Is it just me?

I think you're speaking for a good many of us - maybe even the majority.   Thanks for posting.  Your layout looks like a lot of fun!

Nev,

You sell yourself short, you are a craftsman! Your layout is great!

 

Malcolm

Malcolm.

I have followed your building for years on the internet and I have always had great pleasure looking at your work.

If I'm a craftsman your a SUPER CRAFTSMAN!

Thanks mate.

Nev.

Nice layout, Nev. Keep doing what you're doing--it's working!

 

Jeff C

Well said!   I agree!  

Usually the nay Sayers are not the ones who actually accomplish anything. 

Great looking layout.

Don

That's a nice layout.

Looks to me like it's great fun to operate.

Thanks for posting. Great to see other's work in 2-rail!

Stephen

Roo - Thanks for your comments and thanks for posting the pictures!!  Your layout looks amazing!!!!  8 hours of running trains and hanging with the guys sounds like lots of fun to me .... after all  fun is what its all about  BTW - I'm an e bayer too! ... lots of plastic on my layout as well.  AND Im not too skilled of a craftsmen either ... and I too love my trains

Hi Nev,

Sounds like you have really good balance in life, running trains, time with your mates, good food and drink, plus fine modeling skills. Being born in 1963 I grew up with plastic and love the stuff as you can do anything with it quite easily. 

All the best,

Miketg

Plastics and ready to run are great. I am really interested in building structures, 99% from scratch, and hand laying track (my psychologist in me says it's therapeutic). Needless to say if I had to build my locos and rolling stock from scratch or good old craftsman's kits (worse than scratch building to me) nothing would get done. In fact I might have given it all up years ago for bourbon and cigars (in moderation of course).

 

If you are not independently wealthy, as John Allen was at a very marginal scale, you do not have the time to build everything. What matters is the end result, and your club layout looks great, and I'll wager it operates even better than it looks.

 

Do what makes you happy!

Well said!

 

You and your blokes are living the dream, is the way I see it.

 

Now, the only thing that would add to the scene, IMHO, is a cold can of Fosters in the non-throttle hand!

 

Most of our friends from Oz are in the Melbourne/Adelaide area, visited frequently (business) during the late 80's, early 90's.  Would love to return, but air travel is simply a PITA nowadays, expense notwithstanding. 

 

Keep us posted on the beautiful work and camaraderie!!

 

KD

Roo,

     GREAT STUFF!! And all two rail like it should be 

Dave, LBR

I think the computer has turned some of us into fanatics you have to use it everyday or your missing something.

See that big bloke with the beard in one of the photos that's John he is a computer repair man works for himself and right after we finished that day he went across the street to one of my neighbours to fix her computer she was a nervous wreck the computer had not worked for three days and just couldn't stand being without it!

John had it working in half and hour you would have thought she had won the lottery after he had it up and going again.

I think we take things to seriously nowadays better to slow down a notch and think about what your doing.

I don't have any rules for running the railroad except one... just make sure your having a good time and enjoying yourself.

I build a lot of the larger buildings from scratch but don't hesitate to buy the odd building finished, like the Woodlands factory in one of the photos, shipping costs and Aussie/US dollar exchange rates makes it hard at the moment but it doesn't stop me getting what I want. 

Maintaining a layout this size that operates every week when I'm home, takes it's toll on my modelling time but it's worth it.

I travel to England most years to see my son and family and have found that what I do with my Railroad and friends is very common over there as well, mainly in clubs but some in their private houses as well I have been to a few layouts and operated trains with them a bit different to American practices it doesn't take long to get in the swing of it.

I model American Trains but have never seen a layout in America only have visited once and I was with a group of Hot Rodders at a show in Louisville plenty of Rods but no trains!

Thanks everyone for replying to this thread hope your all doing the same and enjoying yourselves.

Here is another photo from that day.

Regards.

Roo or Nev.

 

 

 

It all looks very craftsmanlike to me, Roo.

 

Your modelling is up there with the best.  I only wish you didn't live so darned far away.

 

Cheers

A wise man once told me: its easier to complain and criticize than it is to create.

How about some more photos of other parts of the layout?

Stephen

Very nice looking layout.

Sooooo! A Hot Rodder too?  Many of that breed on board here  also.

 

As far  as simplicity, I too share the K.I.S.S. method.

So if I leave now will I make it to your home by Friday? 

 

Seriously, your layout looks great!

 

--Greg

Hey Roo. Nice railroad wish I could be there next friday. Too hell with any nay sayers. I like plastic too.  You are right its suppose to be fun. Thanks for the photos please send some more , I like what you are doing.  Franky-Ogee

Looking great. Continue to have fun

Love that scalehouse track. Is it functional? Not for weighing but can you run over the scale instead of the "main"?

 

Always a pleasure to see Bay Ridge, the layout is looking good and busy.

 

Colin

Here are some more photos of the layout and room that I just snapped before the family get here (It's Fathers Day here in West Australia today)

Photo 1 The entrance.

Photo 2 What you see when you first walk in.

Photo 3 Looking across the room from the entrance.

Photo 4 looking back from the rear of the room.

There is a lot more to the layout that I have not mentioned there is a section that is portable where scenes can be changed using special made modules (I have a good workshop and I'm a dreamer so I need this, better than building a new layout!)

Got to go the family are arriving there will be kids everywhere the layout will be under siege!

Regards.

Roo.

REALLY like the layout and its theme, Nev. aka Roo!  The fact that those are big trains makes it even more impressive.

 

I'm designing an urban industrial district layout too.  I'm very much enjoying your pictures.  Thanks for sharing.

Roo,

 

Glad you posted. Darn nice railroad!

 

Ron H

Hi Nev you have a great set up there, and some good friends to share it with. I really would be lost without Ebay, my wife introduced me to the bay before we were married, living in Adelaide made it hard to find American O gauge, ebay is my only real source for loco's and rolling stock. The additional cost of shipping and exchange rates is challenging, and bargains are essential to keeping costs down, and hey! whats wrong with plastic.

 

Have a great Fathers Day      cTr...(Choose the Right)

I'm in Blackwood, Stephen.

 

Have you been modelling for a long time?

 

Cheers

Dave. The scale track can be worked if I wanted to finish it off the parts came from some old turnouts I had lying around we never use it during an operating session we used waybills for a long time on the layout and I wanted to introduce it using a special card but nobody liked the idea so I scrapped everything and went back to switch lists so it just sits there looking pretty.

Visitors? we get a few they are always welcome. From Scotland to the USA and from the eastern states of Australia. If I know they are coming I try to fit in with them and have an operating session so they can run a loco as well, as the layout is not really a viewing layout, it's all end to end so if a visitor drops in they quickly get a loco to run and maybe someone to guide them.

I find the blokes that have run layouts before quickly pick up what they are supposed to do it's not hard and there are very few hiccups the track looks rough but there is hardly any derailments and the electrical wiring is based on industrial principles not model so there is never a problem there.

Don't forget it's over twenty years of solid enjoyable work to get to this stage and it's all done on a budget I'm just an ordinary bloke if I had tons of money it would be twice as big and I would run passenger trains as well, the layout has never had a passenger car on it except the Weaver Troop sleepers.

Everything comes from the USA except the track which is all English Peco and Marcway!

And a few years ago to get the layout to this stage I had to make a decision Hot Rods or trains can't have both so I'm afraid the cars went and the trains stayed just when I had one of them running hard in the high elevens at the drags.

Anyway AV gas was getting expensive and I wasn't changing the cam or heads so they could run on ordinary fuel so they both went!

Stephen: To me ebay is the greatest thing ever, it's made it so much easier for transactions overseas maybe sometimes to easy.

And I had a great fathers day and the kids never wrecked the layout but in the excitement I forgot to snap any photos! Oh Well next time.

I have photos somewhere of the kids in the layout room running the trains but today it just slipped my mind to busy watching them.

That's a photo of the Coal and Cement Pier. Coal comes in by barge and the crane loads the hoppers and the cement comes in by covered hoppers and is unloaded into barges! In reality the operator drops in the coal loads into the empty hoppers you don't see any cement. Ha ha.

The tank cars are sitting on a make up track waiting to be made up into a train to go back to the main yard like everywhere else it's very congested.

Thanks everyone for your kind remarks I'll try to get more photos up soon but I will be away for a couple of weeks after tomorrow.

Regards.

Roo.

I've been searching for layouts that have the bare essentials for scenery, cause I hate doing scenery.

 

I notice there's very few trees on the layout, was that intentional?

 

Most/all of the trees on my layout are HO trees, maybe 10% scratchbuilt.  After seeing your layout I'm thinking about pulling out my trees and going with minimum ground cover.

 

Thanks for the photos!

HOLY COW Roo!!  Your layout is beautiful!  Looks to me like a future layout feature in the magazine.  YOU need to contact Allan Miller, our editor and talk to him.  I think he would be VERY interested....

 

Thanks for posting!

Alan

He's not kidding Roo!

Marvelous. Wish I could come run trains.

It's not you. Let them complain. One look at your layout, will shut them up. 

Neville, I recommend you sit back with a contented smile since you are having more fun in just one of your weekly operating sessions than the internet complainers and whiners can muster up in a year. 

 

If you'd consider doing an article for OGR magazine, we can use more exposure of the prototypical operation side of the hobby.  Lots of O-scalers don't know what they're missing!

 

Carry on,

Well, my car, my phone, my computer and my household are full of plastic so I don't think I want to look down on anyone who uses plastic.

I am on the internet at this minute so I don't want to look down on anyone using internet.

As far as being a craftsman, such a small percentage of the population would even take the time to snap pieces of track together.  If its not ready to run out of the box, they lose interest.  I think it's called immediate gratification. 

 

We should all take comfort in the ability to start a couple of additional engines running and make it hard to hear their complaints or comments.  If that doesn't work you can always idle all engines and turn the smoke up full blast.  Besides we have new catalogs to look at and the next train show to get ready for.

 

outstanding post.  great model rr.  thanks for posting!

can i ask what's going on here? ...

 

thanks...gary

Max   Yes Ive been a model railroader since I was about 12 I guess, bought my first O scale Walthers passenger car when I was 16 from Mr Browns, It was about 15 years later that I started in ernest in O scale. I live in Mount Compass on the way to Victor Harbour.       

cTr....(Choose the Right)

Nice layout Roo!  And I really like the fact that you and your buds get together regularly to operate it.  That's one of the hardest things to attain - getting a regular ops session happening.  Congratulations on both accounts! : )