Less Can Be More

Coachjoe! As a matter of fact, I used to play Cream, Hendrix, and various other stuff on the roof with my electric guitar and small tube  amp. Lots of stories about those days!  Still play that stuff sometimes only not on the roof in the hood! Lol!

scale rail posted:

I can't agree more. I look at it this way. Your layout is the stage, your trains the actors. The stage needs to be bigger than the actors and not cluttered. Don

True, if you are creating realism.  And I applaud those who's layouts are hard to tell from the real thing.  In my younger days I had that kind of patience.  Nowadays I just want to have fun, so a layout with alot of track and operating accessories is for me.  

I am with you Dan, I just want to run PW trains, press buttons, and imagine that scale is someone else's creative responsibility! Lol. I do however must confess that while entering some photos of some scale engines last weekend that I was nearly dragged in by the dark side! Quick, close the box, CLOSE THE BOXES!!!! Whew, just run my PW stuff round and round, I am OK now...honest.

leroof

LeRoof, guitar and amp, now I know why you wound up on the roof.  No place for amps in walk up apartments in NYC.

Less is more, more or less....🙃

But don't forget "good things come in small packages" too...

I have the room, I have the benchwork, I don't have the strength or stamina to revive it."And so castles made of sand, melt into the sea, eventually" 😢🤧 😬

COACHJOE, lol, very tiny apartment, tiny guitar, tiny amp, so tiny  could barely strum! But with big intentions, space and fresh air was plentiful & more important. Winters were the exception, apartment felt bigger then, sound too. 

Adriatic,  and so castles made of sand melt into the sea eventually...lot of that going on here too. Thanks for the beautiful lyrics, and the adventures of large miniatures in small packages with big enjoyment carries on.

i have a story COACHJOE. In a NYC Harlem apartment building I lived on the fifth floor walk up. Got plenty of excercise daily. One day a friend in need who had pawned his KUSTOM bass amp needed cash so he sold it to me for nearly nothing. We went to pick it up somewhere on 10th avenue, yellow cab home, then I remembered I as in solo, needed to bring it upstairs. this amp was padded all around by design luckily. So up the steep narrow steps I went, pushing and side handling it slowly. This was a big cabinet. While in my struggle to get the Big into the small staircase to the smaller apartment, I was distracted by a beautiful young woman on the landing above the 4 th floor. We exchange smile and trivialities for a few seconds then it happened. I lost my grip, the amp on its long side slid slid slid easily on its vinyl padded sides down to the landing at the same time a front door of Mrs henklemyers opened and the amp entered her apartment just inside. She just screamed! I just screamed my amp, my amp, the young maiden on the stair burst out in laughter. I did get it home after apologies were made. No damage but miss henkylmeys never talked to me again, probably became hypervigilant at her front door, and the georgeous modelesque blond young lady never went out with me, but she would ask if I still had the battering ram! Unfortunately there was no room in the tiny apartment for this amp, and it was WAY to loud to really use it.

lucky for me it slid down the stairs to a new owner with ease. I hoped it would stay on track and not run over anyone. Sold. So much for Large ideas in small heads.

Leroof,  I was lucky enough to live on the first floor of one of those five story walk-ups in the Bronx.  Right behind the pool room (two tables, exterior store front), but one of my friends was up on the fifth floor with you.  So I have a vivid picture of your arduous trip up and calamitous trip back down.  But it was a great youth wasn't it?

What a FUN thread!

Jon  

Yep. Great adventurous NYC youth life in a prewar walk up  building. Good old days.

 In that apartment there was One closet for the whole apt. It was in my tiny narrow  bedroom where sometimes large broad thoughts emerged! My school books, a make shift desk, a record player,  plastic milk crates with LP's just about fit in view, guitar case  and small amp under the single mattress bed,  a clock radio on a small shelf made me a responsible on time all the time fellow. Never had room for a 4x8 .  Any trains not many were closeted in upper shelf inside that monolith closet.  Track boxed under bed. At least I knew where everything.

Knowing where everything was made sure it was well cared for and utilized. I remember moving on five (actually 10 sets of stairs with a small landing) flights. Lived on fifth floor in about a four different apartments in my time there! 

I am just completing a 10'-by-5' layout that, I believe, will be the subject of an article in OGR Run 304. My objective was to have this layout look as realistic as possible, so it models a single-track New England branch line with only a loop of O-54 track. The other features are a scratch-built trestle and a truss bridge crossing a narrow stream lined with four factories, a tunnel and hill, and a small town with three cobblestone streets including fourteen kit-built structures. Despite its small size, I think the layout comes off as being realistic in part because it has a limited amount of track and a lot of the "rest of the world" in which real railroads exist. In my opinion, building a realistic layout in a relatively small space is more of a challenge than doing it in an entire basement, and it requires a modest amount of track in comparison with the structures and scenery. I look forward to comments about my layout when the article appears.

MELGAR

  I bought a small automotive winch for my (huge) rolling, battery charger, to drag things out of basement and out to the curb by hooking to fences, concrete edges, etc    (I don't take "no" from inanimate objects )

"Small heads"? It sounds like a big-un to me  

I don't play, you guys make me SO jealose. I did some small studio boards, carbon arc spots, grip, etc.. I can tune very well (family ear, generations of piano tuners, last one was royal)... I just can't play well....  and can only hamonize well with Neil Young, Xenia from "X", etc., or yell like Neil Fallon (a happy surprise)(until I shredded my diaphragm at work)

Long straights are where I prefer openess, but it strikes me as futile to try and actually recreate open expanses on my 4.5x9 so I packed it tight.  The 15ft stretches on the ceiling are barely enough to satisfy. 30ft run was pretty decent though.  I went small to test myself. Could I be satisfied and have fun?

YEP!

I guess that varible is from living in a "few worlds"; way North were 80° is a heatwave, the edge of the Cuyahoga Valley and farmlands, industrial Detoit, snooty areas of Cleveland and west west along Erie, Blue Ridge of NC for a few summers, Alabama for a bit. etc..

What Arnold is doing in going for less clutter and removing operating accessories is moving the O gauge marker from Toy train and operating accessories end toward the O scale realistic end.

The hobby has been heavier in the Toy end in the last several decades as folks who were kids in the 1940s, 50s and 60s gravitated toward what they knew as kids and want to relive those times for them and their kids and grand kids.  This fad has hatched Classic Toy Trains magazine in the late 1980s and caused O Scale Trains magazine to change its name to O Gauge Trains.

In the 10 to 15 or so years, advances in train control, higher end engines costing hundreds of dollars and technology has brought more emphasis to more realistic train operation.  Many of the newer model train fans are interested in more realistic sounds, control, and slower realistic operation.  This has been a shift by many toward the O scale end.

There is room for all types and sizes of O gauge trains.  Some still like Toy trains of the 40s and 50s with the operation of several trains, lots of accessories and are limited in space, and have lots of train stuff jammed into their layouts.

Some like the newer, more detailed with sounds and remote operation from remotes or their phones.  They want more realistic train surroundings with less stuff distracting from the engines and consists.

Charlie

SATISFACTION in small spaces or large to Medium loops or complex trackage, overcrowded dense or sparse, yesteryear or modern, chip techy or analog, it's all about the fun. I agree with I like it all.  

Recently with Sears closing down, I've been eyeing their circular 3-tiered acrylic displays. I  figured they could be used as a base for a mountain themes set, or a cutaway mine layout. Who knows! Since I  have such a small area deemed for layout space, these could be good for displaying and running my locos without having to make an expansive and overly-large layout. I recomend you all see if you can nab some from the still-closing stores before its too late.

Fun? In all small space? With no clutter?

Sounds like what I saw in my basement this morning.

The great thing about this hobby is that you can have your layout the way YOU want it....sparse, crowded...whatever.  Heck....I like it tall too...!

MELGAR posted:

I am just completing a 10'-by-5' layout that, I believe, will be the subject of an article in OGR Run 304. My objective was to have this layout look as realistic as possible, so it models a single-track New England branch line with only a loop of O-54 track. The other features are a scratch-built trestle and a truss bridge crossing a narrow stream lined with four factories, a tunnel and hill, and a small town with three cobblestone streets including fourteen kit-built structures. Despite its small size, I think the layout comes off as being realistic in part because it has a limited amount of track and a lot of the "rest of the world" in which real railroads exist. In my opinion, building a realistic layout in a relatively small space is more of a challenge than doing it in an entire basement, and it requires a modest amount of track in comparison with the structures and scenery. I look forward to comments about my layout when the article appears.

MELGAR

I’m looking forward to seeing the article!  Congratulations!!!

We have a lot of members that have layouts that need to consider submitting them to Allan Miller for publication!  The talent and imagination of our readership and membership always amazes me!!

Less is more... trying to sandwich 3 main lines on a 24 inch width shelf layout is a real challenge... I had to double decker the layout!

Here are some photos of our get together- the Detroit 3 Railers... watch out for those card sharks below! They took all my money;

J Daddy posted:

Less is more... trying to sandwich 3 main lines on a 24 inch width shelf layout is a real challenge... I had to double decker the layout!

Here are some photos of our get together- the Detroit 3 Railers... watch out for those card sharks below! They took all my money;

 

Looks like going double decker the way you did, J Daddy, enabled you to add more without making the layout cluttered. Layout looks great and everyone in the photos seems to be having a great time. That's what this hobby is all about. Arnold

I've seen great layouts, some of which are cluttered and others uncluttered, including those on this Forum in their photos and videos.

My sense is that most of the good cluttered ones have an urban theme with numerous buildings and accessories, and the uncluttered ones have a rural theme with the emphasis on scenery.

Of course, many great layouts are a combination of both of the above.

My preferences more recently are for the uncluttered layouts.

Arnold

The next 3 photos are of our old home layout (currently undergoing MAJOR reworking). Due to both limited space and wanting to include so many scenes and themes, our home layout is (and the new remake shall remain) cluttered.

In the layout for our Christmas pop-up store in 2011/2012, due to having a huge amount of space, we opted for a more uncluttered appearance.  Many visitors to our layout those years complimented us on the uncluttered appearance saying that other train layouts in the area that were open to the public had far too much squeezed into their layouts and a visitor could not take in everything in the time allotted a viewer coming to see the display.

My 2 favorite sections on my layout have one track passing through the scenery. JohnA

The "Leonardtown and Savannah or L&S nickname "long and skinny" was constrained by the space made available.  I maximized the width I had but its really too narrow for the amount of track and the outer loop has no room for scenery along the straits except on one side.  I am thinking I might be better off to remove one of the passing tracks in the middle to make some room for some of those accessories you all are talking about.  I would like a milk car and a cattle car for example. Can't decide if I am ready to proceed or not.

Best wishes

Don

Great layout, Don. Plenty of action given its size.

PD

To quote Violet Crowley (Dowager Lady Grantham on Downton Abbey) "Nothing succeeds like excess."

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

@pd- Thanks for the comment appreciate it.  One disadvantage that may not be obvious.  That aisle near the display cases is 24" wide.  You go in (and out) facing EITHER the layout of the display cases...once in there is no turning around   There was just no room left for additional width, my outer loop is 0-31 with a single 4" straight piece at the apex of the curve to give enough room for 0-27 to turn inside leaving enough space between the tracks for 2 trains to pass each other.  

@Greg J. Turinetti- Greg that is a beautiful layout and your mixture of both old and new collectables is really neat.  If you have a chance I for one would really like to see more of it.  Thanks.

@Randy Harrison- "Disney Forever" I loved how you integrated the Disney and other scenes into the layout.  Really neat Randy.

@Arnold D. Cribari- Arnold I really like your layout, I would have loved a water scene but couldn't fit one in anywhere.  One time you showed the area by your laundry and it was called..."The Washing Machine Bridge"...I really loved that play on words.  Thanks for your leadership on this and other threads.

Thanks again

Don

@Greg J. Turinetti posted:

To quote Violet Crowley (Dowager Lady Grantham on Downton Abbey) "Nothing succeeds like excess."

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

Greg, You have done a good job fulfilling Lady Grantham's statement!! 

A practical method for determining the ratio of space for "Trains on Tracks" versus "Action Accessories" is to watch the reaction of youngsters to your layout. My great grandkids watch the trains traveling on my 15x19 L-shaped layout with two levels, but after learning how to blow the horn/whistle and ring the bell, they are soon bored by the monotony of routine running along the rails.

Then they walk around the perimeter of the layout and use the fascia-mounted control buttons for all the action accessories. Then do a second lap around.  Meanwhile, the trains run their laps around the ovals but without much notice from kids.

My layout isn't a "switching layout" that requires pick-up and delivery maneuvers. It seems youngsters may not be as interested in performing realistic RR operations as adults. They want to have fun operating the accessories. The favorite accessory of my 5-year-old great granddaughter is the Lionel Culvert Loader and Unloader pair.  Other visiting kids like the Lionel Sawmill (fascinated by its action until they discover its internal secret) and the Oil Drum Loader.  The Dinosaur Park scene is also a favorite.

Like other contributions to this thread, my layout is stuffed full.  To create more real estate for scenery, buildings, streets, more accessories, and more trains, I need to build a LARGER TRAIN ROOM.  Which I intend to do as soon as I win the Lottery.

Mike Mottler   LCCA 12394