Not many entries

Hm

Maybe I should have finished sketching out my entry idea, then...

With so few entries

I wouldn't have

paid much attention, if it was actually called a "MRH Garage Design Contest", other than wondering why MRH was involved...

(ya, I know, nitpicker...) 

Ahh. Ok

Winner Idea

Why not put them on here and let the members judge them?  Winner takes all.....

Mark

I simply ran out of time to

I simply ran out of time to put one together. I suspect the timing might have had something to do with it for others as well. A toma section might be rather easy to put together by comparison just because there is much less of it. There just was a lot of things going on during that time period for me. Time was also an issue for getting the magazine out on time for the last few months so it looks like lots of folks were busier than usual. Toss in the fact that lots of modelers were going to conventions or involved in open houses visiting family over the holidays, tax time.

I would suggest adding some bonus points to the guys that got them in on time and extending the contest till sometime in the fall. I would also suggest allowing for optional sizes of space up to and including basement fillers. Some very heavily read threads deal with layout design and builds in the forums. Many are quite different in size. There have been shelf layouts, basement rooms, spare rooms, hobby huts to name a few that come to mind recently.

The contest could then appeal to modelers designing layouts for their space and not some other space. If one looks at all the plans out there in the hobby press one can see there are quite a lot of sizes to choose from.

I further think a good design will be a good design regardless of size of the layout.

Points can be awarded for aisle space, operating potential, construction methods, ease of access. More criteria could be added for scenic realism capturing the flavor of an area, designing the railroad for signaling, ease of maintenance, prototype fidelity etc.

Since this type of thing is more of an art contest than a math contest having the judges look at it from a subjective point of view should not be an issue.

Rob in TX, same here...

I would have entered..

I guess due to working out of town for long periods of time and away from internet connection I missed this. What issue was this announced in? I'd like to draw up one anyway. Maybe I'll just put it in the 'Plan Database', do we still have that?

Next Contest - suggestion

Joe - after a while, I think a great idea for the next contest would play off of the Limited Modeller concept of a single town rather than a specific size.  Maybe have an upper limit (or not.)

Even something like my little shelf layout could be a starting point, with future extensions shown to fill a larger space.

gs

It occurs to me that a TOMA

It occurs to me that a TOMA design contest would be cool. Publishing interesting submitted entries along with the winner would be a wealth of design ideas for people. I've never been much at track design and beg, borrow and steal concepts from wherever I can. Maybe it's been done? Remember, I was "out of the loop" for awhile. Time for another?

Contest Idea:

Just had a thought for a contest idea with the name of this topic: Having a standard, cheap kit (like the garage in this month's MRH), and seeing how modelers can spruce it up. It could be something like a Life-like switch tower, a Mantua GP20, a Tyco boxcar, etc. Just seeing how far people's ingenuity can stretch to turn something cheap into something good. Maybe there could be a dollar cap for details to put in, like $20 for structures, $20 for freight cars, $30 for passenger, and $50 for locomotives? Submissions could be judged on overall appearance, interesting ideas, and overall out-of-the-box thinking.

Appreciate the effort

Hi,

I really appreciate the effort of creating and holding a contest each year over several years! Some rather interesting articles have resulted from the contests. Thanks to all who participated in the past (and may do so in the future!).

As for future contests, I would like to see a "small-shelf-layout" or a "model railroading with kids" contest - both are topics that should be able to bring people into the hobby

Again, thanks all and have fun!

TOMA design contest

Michael, 

That's what we did for the past couple of years. Okay, I just looked and the first one was announced in Sept 2015. Time flies... 

Go to the TOC index maintained by Bill Brillinger and search on the word "Contest" - I think it brings up all the TOMA contest layouts we published. 

Dang.

I totally spaced on this one.  Would love to submit my garage layout: 

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/the-crawford-and-cherokee-v2-build-thread-12209148

Crawford and Cherokee (v2). 

Oh Bother

I was looking forward to the results of this. I've got a large garden shed that is roughly the size of a single garage (12' by 24') and was looking for some design inspiration. Most designs I've seen that pique my interest are too large unless I convert to N, and that's not happening. 

I did consider

Hi all,

I did consider briefly putting my Corrimal Colliery Incline sectional layout forward as a possible entry. Yes it would have just fitted in the double garage space specified.. 

Pro's

• with some assistance (1 helper) for moving modules and some suitable storage racks (already designed and built), you could get 1 car-space of the 2 car garage back in under an hour if you needed an undercover car space. 
• with with some assistance (2 to 3 helpers) for moving modules, some suitable storage racks, and a suitable trailer you could get the full 2 car garage back if you needed it in under 3 hours (including tarping the module frames on the trailer. This would enable the layout to travel (and it has done several hundred miles several times) without damage if required for exhibition or if the layout has to be moved aan alternate storage location to get you your 2 car garage back for use as a 2-car garage.
• On arrival back at the garage (with team of 2 or 3 helpers)  all 12 modules could be unloaded from the trailer and set back up for running in under 2 hours. 
• In terms of flexibility of use, this layout probably ticks the boxes better than a fixed layout bolted to the walls.
• Design concepts and construction methods already sorted
• Prototype history already researched and modelling period selected
• Build already well underway and nearing completion 

Con's

• too "esoteric" a prototype (Australian 2' gauge coal mining railway) to be of interest to many MRH readers (that's a big one because I have yet to see much non-North American stuff on here gain much favourable comment. There's not much point doing the work if its not going to be appreciated or even read)  And before anyone reads more into this than they should, I'm fully aware that this forum is largely North American centric.
• It's a single industry narrow-gauge layout moving a largely un-glamorous product, coal. It can't have the visual presence of mainline standard-gauge passenger expresses or big locos on drag freights, simply because its not that type of a layout or that type of a prototype.    
• the amount of work needed for photos words, additional diagrams, etc was impacted by the requirement to get stuff done on the actual layout for a major outing over Easter (basically the timing was wrong for me to do the requisite amount of work to a good enough standard in the requisite time for submission)
• Much emphasis in the criteria was put on "good photos". Many of the existing photos demonstrating techniques or concepts are construction photos. Better photos to demonstrate this basic stuff can no longer be re-shot because the layout has moved on with landscaping etc changing the look of the layout.
• A significant amount of what could have been submitted has already been discussed in my Corrimal thread on here  If I've covered it already on the Corrimal thread, then that would further erode reader interest,  

And to me the con's outweighed the pro's, so I let it slide...  

Curious when..

Can anybody tell me what the parameter requirements were for the contest? Better yet, when/ what issue it was proposed in and I'll look for myself. Every time I use the search box it only leads me to this here thread. Thanks.

For several months last year

Hi Sea-rail, all

I looked up the specifications again earlier today in the December edition of MRH. it was up for several months prior - Just checked - first announced in the September edition 2018

To get there - at the top of the page - Magazine> Previous editions - brings up the list of previous issues, click on the relevant issue to view either online or offline.  

Esoteric... hm...

Well, if it's any help, the project I started (but never finished) drawing up was also pretty esoteric: an HOm-scale plan for the Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia in the Atacama desert.

Someday I'll just build it for myself, just so I can troll people in conversations.

Esoteric??

Hi Brock,

You have me beaten on "esoteric"

Those Kitson-Meyer articulateds fit the "wacky" description, but they did the job.

Now as for a HOm version, that I'd like to see. I do know of one UK modeller who has built at least two Kitson-Meyers on 9mm gauge. One of those two was based on the FCAB prototype dimensions, as built for 2'6" gauge before the line was converted to metre gauge. The other was based on an Indian prototype.

And these HO standard-gauge modellers think they have a challenge building their crowd-sourced 2-8-2 locomotive??

But some of the ex-Aussie diesels may be a far easier option, given some models used have been built/are commercially available for both Queensland and Western Australian railways in HOn3.5 The Wuiske models 1550 and 2100 class would probably give you a flying start for the ex-Queensland units (with 10 of the 2100's sold to Chile). Haskell in Taiwan partnered with Wuiske and did the actual build. They might be worth contacting for mechanisms and body shells that might get you a start for for the ex-WAGR A class units? 

Good Luck if you choose to pursue the FCAB layout. I'd certainly be interested in assisting where-ever I can,

FCAB

John,

Any FCAB project on my part will probably be a few years down the road, since I'm focused on finishing my current not-esoteric-at-all Iowa-themed switching layout. But I definitely noted the existence of those Wiuske class 2100s. For me, that turns the idea from a pipe dream to a real possibility. Perhaps sometime I'll write up a post on the FCAB and how I might approach that project. 

Thanks for the encouragement!

Honestly...

I really think that there is more interest in small layouts than you expect.  I really think that an update to the $500 layout needs to come back, but this time, a starter set and a budget of $750....

In hind sight I believe a lot

In hind sight I believe a lot of us missed the earlier announcements of the present contest. I know I did. There was a lot going on in my life during that time period and with the way the magazine is released now I tend to skip a fair amount of things as I do not get back to them. Since I am now reading the paid magazine via adobe instead of online I suspect I will need to adopt a more disciplined approach so as to not miss things.