations. The Clinchfield - probably kept me in N forever. Recently, Powersteamguy 1790's J,J,J,&E - the first layout to show that a large N scale Unitrack layout can be well finished with good looking track and ballast. Changed the way I thought about modeling. In the 80's I was convinced that only handlaid code 40 was right for N scale. Knew I'd never have the time and agility to build what I wanted with all handlaying. Mike Fifer did a great job, but Bob was first. Lot's of others like davidfoxx that totally blow me away with the detailing. Time to stop before I list everybody posting on the boards. Don
Who said we could only be influenced by N Scale Layouts? I like some in N... And some in other scales:
Bill and Wayne Reid's Cumberland Valley Bill Denton's Kingsbury Branch Eric Brooman's Utah Belt Mike Komosinski's Santa Fe These are just the one's I could name off the top of my head, I can get inspiration from just about any layout, to some degree or another.
Such a tough list to put together, but in the end it comes down to personal experiences. My late Great Uncle George Pearson's garage/workshop layout in Moorepark CA. Jeff Abbott's N scale Oregon Sub for the operations and just plain fun factor. The biggest impression on me was Whit Towers Alturas and Lone Pine. What a neat railroad and owner/builder with a story for just about every corner of the layout. I still flip through a time table of his from time to time. I sure miss the group of guys I once ran that road with. I can only imagine if Whitney Towers or John Allen had the technology we had today.
I must add as a side bar, in 40+ years of model railroading, I have noticed very often model railroaders are modeling someone else's layout instead of modeling some aspect of a real railroad. I also think of the meaning of inspire and impress. Models that inspire me prompt me to improve my own layout. Models that impress me leave me in awe of the talent of the model and generally lead me to conclude I lack their talent as models. I follow Mark Peterson's Hope layout which is highly detailed modeling of Hope, MN. Awesome!
Randgust, Thanks for your thoughts. I had my thumbs deep in that project just as he had his in mine, and it was a pleasure to sork with a modeler that mainly shor from the hip, no complex drawings and such for things like the Caswell Gon. I'm sorry it is gone. I understand that the widder haines sold most of it off. Bill Pearce
These are the layouts that got me motivated! Jim Reising - The New Oakville Sub Jerry Bene -ATSF Line Started Mike Fifer - ACTRR The late Verne Niner - Arizona Divide
Anything John Olson did starting with his first HON3 layout back in the 70's. We are fellow Imagineering Alums so I guess that colors my opinion. Currently I would have to list Bruce Petty and John Signor's Los Angeles themed efforts topping my list followed by John Smaus and Keith Jordan for their Downtown LA Patch inspired layouts. My nomination for the Balls to the Wall award has to go to the late Lowell Joiner who set standards decades ahead of the state of the hobby at the time. Combine a big Texas guy with an O scale, big Texas layout and you got something special.
Keith Jordan for their Downtown LA Patch inspired layouts. Joe, Thanks for mentioning Keith, a saddly underrecognized modeler, and all around nice guy. Bill Pearce
My top inspirations: Model Railroader's Clinchfield. Selective compression of an interesting prototype, paired industries with in/out loads, branch lines, tunnels hiding curves and turnbacks, double ended yard. Simply the best track planning is such a small space I have every seen. Track planning genius in my opinion. Oh,and perhaps the best centerfold ever photographed in a model train magazine. The Reid Brothers Cumberland Valley System. The mixing of different prototype lines in combination with operations and scenery execution is modeling excellence.The only commercial video of a model railroad I have ever purchased. Mike Danneman's Rio Grande. I have never shown so many non-modelers the work that can be done in nscale by sharing pictures and videos of his work. The majesty of his scenery is unmatched. One look and I decided to change the portion of the DRGW that I was going model from the Colorado front range like Mike, to Utah's Soldier Summit. I have seen DRGW modeling perfection, and it is Mike's. I'll never be satisfied with my own efforts after seeing his flatiron scenery. Mark
I would like to add to the list Russell Straw's Sugarland, TX N-TRAK layout...it predates Tony Koester's LDE idea and shows how N Scale can be a full town
Going to blow my own horn here and say... My original THERR in a travel trailer... Jan 2009 Got me to go BIGGER and BETTER and in an RV. All in all I think the influence and inspiration was a good thing... April 2016
Gordie O's Clinchfield opened my eyes to N's possibilities, although the skills he demonstrated were, at the time, way beyond my capabilities. Still get freaked out when I look at the segment discussing the wiring. I chugged along with the Clinchfield, then one of the early N mag's covered a layout in Minnesota done by Mike Moorman, who has since passed away. More realism. Then the Reid Brothers were featured in MR. Allen Keller's video of Bob Hayden's C&DR fascinated me for a couple years with the well done scenes and waterfront interaction. Lance Mindheim's Monon showcased the shelf layout possibilities. The best of them all is one I visit each year in Glenside, PA. Ted McLean's Sand Patch depiction is superbly done. You can google his layout. Bill Fagan has done videos of it.
