Individuality of Expression.

[Mountain]

I totally agree that everyones layouts are unique. Each one of us will have a different take on how we arrange things and why we arrange them as we do.
All of us tend to copy either each other or we copy someone who has already been down the same route in the past. "There's nothing new under the sun" is an OT quote that comes to mind.
So how do we express individuality in our work when so many have been there and done it before? Good question.
In the last year I have spent time listening to a pop singer called Cyndi Lauper. Now I heard her music when I was growing up in the 1980's and though we all seemed to like her "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" hit, on listening to her music now, there is something about it that is different. Even the songs I may not like, (As she sang about many subjects and in many different style of music), had that something which even came out when she sang songs of others who have been sung by talented singers many times before.
Pondering what it was I liked about her work, it became apparent that she was one of the few pop singers who didnt copy anyone else. Though certain aspects were copied, she always tried to adjust things in her own way and taste. It is probably why as a pop singer that she was fortunate to find managers who gave her some keyway in this respect.
Now back to our hobby, how do we reflect our individualism? How do we put our "Stamp" on our creative efforts? With Cyndi, she sings in such a way you know it is her that is singing, and she is able to do it in such a way that she can sing someone else's song beautifully and yet you can tell, if you listen carefully, that is is her. Can we do the same with our visual creations? Can we build something that expresses our individuality and yet portray a picture of a scene which others have done before us?
Sometimes we can pass excellent work to expert standards because it blends in with others and seems to fade away. Is like a GWR branch line layout using similar kits and RTR stock which could be absolutely brilliantly portrayed into a lovely scene but it fades away into the "Sea" of other GWR layouts which have been before us. Then we see one GWR layout which may not even reach "Average" standsards, yet have some character of individuality which one can't really define, but is there, and it stands out even though the stock being run maybe RTR and not even detailed!
I can't define what gives some a special individuality and attractiveness which others may lack. It is not how excellent or not ones modelling skills are, as I've seen near perfect models (Which we all admire) though they may not touch that something special within ones sight. (Some do though so I'm not saying I know what it is I'm trying to describe here!)
We have all seen layouts which stand out as special somehow, yet we can't think why! (Is it just me who thinks in this way? )
My layout is nothing new. I'm finding though, that it does have a style. My style. I dont know if it will be a success. Time will tell I guess, as I have quite some work to go on it. I am happy in that it is my style. That, though it can be said it is another micro 0-16.5 freelance layout (There are quite a few out there and many have been made in the past for many years before us, even to similar track plans), I am happy to say that mine does have an unique "Feel" to it, and will become even more unique when II get to express some of the ideas floating round my head into a 3 dimensional form. The only concern I have at the moment is one of "Will my layout be too " Far out" to be taken as anything more then a lighthearted approach to a model railway?"

What is it that makes a layout stand out when others have been there and done that before? [Its a deep thinking concept isn't it?]
What layouts at exhibition have you seen which fit this concept?

For me it has to be one I saw a few months ago called Cuckoo Lane. A 7mm scale layout running on a 9 mm track gauge width is nothing new in itself, but what really stood out to me was the little touches like the home made barbed wire. The man said it took him a while to build. I just got to try and build some for mine! Ah. But here I go copying someone who has been here and done that before me... This individuality concept is not an easy one to explain!!!

[TimberSurf]

I am not sure everyone strives for it? Take Miniature Wonderland, a huge layout, yes very individual in its scale, but essentially just a standard layout, so to make it memorable, they have added lots of "animotion" (yes I can spell, its a new word, see above title), things that move and lighting to hold attention, but they have done it very much tongue in cheek, to bring a smile to your face (and keep the public entertained). At the other end of the scale, the rivet counters are aiming for super detail as close as possible to reality (in miniature) so end up with a layout the same as the next one!
My take, although I want a large layout with long fast running trains (very samey), is to base the "story" not in the real world, but on a fictitious company (Lumsdonia Railways) and add lots of features and gimmicks like atmospheric lights and sound, animotion, strange corporate style and features that are not recognisable as shop bought.
I visit a lot of exhibitions, and the memorable ones are those that have exceptional detail (an expression of the effort of the builder to make there own bits with extraordinary skills) and those with quirky features that are not expected. (Like the Welsh pot noodle mine!).

[Pete]

What is it that makes a layout stand out when others have been there and done that before? [Its a deep thinking concept isn't it?]
What layouts at exhibition have you seen which fit this concept?

I think the layouts that stand out have a bit of personal style and imagination behind them. On the whole exhibition layouts, though spectacular on scale, are often very boring, but that's inevitable as people want to see trains running, and trains get in the way of a good layout.

I chose to build a GWR branchline about four years ago, as a challenge, to see if I could do it and make it individual. I modeled in OO a scale I wasn't familiar with, and even less familiar with the subject. I chose a prototype out of the norm, and obtained a few photos to work from.


Dorestone, Golden Valley.







The level crossing was my favorite bit, particularly the red disks, I spent hours on them (cutting them from aluminium cans) to get them looking right. I also like the three fire buckets

So in answer to your question, I think layouts that stand out have that personal touch, I know I have a 'style' to my modelling, it's not to everyone's taste, but it's different.
I dislike magazines they just encourage clones. But as I say that's just my personal view, we must all enjoy our hobby as we see fit. Many of the layouts here are far more interesting than those I've seen at exhibitions and in the mags.

And once a gain, apologies for re-hashing old pics, I like posts with pics

Pete

[allan]

I like credibility, a landscape that I could walk into, structures that fit the landscape, and are made of appropriate materials (that don't look like plastic), trackwork that has been planned by an engineer who has supervised the construction, trains that the locality might well support and that don't have every wagon looking like it has just left the paint shop. Two out of three wagons should be loaded, and passenger trains should have passengers. Trains should meander through (not over) the landscape, but above all, there has to be space between trains, even times of silence. And lights that do not shine in daylight, but glow in the darkness.

I've seen a couple of exhibition layouts where it all came together, and they grabbed me for hours, and kept me coming back. I've seen a few other layouts that were nearly there. Mind you, there's only a couple of exhibitions each year, around here, and it's two or three hundred miles travel to see any others.

[Notanyware]

Not everything has been done before, I remember watching a video where the modeller made the spokes on his bycicle wheel out of his own hair, now thats what I call different.
I stopped looking at super detailed layouts some time back as I am one old fiddle that cant play a new tune, I dont have an artistic bone in my body.

[Mountain]

I love the level crossing gates. They really are something special. Well done.

Hair for bicycle spokes... Now I was thinking about real bicycle wheels. Now the way they work one could use a flexible wire. In the past there used to be a spare spoke to be carried as a spare with was a flexible wire like a bicycle brake cable. Back to the model wheels with hair as spokes. Is interesting.
There are a few different ways to build bicycle wheels according to how they are to be used.

[Mountain]

I find I dont have as much hair as I used to and I've not been using hair for bicycle wheels either!
I find with what kits I make, I dont often stick to the plans. I tend to deviate to make them different. I couldn't do this if it wasn't for freelance modelling, as I dont think I'd model to the high standards that others achieve. Hence I just enjoy doing my own thing which is pleasing enough for me!

[Jim S-W]

I totally agree that everyones layouts are unique. Each one of us will have a different take on how we arrange things and why we arrange them as we do.
All of us tend to copy either each other or we copy someone who has already been down the same route in the past.

I think your fundamental logic is somewhat flawed here. We don’t all copy each other. Why build a model of a model when there’s the real thing to emulate?
I do agree layouts have a style but there’s something we rarely think about. Time of day or weather. Yes I’ve seen some snow layouts but when I built Brettell Road I’d never seen a layout trying to depict a wet evening (there must be some but I’d never seen them). I just copied reality and had absolutely no route to copy, I needed to figure it out for myself.

Cheers

Jim

[Bufferstop]

Jim, there was a layout (trams) called a wet weekend in Leeds, which was the first time I'd seen a layout trying to represent anything other than a fairly neutral spring/summer day or a snowscene. I believe the decision was made for the builder by his use of self levelling compound to embed the tracks, which set with a high gloss finish! Layouts which work, can fall into two distinct types, your work is one, the 3D equivalent of the water coloured engineers or architects drawings, correct in every detail with life breathed into them through the use of colour and texture. The other type are much harder to define but I refer to as " painted with a broad brush", the fine detail may not be there, but the atmosphere, implied level of activity, and the recognisable references to real life jump out at you, like a painting by the awork of a talented cartoonist who with a few strokes can tell you more about the subject than any degree of fine detail.

[Pete]

I built a small French harbour layout with wet cobbles, as if a wet Tuesday night (based on a wet Tuesday night I was there), unfortunately all evidence is lost to the depths of Photobucket, but I found it very hard to sustain the effect over a large area, and very easy to mess up.

I did once make a reproduction 'toy' train set too including a 1950s cardboardrefugee suitcase to keep it in, but that was not a model in the sense meant above.

I think everyone has their own style, and it's usually quite recognisable even when modelling the same subject or achieving high degrees of realism. For me style is more important than realism, it's the personal creative touch that's matters most.

Pete

[b308]

Yes and no, Jim... Many people do indeed produce a model of a model, in fact I'd go as far as to say that the majority (i.e. over 50%) of layouts at exhibitions are just that. Partly that's down to the fact that people find it's easier to use RTR/Kits which inevitably give a similar end result...

When at a recent show with 'A Taste of Alber' we were discussing this with a few people and one of them, not a modeller, commented the the layout was a "Model of a Railway" rather than a Model Railway... If you think about it there's a clear difference between the two... I was very chuffed by that as that's what I was aiming for. It's nice when people come up to me and say it reminds them of Home (the Czech Republic) or even better one chap recognised the station. I tend to think of your models in the same light.

Many people just take the standard ingredients of a Railway and then put them together on a baseboard, there's nothing wrong with that but it does give a sort of "sameness" to many layouts. It boils down to what you were saying about going out and looking at the Real Thing, and it's something I bang on about whenever we discuss modelling, and I also point out that the railway is only part of the picture, you can have all the 100% accurate models you want but if the surroundings outside the railway fence aren't done right then it will look just look like a model...


There have been a few layouts in the press which featured wet weather (or the dry bit after the rain!) but they've been few and far between... Good on you for trying it!

[Pete]

...managed to salvage a pic of a trial for wet cobbles, though looking at them now I think they were granite sets...



and while I'm at it, don't think I ever posted these before, this was the full board, but not weathered...



and a ubiquitous snow layout too... cor there'll be a draft with that window down, no heating in third class!



All European N gauge.

P.

[George Stein]

Writing from the USA. Just for the "learning experience" I am building a small layout in what I take to be (possibly mistaken) "bog standard" British methods and materials. *x10 around the shed wall on 2' shelves. GWR theme, Peco track & switches, SEEP switch motors, Ratio semaphores and, perhaps most important, card-stock buildings (some Metcalfe, some Scalescenes and other download) and, in addition to a few RTR Bachmann & Hornby, a whole flock of CooperCraft, Cambrian and Slaters wagon kits with region-specific transfers (Oxfordshire). Track plan is a variation of the "Operation Build It" series from Hornby magazine. Only two frustrations. (1) authentic color enamel paint can't be mailed and (2) the outrageously high cost of UK DCC sound. I'm using the Soundtraxx "Econami" UK steam chips (and love the guard's whistle & slamming doors).

So, exhibition quality modelling? No. Individuality of expression? Yes.

George
North Carolina

[Mountain]

For where you live it is individuality of expression because it is different to what most people will be modelling out there. Someone on another site is enjoying himself with buying older uk models (E.g. Triang and 1970's-'80's Hornby) and running them at speed on his layout. It is pleasing to watch the YouTube films he puts up of his own layout as it is fun based. I corrected him on a small thing... On a double track layout UK models normally travel forward on the left hand track unlike USA which is normally on the right. An easy mistake which some may not have considered).
My problem is that I try not to be too critical but I sometimes am thought to be... It is not easy to put suggestive helps without implying "You must do it this way or that" or implying in a way where someone takes offence. It is usually with little things where I've been there before, tried it, and it doesn't work too well. (E.g. my first attempts at laying home made track using coffee sturers as sleepers and spiking the rails with Hornby track pins. Yes it worked, but to get trains to run on it was another story! I had quickly found out that it wasn't just the gauge which had to be correct in order to run trains. Turning to cutting a PCB board up one has a flat base which doesn't squish so the track soldered on doesn't have much height differences to be concerned with so is successful if one is careful).

[Jim S-W]

There have been a few layouts in the press which featured wet weather (or the dry bit after the rain!) but they've been few and far between... Good on you for trying it!

Here are my results





Cheers

Jim