Friday, November 14, 2008

Then and now

Ryan Has posed the question 'what sort of module should I build; the new untested (and quite honestly 'as yet not quite thought out') baby modules, or the tried and true NZ120 standard 2' by 4'.

My question for tonight is, how many people have the large sized modules, when was the most modern one built, and most importantly, when was the last time a layout was assembled from more than one persons modules( don't take this the wrong way, I'm a scientist, I'm just interested to know, and I'm not good at sugar coating questions.)

While I'm at it, here's another question;
Are people more comfortable with a round and round style layout for a get together, which in this country tends to be an exhibition where the roundy layouts have some big advantages, or would a Freemo style approach be more acceptable, with a more free form layout that might not be quite so ideal for the viewing public, but has more interest for the operators.

I'd note at this point that shunting operations can attract far larger groups of watchers at these exhibitions, than just watching trains hurtle past (I've tried it with our old Dunedin layout, and kept as group of 10 people spellbound for 5-10 minutes by shuffling cars between 2 tracks on my Dunedin railway station modules).
Would a branch line with a train running along it, shunting a few wagons at each station, be a layout that the public would watch. Would it be a layout that the operators could run for enjoyment, stopping to answer question's because they had time to as there was not an express freight rumbling through behind?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Honestly? I'd go for the new modules; I think people have more of a chance of being able to take the smaller modules places and display them. Although 4' by 2' sounds small, once you've lugged it in and out of a few halls and tried to fit it into the car, trust me; you will soon get sick of it.

Also, the smaller modules have more of a "complete-ibility" factor about them (if that is a word!).