Modeling Cliches to Avoid when Building your Layout

[nachoman]

I definitely have the spaghetti bowl and stair step thing going on my layout. Over the years there have been "styles" of layout design that have come and gone in popularity. The kind I have was very much in vogue when I first stated noticing layouts as a boy, especially the local club layout. All of the action made an impression so I think I semi-subconsciously carried it into my plan!

Interesting, Ralph. Yours is one of my favorite layouts on this forum. For some reason, it screams "real working railroad" to me and does not convey the "rivet-counter stuffiness" that the ultra prototypically faithful layouts exhibit. Your comment made me think - that perhaps in my mind I have an idea of my own what a good model railroad shoud be. I think the perfect model railroad should clearly convey:

1) the owner had fun building it, and enjoys running tains on it
2) the owner's continued development in skills as the layout was built
3) a sense that the layout is not perfect and still has areas for improvement
4) the railroad feels"active" and that it serves a purpose.

"To each his own" definitely applies to this topic. But for my personal taste, I am much more impresed with a layout that conveys a sense of "unity" than none that seems to want to draw attention to the smallest of details, while other areas go unnoticed. I am more impressed with a layout that has freight yards full of athearn blue box cars with molded on grab irons than a layout that has a few superbly detailed cars in an empty yard, and plywood scenery.