So what layouts inspired you

[ljudice]

Is Northlandtz still there?  I heard it closed it's doors???

I think it's still open....  Haven't been there in a number of years now though....

I only live about 15 miles north of it.

[mark dance]

Many Many...here is just a sample.  The full list is very long

Originally: John Allen's G&D, Allen McClelland's V&O, Paul Scole's Pelican Bay, Rensselaer Polytechnic's NEB&W, Frary and Hayden's C&DR RR...on and on

More Recently: Mike Danneman's D&RGW, Joe Fugate's Siskiyou Line, Bill Darnabee's Maumee Route

Very Recently and Conveniently ('cause they are also in Vancouver): Brian Pate's Klondike Mines and Anthony Craig's Kettle Valley

md

[Bsklarski]

Only being 40, I did not grow up with the big names in the 50s - 70s. I only the last 10 years have really gotten into model trains again. Now what inspires me is Dave Vollmers layout, David Popps New Haven layout and Eric Brooman's Utah Belt because it was a layout that was always set in the present, which is a interesting concept to me.if I did that with most of the railroads and lines I like to model, I would be saving mega bucks and modeling a simple bike trail.

[pennsyfan1361]

In HO scale John Allen's G&D, Allen McClelland's V&O, Rensselaer Polytechnic's NEB&W and MR Pennsylvania RR Middle Division I like that the layout has a fall setting. In N scale the Reid brothers' Cumberland Valley were pioneer in N scale taking advantage of a lot of scenery to track ratio looked great back then and still looks great by todays standards.  The MR N scale Clinchfield, And Dave Vollmer  Juniata Division.    Rich

[Ed Kapuscinski]

As far as ops goes, Tony Koester's A&M, Ken McCory's Buffalo Line, Lance Mindheim's Miami layout, Lee's WM and of course the Cumberland Valley and V&O.

As far as scenery goes, Lance's Monon simply blew my mind, and started my quest for doing the early winter. Rand Hood too. These days Mike Confalone is really killing it (http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/7682 if you're not familiar). I also should mention an incredibly talented modeler that I knew through Philly NTRAK: Chuck Devine. His modeling was really top notch and inspired me to think of NTRAK modules very differently. He sadly passed away a few years ago.

Also, our own John B's layout is also an inspiration in that, when he's not completely happy with it, he just blows it up and starts over. There's a big important lesson there.

And on a very concrete level, my shelf layout was DIRECTLY influenced by our own Eric P's upper level. One night, after an op session, I was thinking "How can I replicate that awesome view of the eye level layout at home?". The next day I was over at home depot grabbing some shelf brackets and getting to work.

Ah, and I almost forgot. The gang of guys who did the New River Gorge NTRAK modules and started Onetrak changed the entire way I look at modular model railroading. That too was very inspirational.

[TiVoPrince]

David Barrow's  
Cat Mountain and Santa Fe.  Single track, logical operations concept and the realistic feel of trains running in  wide open spaces.  Not exactly the time place or railroad I wanted to model but for inspiration and a yardstick to measure my effots against it was second to none. 

I think I wore out three copies of that MR, just rereading articles.  I recall using at least two other copies to hang off permanently unfinished brown masonite skyboards to inspire my meager efforts of the time.  Forgot how many times I tried to paint a backdrop half that good.  Every effort ended in abject failure but I just painted a fresh 'sky' and tried again.  Those skyboards may have had more paint thickness than masonite when they got dismantled for storage and eventually (thankfully) were damaged a subsequent move. 

The 'domino' era on the other hand almost chased me from the hobby.  Proving that minimalisim can actually be taken to an extreme and frightening level.  To much may never be enough, but too little looks like Thomas on a severely limited budget..

[Smike]

Without a doubt for me it was Gordon Odeegard's N Scale Clinchfield from 1978. I was 7 at the time, but wore the pages right out of that MR issue.  If I had the room, I would do an updated version of that track plan in a second.

http://www.pbase.com/atsf_arizona/n_scale_clinchfield_rr&page=all

[Vince Gortner]

MR's Clinchfield, the Cat Mountain & Santa Fe, Utah Belt, Mike Danneman's D&RGW....   all great, all influential for me.    THE layout that is stuck in my brain forever is the original O-gauge Museum & Santa Fe at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.   I think of that the way many think of the Lionel showroom layouts back in the heyday of 3-rail.   

The new MSI layout is beautiful, but....     Warbonnets.  Stainless steel.       Can't tell you the impact that had on me as a little guy.    I really don't model that era or the Santa Fe, but that layout hooked me into this hobby like no other.

http://midnightrailroader.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_27.html

[rickb773]

Also forgot to add the huge Lionel layouts the major department stores used to display each Christmas (my age is showing).

[Ed Kapuscinski]

David Barrow's  
Cat Mountain and Santa Fe.

How did I forget that one? Yeah, that too.

[Cajonpassfan]

No argument, but of more recent creations, lets not forget our very own Mark Dance's amazing layout. Making the most of N scale, amazing scenery, lots of operational potential, WOW!

[chuck geiger]

Lehigh and Keystone Valley Model Railroad Museum - Bethlehem, PA
Tehachapi Loop - San Diego Model Railroad Museum
Pacific Beach and Western Model Railroad (as a kid) Del Mar Fairgrounds - San Diego
Gorre and Daphetid - Allen
Franklin and South Manchester - Sellios
Cat Mountain and Santa Fe - Barrow
Siskiyou Line - Fugate
V&O - McClelland
Daneville and Donner River - Soeberg
Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley - Petty
UP Cascade Division - Lestico

[C855B]

I was originally inspired by the HO club layout at our local fairgrounds. Our fair was the first week of September, so I recall year after year of sweltering desert evenings, Dad dragging the five of us to visit his buddy Gene, who would be there up on the throttle platform running trains. The actual layout was beyond pedestrian, a folded double-track loop with a "mountain" loop in the middle, nested in a lean-to shed with glass across the front. It was designed for display, not operation. However, I clearly and fondly recall the two working red/green signals on the track next to the window. (Hmm. So that's what started my fascination with signals.) [Oh, BTW - Gene was a SPF.]

My love of ultra-large layouts was inspired by the HO display at the 1964/65 World's Fair. I remember it as huge, but everything is big to a 10-year-old. I do recall it was big enough to have a separate control room behind windows on a second floor, overlooking the layout. Adjusting for the childhood perspective, the room was probably about the size of a large high school gym, the layout leaving little more than a 6-8 ft. aisle around the edge.

As documented in the GC&W thread, current inspiration is coming from the Greeley, Colorado museum layout. Maybe a little bit also from the San Diego N scale layout next to the HO Tehachapi that Chuck mentioned.

Interesting... hmm... all layouts I've experienced in person. The published layouts mentioned are no doubt great and exhibit incredible talent and mastery, but when it comes right down to it, I guess ambiance is my muse.

[chuck geiger]

David Barrow's  
Cat Mountain and Santa Fe.  Single track, logical operations concept and the realistic feel of trains running in  wide open spaces.  Not exactly the time place or railroad I wanted to model but for inspiration and a yardstick to measure my effots against it was second to none. 

I think I wore out three copies of that MR, just rereading articles.  I recall using at least two other copies to hang off permanently unfinished brown masonite skyboards to inspire my meager efforts of the time.  Forgot how many times I tried to paint a backdrop half that good.  Every effort ended in abject failure but I just painted a fresh 'sky' and tried again.  Those skyboards may have had more paint thickness than masonite when they got dismantled for storage and eventually (thankfully) were damaged a subsequent move. 

The 'domino' era on the other hand almost chased me from the hobby.  Proving that minimalisim can actually be taken to an extreme and frightening level.  To much may never be enough, but too little looks like Thomas on a severely limited budget..

JJ he found a way to take minimalism to the extreme with this Lubbock Industrial layout with sectional track, no ballast or weathering, no scenery, built only for operations and switching. 

[Kentuckian]

Gordon Odegard's Clinchfield, V&O, Alleghany Midland, Cantington N-trak.  When I was in high school every Thanksgiving I would visit the train show in Huntington, WV.  That was my first exposure to N scale and N trak.  The long coal drags blew me away.