What types of settings are being modeled in your country? What do the covers of MRR magazines highlight and what is the focus of new products?

There is a significant difference between what Americans seem to model versus Europeans; at least in my opinion. If you just take a sample of magazine covers you see mostly American magazines with ugly grimy industrical urban settings ignoring the splendor of the Rockies the beauty of the eastern seaboard/coastal regions and the beautifully forested areas of the middle eastern states. On the contrary, German magazines seem to have settings and covers on magazines that might be in the Swiss Alps, a beautiful countryside or a very neat and orderly urban station.

The same contrast is evident in a US catalogues such as Walther's. There are tons of items to recreate heavy industry, idiotic hobo stuff (hardly anyone can relate to) and dumpy looking structures. You can actually purchase models of junk and trash. The buildings are always of worn-down and tarnished like all from the 50s or 40s. The only things of beauty, in my opinion, aside from the motive power and cars can be found in the items for Busch and Faller.

Of course, I realize that railroading in the US is less diversified than in Europe and modern passenger service consists mostly of the Acela, but I wonder when younger people look at what American MRRs magazines what they think. Seeing pages of modeling and products that represent junked up areas from the 50s and earlier can't seem very enticing to them. Perhaps it says something about those that write the articles and buy the magazines.

Good point.
This is exactly the perception I have had since I was a kid.
Most RR mags tend to American.
I guess that the "European Splendour" in pictures and train layouts steered me into keeping a European theme rather than a US one.

I would also only model NZR if there was a consistency in quality and availability. What is out there in HO/OO is IMHO substandard. If there was a Quality manufacturer (like Marklin / Brawa / Fleischmann) who made NZ Locos and rolling stock, then I would be one very happy piglet especially with our diverse Steam Locos.
But then I would want a quality supplier of NZ signalling equipment (like Viessmann).

Dreams do come free.....

Hi Larry,

Nice question.
From what I see on auctions, swap meets,exhibitions,magazines and what dealers have in stock, it appears there's a wide variety of interests among the Dutch modelrailroaders.

The main points of interest however seem to be Dutch,Swiss and American railroads.

Kind regards
Guus

I like both, European splendor, and color, and American grit. I model Colorado Narrow Gauge in On3, and I'm gearing up to build a large (for Z) layout. focusing strictly on European RRing.

Here's a pic of my On3 layout. The layout currently measures 20'x30', and is displayed in our store.

Interesting questions Larry. The layouts on the different sides of the pond probably reflect their surroundings. What I've seen in the eastern US from Atlanta to New York City is that the rails go through some fascinating urban and industrial decay that is fun to model (Walthers). I still see railside hobo camps (and in other places. But now we call these folks homeless). My rail travels in southern Germany go through beautiful well kept country side and old towns (Faller). I'm sure there are exceptions. Pick your style.

Speaking of differences, I know little of operational differences. For example, how much of John Armstrong's book "Track Planning for realistic operation" can be used on a European style layouts? Do railroads on both continents operate the same way? Is there a European counter part to this book???

Differences I've noted are double vs. single main lines, mostly freight vs. passenger and freight, electrification vs. diesel, shorter vs. longer consists, larger vs. smaller freight cars, and of course, hobo's in box cars! Think I can put a hobo and his dog in my donnerbucshe baggage car? :)

Chris

Jump right in, as they say,

I worked in a small train shop in New Jersey when I was in college and he was the Marklin dealer so I was able to compare side-by-side the quality vs. price (early 1970's - not the hey-day for American manufacturers, if I recall correctly) . I became enamoured with German/European modeling, yet I am still in the plywoodbahn stage. I used to buy the US magazines (you know which ones [}:)] ), but do not anymore because they just do not "talk" to me. Right now I am in the quandary of "Dirty-gritty" Betriebswerk layout, or more "neat and clean" Passenger Station/Beer Distributor layout. . Decisions, decisions... (Yet if I am modelling current day should I have little plywood sheets over the windows at the station? [:(] Nah!)

I think I can second most of the comments above. And I sure do not want to open the "toy-like" Pandora's box here, because this is a different question. And yet I like Chris's idea of the hobo in the donnerbuchsen [^] . And then we have Sander in the rarefied air of Epoch I [:p] .

In the US we have a steam era, then a diesel era, with relatively little overlap ("the transition"), and electric bridging over. Whereas Europe has at least five defined eras/epochs and 'sub'-eras/epochs with a much longer overlap of steam/diesel (at least as I see it in my really simple world) as well as an East-West division.......(but then is there not an East-ish/West-ish division in the US also )

At times I wonder how the manufacturers keep up with us all. There are some special multi-car sets with different car numbers, even "pre-weathered" right along side my favorite: shiny beer cars !

Thanks for opening this thread! I look forward to other comments [^]

Jim

For me it is partly historical. I grew up in a big steam country - South Africa. The only significant model train manufacturer that made SA prototype was Lima and it was plastic junk compared to the Märklin my parents bought for me when they toured Europe in 1964. So we modeled German rail.

Now that I live in the USA I have seen a fair number of US layouts including George Selios' Franklin & South Manchester layout which is a fantastic effort, but I must say most are very depressing. Everything is run down and broken, trash dumped everywhere - and sadly true to life. It almost seems post apocalyptic yet clearly historical.

I enjoy modeling a modern efficient system so I am glad the choice was made for me through the great availability of German rolling stock from Märklin. If my parents had bought me Hornby I would probably be modeling British Rail.

Europe also has Apine topography which lends itself to train lines that are engineering marvels of bridges and tunnels, small villages and big cities. US landscape is much flatter and stations tend to be for larger towns and mostly freight.

I've always enjoyed the pristine quaintness I've seen in Marklin, Hornby, Faller and Volmer kit catalog's. I remember desperately wanting to have a layout with the old Faller slotted roadway system in it. All those beautiful old world cottages, cathedrals and townhouses did and still do dazzle my imagination.

I myself still tend to model on all levels with gritty American HO model work...



...Faller-like, albeit on an American theme in N scale...



...and, of course, surreal Christmas themes.



I'd love to squeeze in a European themed layout but, alas, there is only so much space...and budget

Some good observations. Some of the US modeling of industrial scenes is done well - as with European models - but I prefer the rustic scenes. I was, and still am, drawn to articles in MRR about model railroads done about rural areas or the West. I get tired of the endless urban jungle/ industrial wasteland variety of layout. As a kid, the local hobby shop (and Marklin dealer in Raleigh, NC of all places) had an American themed layout behind glass with scenery you'd have found in rural North Carolina in the 30s and early 40s, including a mill and people swimming in a creek. In my mind, that long gone layout remains gigantic. I wonder how big it really was?

It all depends, in my opinion, by the "kid" in you. For me, it was trains in Switzerland growing up. Then it gets into what is your "taste". I like to imagine clean landscapes, almost surreal and ideal in setting. But very little to do with reality. As far as the difference between US and Europe, as many said here, 90+ % of the traffic in US is freight, with two basic locomotive manufaturers and thus very limited choice of models (altough you can have a variety of color schemes depending of the RR line). In my opinion, Europe has so much more variety. As far as the industrial/country setting, I believe that, if you want really to play with your trains, you need switching, and loading, and stations where they stop, and go, and back-up etc. So every one tends to model areas where they can see some "action". weather they look "dirty" or "clean" is really depending on the modeler: reality vs. fantasy.
With unlimitesd $$$ and space, I would like to model every different aspect of the hobby.. US and Europe... dirty real and ideally clean... but, with me feet on the ground, I will end up modelling Swiss landscape (where you can realistically expet to see any kind of "alpine" locomotive) and keep it clean (after all, Switzerland is like a postcard ).
A last opinion.. I love the overhead lines in Europe. Find that the stretches of US rail with only the rail bed are kinda "naked" without all the poles, wires, transofrmers of the electrified lines. This is something I really like to see in a lay-out and sommerfeldt will be my kinda guy!

John - I believe you are correct in that many US modelers tend to look to John Allen for their scenery and inspiring settings. However, to me, John's setting in the Rocky Mountains with high wooden bridges crossing valleys, etc., is a big departure from what you'd find on the covers and within US model railroading magazines. What I mostly see isn't the beauty of what John captured, but mostly historical urban decay in the US.

My bottom line here is that I cannot imagine that the urban decay setting theme characteristic of US model railroading is likely to resonate with future potential model railroaders (young people). Hence, the industry will continue to serve a wealthly but eventually disappearing demographic group of people. At least we have models of the Acela in HO and Lionel's spectacular highly automated model.

I guess growing up in the US at a time when passenger trains are almost nonexistence, and in an area where there were only long freight trains with dusty faded freight cars and ugly diesel locos that looked like brick a with windows, running on long straight sections through dusty dull flat country side from one old dieing farm town to the next, the grass was defiantly greener on the other side of the pond. German steamers had red wheels, diesel had rounded shapes and came in many different colors and then trough in electric locos. After seeing one picture of a red swiss electric pulling a passenger train through the alps, I was hooked.
When I go to train shows I meet a lot of guys that just love US models but most are older than me and have memories of the old steam passenger trains running through the rural country side before everybody left the small farm towns for the big cities.