With respect, in the 3+ years I've been in the hobby, I have found it sort of disappointing that so many layouts look so much alike. In broad strokes, the overwhelming majority are as follows: a small suburban "Main Street" type town primarily made up of Ameritowne and MTH buildings and then a rural area with with some industry. It's like going to every car dealership and finding that almost all the cars look very, very similar. In terms of rural/scenic, I've been out west a lot and there are beautiful misty meadows with sunlight streaming through the redwood and Doug Fir branches across the tracks humbly going through. What a scene! I've seen main lines on water routes traversing stone dams and low bridges over the rivers and lakes. Partially hidden by weeping willows and other natural beauty. True mountain bluffs with tracks high above sea level. In the east, I've seen cities with tracks discretely snaking through, or the steel and concrete jungle with so many overlapping structures carrying a variety of different train types going in different directions - showing the hustle and bustle of industry in transit.
I would much prefer to see more of these as I see the layout as a canvas to make unique and to display the beauty of our country's vast and differing terrain through which the trains traverse.
I find your thoughts expressed here both provocative and stimulating. And I have a feeling many of your fellow hobbyists who have layouts and have shared them here and in OGR magazine eagerly await seeing your layout, or have I missed something?
FrankM.
