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The Ultimate Freedom Layout?

by mike | Sep 27, 2016 | Pieces of The Puzzle, Storytelling, The Art of The Craft, The Missing Conversation, The Modeling Conversation, The P48 Experience

If there is any agenda behind this blog, it’s to offer a counterpoint to the mainstream view. However, I don’t sit here week after week thinking of ways to be contrary, I simply write about how I see and approach the work. I’ve been active in this craft since...

Respect The Scale

by mike | Sep 20, 2016 | Modeling Techniques, Pieces of The Puzzle, The Missing Conversation, The Modeling Conversation, The P48 Experience | 2 comments

Many of the layout design conventions we take for granted were developed in HO scale. As the most popular modeling scale, HO receives the bulk of press coverage and therefore, these design conventions are well entrenched in our thinking. For HO and N scales, the...

Learned Limitations

by mike | Jun 14, 2016 | Pieces of The Puzzle, The Art of The Craft, The Missing Conversation, The P48 Experience | 5 comments

How many potentially fine layouts will never be built because the modeler is convinced he or she doesn’t have enough space to do something worthwhile? In the United States, we want to model every aspect of a railroad’s operations: end-to-end if possible or at least...

The P48 Experience, Pt. 5: Eight square feet

by mike | Oct 28, 2015 | Pieces of The Puzzle, Storytelling, The Art of The Craft, The Missing Conversation, The P48 Experience, Uncategorized

In planning the display, it’s easy to fixate on the scene composition, construction techniques, track and modeling specifications and so on. These are all familiar topics and this is where we tend to stop, thinking that we’re done. I still fall into this...

Cutting Through The Noise

by mike | Sep 9, 2015 | Pieces of The Puzzle, Storytelling, The Art of The Craft, The Missing Conversation | 10 comments

What do most of us really want from this craft? The most basic answer is an achievable, satisfying layout. One that we can build, maintain and enjoy for many years. One that reflects our personal vision of what railroading and the craft means to us. What really...
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