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Assistant Editor's thoughts - Art of model railroading Magazine feedback
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Dave O Prolific poster 1,145 posts
Dave O

I think he sold it short ...

... 3D art would be a diorama.  Model Railroads include motion; which incorporates the dimension of time; so they are a form of 4D art (at least in my mind).  
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bklynsouth New member 5 posts
bklynsouth

Good View Point

I feel that as you progress into this hobby it"s what you put into that makes it good or great. If you want to be great you need to put that effort into it, by studying,by applying your trade to new and different projects and the ability  to think outside of the box.

Being good is not to shabby either, it's comfortable and shows that you have confidence in what you know and that you are willing to adapt to situations on your layout or project. To make the leapt to Greatness is something we all want, but how far are we willing to go for it. Good enough is good for me, I know, what a slacker I am. I'm happy and at the end of the day that's what counts.
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Larry Brinker Lbrinker Active Member 83 posts
Larry Brinker Lbrinker

Art

Funny thing, I was in the process of writing about this topic in our club blog. After thinking about it, I came upon the idea that the art of being fun to be around, is the best art of all, one that most model railroaders seem to be masters at.
Larry Brinker 
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TomJohnson Prolific poster 1,062 posts
TomJohnson

3D art.

Hello.  

I called it 3D art because, for me, that's exactly what it is in my eyes.  I'm an artist and retired art teacher.  I don't paint pictures any more.  In fact, the last water color painting I did was back in the mid 90's.  I was told by several other art teachers in my early years of teaching that after a day of school, you won't feel like going home and painting any more.  You know, they were right.  After teaching art all day, I didn't have much inspiration left to go home and paint.  What I enjoyed most after a day of teaching was going home and working on my railroad and running trains.  You see, I was still painting but didn't know it at the time.  I was painting 3D landscapes that gave me a cool 100 foot long stage to run my trains through.  Modeling a simple laid back short line allows for more relaxed ops after a day of sometimes stressful teaching and at the same time gave me more time to detail and weather.  Some folks like the "social" side of model railroading and love running trains for several hours.  Some of us prefer more of a laid back loan wolf approach (and that's me!).  Yep, that's another thread!  :o)

Tom Johnson
 Tom Johnson
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TomJohnson Prolific poster 1,062 posts
TomJohnson

Dave O.

Hi Dave.  I don't think I'd call my railroad a diorama as I stated above.  I think we can all call our layouts "a stage" to realistically run our trains through.  I do like your 4D comment though.  :O)  I like that one!!!  :O)  :O)

Tom
 Tom Johnson
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Michael Tondee MRH Author 5,509 posts
Michael Tondee

Actually....

I think to a large extent that the "art" is being taken out of model railroading. With  a few notable exceptions you just don't see very many of what I would consider "artistic" layouts anymore. 

Michael

Michael, A.R.S. W4HIJ

 Model Rail, electronics experimenter and "mad scientist" for over 50 years.

Member of  "The Amigos" and staunch disciple of the "Wizard of Monterey"

My Pike: The Blackwater Island Logging&Mining Co.
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RRDan New member 11 posts
RRDan

Learning curve

I think your editorial hit several good points, particularly about willingness to undertake the learning of new skills. Some of my procrastination likely boils down to this. Thanks for putting it in words.
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milw352 New member 1 post
milw352

4D Art

As an art school grad (RISD), I have long thought of model railroads as 4D art. As others have pointed out, it's that 4TH Dimension - movement - that takes model railroading to another level - and lights up the faces of all the people that come to model railroad shows.

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joef MRH Founder 17,378 posts
joef

MRH procrastinators anonymous?

All this new MRH community group stuff is fun, and it's nice to see who fits where to some degree. 

But it does bring up one point I've wondered about for a while ... should we start an MRH procrastinators anonymous group - or should we put it off until later? (wink)

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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Read my blog
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Pelsea Prolific poster 2,398 posts
Pelsea

It's theater...

The layout is the set, the trains the actors, and the operation scheme is the script. We think about sight lines, backdrops and lighting. Theater sets range from two folding chairs and a ladder to precisely detailed Victorian mansions, layouts range from bare plywood to "is it a model?" Costumers worry about era appropriate hemlines, we wonder if a dash-2 is anachronistic. Actors have to hit the spike mark, we need to hit the car spot. I could go on, but you have the picture by now. The only difference I can see is the audience. Ours are generally smaller and have to stand up to see the show. pqe
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ctxmf74 Super User 15,922 posts
ctxmf74

"The only difference I can see is the audience"

plus we can flush HO scale divas down the toilet if we get tired of their demands.....DaveB

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Fish7 New member 11 posts
Fish7

We are not all equal!

It's true, for me anyway. I'm amazed by the talent that those have in this hobby! The more I read and see makes me want to challenge myself to do better at this hobby and in life! I encourage positive thoughts anytime!
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