the tao of O gauge

It's been all about the visual since day one.

Your years of experience are just telling you now, what you didn't know then.

If this is an escape from that need for precision in any way, refuse to be led astray.

 If it is a happy cross to bare? Run with it..but always down your path. 

I have often thought about what visual effect of a model railroad is most personally pleasing. After pondering over this topic a lot, I chose a visual effect pleasing from a viewing distance of about 5 feet at 65 inches of elevation. So I settled for an overall visual effect in lieu of highly detailed trains and scenery.

My O-gauge railroad is what I call semi-scale. It's someplace between toy-like and scale. To me, 8-car passenger trains of 13" Rail King cars behind Rail King steam engines provides the effect I enjoy. Card stock building fronts, 1/32 size vehicles and 1/50 size people look good to me.

" i am feeling the same effort at balance

layout size, minimum curve, track and structures

the tao of O gauge"

Very well stated!

...........but be prepared and have handy, a mop and bucket.

Don't forget that real RRs face the same challenges when they build track, buildings and engines plus cars. Always a compromise. At least in photography you can set it on "auto" and the chip does the rest.  I think the visual effect should be most important.

jim said, ""Always a compromise. At least in photography you can set it on "auto" and the chip does the rest."" of course jim is correct - not to argue but using the photography/camera analogy - using "auto" turns the final product over to the camera - and many times that is not the best

jim likes visual effect - so do i // some like the yard while others like to let'em run // ballast or no ballast // realism vs fantasy // sound and smoke // etc - - it works for us when we take all this tremendous information from this forum - - channel it and make the layout ""ours""

the tao of O gauge

rdeal

mmmm... trains too. But some prefer conventional.

 Seriously, once you learn what you can do with conventional settings on a "real camera" the Auto becomes "I'm in a hurry", or for taking random shots fast. (not excluding film or digital).

 I can work an old school one great, I really knew my stuff on big 2 room, wall mount graphics cameras, but the moving of controls and 30 years without a "big" camera, 20 without a "real" handheld have me reborn as a camera newby. I never memorized or learned the math. I shot with my eyes and turned knobs till I figured it out.

 I really probably cleaned up a lot of my own mistakes in developing. That was my favorite part of film.

I started with a Cannon A-L1 (not a-e1, a relative)