3rail - Theme

Imagineering

All model railroad layouts need to have a Theme (i.e., an inference of what the layout is all about). Theme is driven by both intrinsic factors (the layouts Era, Location, Traffic, etc.) and by choice of what to focus upon (busy streets, waterfront warehouses, livestock, etc.). Even if you just lay a circle of track around a tree [EXAMPLE], the theme could be imagined as "Exploring Santa's Village".

If you are having trouble deciding upon a Theme, go to the library and thumb through model and prototype railroad books and magazines. When you see something you like, whether a photograph, article, or even an inspirational paragraph, make a photocopy and put it in a folder. Don't concern yourself just yet about how these items may fit together, as some might never be used. Only after you have stuffed the folder with a stack of photocopies should you try to piece together how some of these elements might be implemented in a layout.

Develop a back story before buying even a single piece of track. It costs nothing, but clarifies in your mind the structures, rollingstock, and track schematic that needs to be on your layout. Back story [EXAMPLE] becomes especially important to Freelancers who need to justify convoluted trackwork and other legacies, who desire to realistically incorporate toy rollingstock [ESSAY], or who desire to operate equipment that would be a prototypical oddity [EXAMPLE] during the Era being modeled.

Time and Place will certainly limit your choices. For example, you won't find any diesels during the Civil War, and you won't find a major seaport in Death Valley. However that still leaves an extremely wide range of railroading subject material (traffic, infrastructure, customers, etc.) that you could model.

Layout Vision Development (*.pdf)

~ Imagineering what I see (*.pdf)

Theme Dictated by Rollingstock

Railroad modeling is an outrageously expensive hobby. The commercially produced R-T-R rollingstock (including non-revenue and locomotives) will probably be the biggest cost item on the layout. As such, your layouts Theme will be heavily influenced by your purchases. Type of cars (sleeper, hopper, etc.), Era of cars (20s steam, 90s intermodal, etc.), and apparent Geographical area (midwest roadnames, fictitious roadnames, etc.), are all immediate visual clues as to the railroads Time, Place, Wealth, and Business model.

Lack of real estate is the biggest factor on any layout. While there are many scenery tricks that can be employed to save space (such as for example elevated sidings [EXAMPLE], or tracks through buildings [EXAMPLE]), choosing smaller length cars or eliminating certain classes of rollingstock will have a greater impact. Doing so however does influence the Theme, so these rollingstock decisions must be taken into account during the planning stage. Of course, you can still opt for the really big cars or rollingstock requiring special handling if you conceptualize your theme specifically around handling them [EXAMPLE].

A method to save space that does not impact Theme is to reduce overall train length. Even in the smallest scales, model railroaders must shorten freight train lengths to well below those found in real life. In O-scale train length reduction can be especially severe, due to typical layout spur lengths ranging between only 14.5" minimum - 70" maximum. Reduction is most obvious on 3-rail passenger trains, where it is recommended that you target under 50 mile run Commuter train sections [EXAMPLE] to be only 1 car long, 75-275 mile run Regional train sections [EXAMPLE] to be only 2 cars long (haul only 1 shorter length high-speed-wheeled freight car in a mixed train), and over 300 mile run airline competing Long-haul train sections [EXAMPLE] to be only 3 cars long (and for implication purposes be pulled with a powerful locomotive). Even if you have the space, it is suggested that you not increase these passenger train section lengths by more than two additional cars (note that a sectionalized passenger/freight "train" can have an unlimited number of cars, as each markered section within that train is pulled convoy-style with their own locomotive).

Eliminating certain classes of car (for example Observation passenger cars due to their need to be turned, or Centerbeam freight cars due to their excessive length) will have minimal impact on Theme IF they can be substituted by a different style of car. Otherwise it will affect Theme, as this will be an Era specific change (like eliminating the Caboose for example). Shift in size of an entire car Type however will affect the Theme, as this is Era specific (major size changes occurred in the mid-20s and mid-60s). Of course a railroad can place limits on the type of cars they will accept in interchange (possibly forcing transloading), such as if they have clearance issues (eastern tunnels for example) or curvature issues (city streets for example), but this requires thematic back story justification unless a feature visible on the layout makes the reason obvious.

TIP: Opt for two axle bi-directional power (including short back-to-back A+A lashups) whenever possible. Even in the uni-directional Steam era you could legitimately have (or lease/pool [EXPLANATION]) diesel or electric motive power.

The railroads business model (customer base) has direct affect upon rollingstock, which then probably will also affect your layouts Theme. Adding Dining cars to trains on an as-needed basis, or completely eliminating cars not needed for local businesses, such as for example Ore cars or Railway Post Office cars (gone by 1977 anyway due to post office automation), is unlikely to affect Theme. Purchasing shorter 40' cars over 50' saves space, but may affect Theme by forcing you into an earlier era. Primarily running a specific Type of car (such as grain hoppers) implies location, and thus also affects Theme. You may of course always include whatever car types you want in Maintenance-of-Way, unique needs shipments, and non-switched Through freight/passenger trains (as long as they make sense for the Era/Location).

Theme Dictated by Railroading Style

Style of railroading has a major affect on rollingstock design, which then affects Theme. A Short Line conventional railroad for example may possibly own older, smaller, rollingstock as compared to a large Class-1 railroad. A private industrial railroad, such as that of a steel mill [EXAMPLE], may mostly use very specialized rollingstock in captured service.

The rollingstock used by Traction railways will noticeably differ from conventional railroads, even if they serve the same customers as a conventional railroad. Rapid Transit [EXPLANATION] customers are the same as Commuter train customers, only they use shorter rollingstock. Interurban trains [EXPLANATION] will serve similar customers as Regional trains, but with equipment more like RDCs or the longer Zephyrs [EXAMPLE]. Street Cars or the longer LRVs offer a unique Theme, as they compete with buses, and thus there is no conventional railroad equivalent.

Trackwork is also affected by Railroading Style. While servicing a "facing" spur requires only a Runaround track, if you need to turn a train, or even just a single car or locomotive, you need to employ either a Balloon track [EXAMPLE], Wye track [EXAMPLE], or Turntable. Because Balloon tracks require a wide swath of real estate, they are rarely used by conventional railroads. Traction railways using trolley poles however will use them nearly everywhere. Wye tracks are the most common way conventional railroads turn trains, but Traction railways using trolley poles will almost never use them. A problem with Wye tracks over Balloon tracks is, unless the legs are very long, you cannot turn entire trains. Turntables can only handle one car at a time, but are the most compact turning solution, and thus often used in urban and other terrain restricted settings, and at the end of a line [EXAMPLE].

One of the best trackwork space savers is to infer that track exists, but not model it. For example, Freight Yards are huge space wasters, so Infer their existence by sending cars to an off-layout fiddle track instead. Same goes for large passenger terminals. Model the Coach Yard, but make the station an off-layout staging track. Unless this is a specific focus of the layout, locomotives should always be resupplied at an assumed off-layout location.