Most influential layouts....for you

SPsteam Jun 7, 2016

  1. Run8Racing

    Run8Racing TrainBoard Member

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    Thought about this for quite some time. My biggest influence wasn't an actual layout, but a 1' X 2' track plan for an N scale switching layout in NMRA magazine. I widened the curves, stretched it out, and added a few yard tracks. It should come out to about 4' X 6' now. I had purchased ALL the Atlas code 55 track before the drought !!! Of course, I'll have to change it a bit before it's built. I decided I HAVE to have a pike-size or commuter passenger train come through now and then. It's a VERY simple plan, but I loved the operation idea. Simple, but busy.
     
  2. dualgauge

    dualgauge TrainBoard Member

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    Bruce Chubb's original Sunset Valley. Was in the 1st magazine I saw. The Clinchfield RR in Model Railroader. Reid Brothers for showing N Scale can be more than just toys. Jeff Ashby's C&O Logan Subdivision, have operated on several years. Another one have operated on is Larry Hickman's River Falls & Eastern. A retired conductor that has taught a lot about prototype operations and regulations.
    Dan
     
  3. badlandnp

    badlandnp TrainBoard Member

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    1. Gorre & Daphetid
    2. V&O
    3. Clinchfield
    4. N-Trak.......
    Then everything that showed up in Railroad Modeler, RMC and MR!!!
     
  4. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    Utah Belt for me. Particularly the story line that went along with it and the point-to-point with staging loops at each end design.
     
  5. rogergperkins

    rogergperkins TrainBoard Member

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    Reading these posts again reminded me of an n-scale model railroad that I recall was called Sogn Valley Railroad. It was a fictional line based in southern Minnesota and very skillfully done. My late friend Gene Suttor published an article about it in one of the n-scale magazine after the modeller had passed on. I saw his work on modules
    at various model railroad shows in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN during the 1980-90s. I was always impressed by how well he placed the structures in a rural setting so that it created the sense of space and sparseness.
    I found my NSR for July/August 2001 with the article written by Gene Suter about Michael Moorman's Sogn Valley Railroad
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2016
  6. Virginian Railway

    Virginian Railway TrainBoard Member

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    CSXDixieLines's CSX Dixie Line, Scott Teague's NS Pocahontas Division, and Paul Schmidt's Southern Railway Slate Fork Branch have all had some pretty big influences on me.
     
  7. Rich_S

    Rich_S TrainBoard Member

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    There are just to many inspirational model railroads to mention all of them, but here are a few that I've received inspiration from:
    1. Allen McClelland's V&O Afton Division
    2. The Reid Brothers Cumberland Valley System
    3. Bruce Chubb's Original Sunset Valley Railroad
    4. Jim Hediger's Ohio Southern (Both versions)
    5. The Clinchfield Model Railroader project railroad
    6. Eric Brooman's Utah Belt
    7. Bill Denton's Kingsbury branch
    8. David Popp's Naugatuck Valley.
    9. Dave Vollmer's Juniata Division
    10. Steve Campbell's NYC/PC Hilltop Branch layout that is based on the MR Virginian Railway project layout.
    11. Paul Schmidt's Southern Railway Slate Fork Branch
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2016
    rogergperkins likes this.
  8. rogergperkins

    rogergperkins TrainBoard Member

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    The Reid Brothers Cumberland Valley System.
    After reading about this layout, I realized the merits of focusing on a road name and having
    rolling stock from that primary railroad and a few railroads that had interchanges with it.
     
    JoeTodd likes this.
  9. GP40X

    GP40X TrainBoard Member

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    There are a few.

    1. A little door layout called the EZ & Kwik (from the original N Scale Primer) that originally got the juices flowing in 1983.
    2. The Clinchfield Model Railroader project railroad (first time I saw aluminum bench work which got me thinking about modular railroading).
    3. John Allen's Gorre & Dephetid & his Time Saver Switching game (switching).
    4. West Agony on Terry Walsh's West Agony & Inchoate RR (operations).
    5. N-Trak
    6. Dave Barrows Cat Mountain & Santa Fe South Plains Switching District (I actually built an N Scale version of the track plan on the Mountain Line of my 4' N-Trak module).
    7. T-Trak when I got back into N Scale model railroading after a long hiatus.
    8. Alan Wrights Inglenook Sidings Switching Puzzle (more operation possibilities than the Time Saver). I have a T-Trak Module Quint Set (Double & Triple) in the scenery/structure/detailing stage that can be used at local train shows to let the public operate the puzzle and it can also operate with switch lists or car cards at home (this module set was part of the Worlds Largest T-Trak layout in San Antonio, TX earlier this year).
    9. Gordon Bliss' Santa F All The Way layout for something to aspire to. Modeling the Santa Fe from Chicago to Los Angeles.
     
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  10. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Good one! That booklet is a keeper in my library, and this article a big reason why.
     
  11. Inkaneer

    Inkaneer TrainBoard Member

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    I would have to say every Ntrak layout I have ever seen. The Clinchfield would be a distant second but Ntrak opened me up to using broad curves to really show off a layout as a model railroad. Formerly we lived in a small house where space was at a premium. As a result, I never had a small layout or any layout for that matter and the small oval around the Christmas tree really doesn't count. Now with the kids gone and moving to a house with a large basement I now have the room for the layout I always envisioned.

    The Clinchfield series in MR packed a lot of model railroading in a rather compact space of 6 X 13 feet. It used a lot of tight turns to fit the track work in and had it not been for the fact I was smitten with the broad curves of Ntrak, I would have listed it as my No. 1.
     
  12. BlazeMan

    BlazeMan TrainBoard Member

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    Taking a second think on this, in the 70's, a guy named Walt Olsen did a number of series in MR to build smaller layouts. He did HO traction (Brandywine Valley) and a couple N layouts...one of which was a coffee table effort and another dubbed the Rochester Regional. This was before the "discovery" of using hard core doors as a layout base.

    Walt lived near me in the Phila suburbs. I tracked him down through MR and actually got to visit he and his wife. They were very gracious to me. After a demo on hanging wire for traction layouts, Walt took me to his neighbor's attic where he had a couple of the layouts stored. First time I ever saw a layout "live" I had only seen in a magazine.
     
  13. dak94dav

    dak94dav TrainBoard Member

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    image.jpeg image.png Mine would have to be Eric Brooman's Utah Belt and Pelle Søeborg's Union Pacific layouts.
     
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  14. kewatin

    kewatin TrainBoard Member

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    Malcolm Furlow's san juan central and his carbondale central got me back into the hobby again,love him or hate him ,his scenery techniques were in my humble opinion similar to john allens and john olson's always enjoyed the many projects that appeared in M RAILROADER all those yrs back
    sadly he was verbally attacked at a narrow gauge convention and never returned to the hobby after the 1988 M R addition featuring an article he wrote.
    regards&later KEWATIN
     
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  15. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I always wondered why he had so quickly disappeared. :(
     
  16. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

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    Me too, he is an incredible artist
     
  17. Joe D'Amato

    Joe D'Amato TrainBoard Member

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    yeah, goes to show you the power of an ill placed word here and there. It sidelined someone that was starting to really change things for the better in Narrow Gauge and was driven out of the hobby by a couple of envious purists. Folks argued at the time he needed thicker skin, but I always held that it wasn't his responsibility to wage an unwinnable war, just continue to inspire us. Of course what you see on some of the other forums in this scale makes what he went through pale in comparison and I always wonder how many really great modelers walked away because someone just had to be completely right no matter the cost?
     
  18. kewatin

    kewatin TrainBoard Member

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    MALCOLM now lives 40 miles outside of Taos,n.m. off the grid on his ranch &studio.he has painted over 4000 indian canvas's. his last layout is packed up in his bunkhouse and his last published article to appear in print with photos of this layout appearing in the GAZETE in 2003 . He also appears in Sam Posey's book Playing with trains.if you google Free rails and also Railroad line forums you will see some past lively discussions re hate or love him.he will always along with John Olson be in my mind some of the all time greats that had an influence on many ,many of us. the joy of this hobby is that we each try to build our own interpatation what we want to project to those viewing it and whom am i to judge what brings joy to some ,yet castonation to others.my understanding is that the San juan central is in the hands of an indivdual in california &is still used to day.
    regards&later KEWATIN
     
  19. randgust

    randgust TrainBoard Member

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    To me, one sure sign that I truly admire a layout is when I rush out and copy something off of it. Lately it's been the inspiration of the T-trak module from Bruce (Arbomambo), seeing just how effective a pair of triple modules could be in that design space and getting me motivated to actually BUILD something completely different from what I've done before. And on that one, I've copied - literally - Pere Soborg (sp?)'s track painting methods right out of MR. My ATSF Arizona track was pretty easy by comparison as everything looks like brown basalt dust, but doing a PRR line and industrial track takes a little more finesse. I have to say that his photography and general work sure impress me.

    I doubt that many here have ever heard of Tom Hoover, whose Ntrak modules left a permanent impression, as well as his modeling. He hasn't been in the magazines but his modules show up at regional Ntrak shows. He taught me locomotive customizing, building a era-specific locomotive fleet, the effective use of mirrors, and most importantly, blew me away with all his brass wire handrails.

    My first 1972 3x6 door-style layout was a takeoff of a 1970's article in Model Railroading Ideas (the old thick pulp magazine) that had a true spaghetti-bowl layout that I tweaked the plan on and built. I wish I could remember the name but it basically was a flipped and folded dogbone that still managed to have reasonable curves 11" and up.
     
  20. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I have always felt his efforts displayed whimsy. That is one aspect which attracts many to model narrow gauges. I have been active in HOn30, on and off for many years. Plus have done some On30. Presently working in both N and HOn30. It is that whimsical nature which first drew me to HOn30, and keeps me hooked.

    It is amazing how so many fail to understand this is just a hobby. There is nothing life or death about it, yet they act as if it's not done to perfection, we'll all somehow suffer. In reality it is their rigid beliefs which cause the damage. Instead we've lost Furlow and everyone suffers from it, including those self-anointed "purists".
     
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