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I hope Joe OKs it.

Sure

Excellent book so far....

I too bought this book, from Amazon UK. It arrived on Wednesday and I've read 95 of the 140 odd pages so far.

Excellent! Makes you think more about composition and colour when designing your layout. I'm just about to start my scenery journey, having now finished laying the track and fully tested it. I'm so glad I saw this before I started!

Full disclosure: I also own all of Lance's other books - they have been a great help in designing & setting up my switching layout and getting my head around US operations. So for me it was a no-brainer to invest in his new one.

John

US operations

Book sounds like a winner.

I've garnered my UK background from similar publications  by Iain Rice, Robert Hendry, Ian Fleming (!), Steve Flint, Ken Gibbons, Jeff Taylor, and the Rev. W. Beal.  Has Rice given up on US-area articles?

my copy arrived today

The book has been a great read so far. I had garnered some bits from his blog posts and other books and articles. I have already been putting them into practice on my Raritan River RR shelf layout. It is looking much better. My scenes are way less crowded. Good to have this info in one package. A great book to have in your library.

Art?

  I haven't seen this book yet , does he address how to use art to maximize the reality of a prototype scene or is he just concerned with making layouts look "arty".  Seems like art and craftsmanship/modeling skills might conflict when trying to copy a real railroad scene, do we make it realistic or do we make it artistic for example? ......DaveB

Many thanks for bringing this

Many thanks for bringing this to my attention!!!

I really like Lance's books! His books on operations & layout design are my favorites so far. Concerning the operations one, it was like having a good friend next to you explaining how to run things on the layout.

Dave B -

You pose some good questions.  I found the book to be very helpful and not cause stress concerning art and skill.

Realistic vs. Artistic

I haven’t seen the book yet either, but if you’re concerned about realistic vs. artistic Dave I think all you have to do is look at Lance’s layout, which are pretty well published, and there are a lot of pictures on his blog and web site ( https://lancemindheim.com/).  From my point of view he builds layouts that not only look very realistic, they are built for realistic operation too.

Art of not art....

Big questions anyway.

I own the book of Howard Zane about his magnificient HO railroad, and he say for him fine model railroading is art because of the needs of skills ,the sense of colours, painting and crafsmanship skill building even if its a mirror image of reality like this book or is it pure fantasy like his railroad.

For me I agree with this concept.

My copy has just popped

My copy has just popped through the letterbox as I write - looks like a quiet evening is in prospect whilst I digest the contents!

 " I found the book to be

Thanks Rick.  Great art needs great skill too, I think the problem is where to draw the line between observed reality and enhanced reality. Model railroaders as a group tend to over focus on the unusual creating many cartoonish or caricatured scenes. I lean toward more serious "enhancement" so maybe this book will be helpful to me. I'm not a prototype modeler but do try to give a prototypical feel to my layout, as much as is possible in our compressed and limited spaces....DaveB 

Singing from the same book

Lance's chosen style of

Lance's current chosen style and era of railroading is not my cup of tea but I enjoy his writing and insights all the same. Looking forward to getting a peek at this one.

Just me, but I look at a model railroad as a 3D painting. If I didn't love trains, I would model something else but I'm mostly in this hobby for creative and artistic pursuits. I've found over the years that I'm going for a look and atmosphere more than anything. Today's popular tenets of "modeling the mundane" and exact time and place modeling are not for me.  For me, the mundane is...well... boring and mundane. Modeling from "my minds eye" and romanticizing things is my modus operandi and I make no apologies. These days, I am very secure in my intent and vision. Joe and my fellow members of the original "Gang of Six" are largely responsible for that. Nothing like validation from your peers and heroes!  Also, no narrow shelves and photo realistic back drops for me. Man please! I love building scenery. Why limit my space and opportunity to do so?

People can call my modeling caricature or cartoonish if they like, I used to take offense to that but I don't care anymore. My pike does have a certain amount of plausibility and equipment is era specific. It could have actually been real. My logical mind keeps my eccentric and creative mind from taking it too far off the rails, pun intended. I even found a real "sort of" prototype for it after the fact. That old and now defunct railroad now influences it and has influenced it's fictional history to a great degree. Funny thing is, it was literally right under my nose and feet for years and I didn't even know it. "The Little River Railroad" ran in my favorite place in the world, now known as "The Great Smoky Mountains National Park".

Thought on our medium

Not the type that looks into the crystal ball but our railroad as an art piece. 

Ive been thinking about this a lot lately so ordered Lance’s book today. It should arrive in time for Christmas. Since we are getting a new washing machine I figured that this is a present to myself. 

The idea that what we create can have composition, color, and a concept beyond creating an image of the prototype is appealing. As a work of art it also must provide a source of entertainment. I’ve pointed out “The Art of Model railroading” by Frank Ellison before but his focus is not art as much as illusion. The goal, he says, is to provide a stage for our trains, the actors, to create a believable portrayal of a drama. Railroading as a play is, or can be, art in its own right. The true artist is the creator who makes the set, assembles the actors, and puts together the timetable as a theatrical experience. 

Each scene in our “play” needs to be a logical extension of the plot. Are you a bridge line or an athracite road moving coal from the mine to the port? What make this fun, and creates drama, is the interplay between the trains - the actors - and how the meet or conflict along the way. 

I agree that a small layout could be artisticly rendered and photogenic but are we missing the end game?

In defense of the cartoon

Neil's point about drama as part of our art is central for me. 

I'm also pretty comfortable with the notion that our model railroad creations are cartoons. If my alternately simplified and exaggerated rendering of industry, commerce, engineering, logistics, geology, hydrology and culture (etc.) that I'm trying to represent, animated by the drama of train movements and interactions, can incorporate elements of color, composition, line and texture, then I'm scratching at an itch that I call art. 

To each their own, of course, but to me Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes is art of the most sublime kind and I'm quite content to appreciate fellow model railroaders' work in that light.

Jeff Allen

"To each their own, of

Not familiar with it but does he repeat Phartz and Howe beans every week? .....DaveB 

My "art" will have purpose

I plan a simple operating system. I'm fleshing out the details now. Nothing like some of the complex systems I see here and in the hobby press but there will be an organized way to move trains across the line. A model railroad is never really finished but my little one should be fairly close in the next year or so. Major scenery and structures built anyway. It's point to point so I will be bored if I don't "operate" in some form or fashion. I don't fancy ripping it up and starting anew either. I'm getting too old for that!

Just ordered mine!

I don't purchase printed books much anymore, but this one sounds worthwhile.  I would prefer to treat a layout as a piece of artwork.  I probably won't achieve that, but it's worth trying for, IMO.  I'm assuming this book will help with that focus.

Deane

Hoping it shows up under the tree...

The book is on my wish list, and if it doesn't show up... I've got an Amazon gift card to use.

Amazon sale

You can get this book (or any book over $20) from Amazon for $5 off using the code giftbook18. I ordered mine! Offer is good through Friday. 

@ reddogpt

Thanks for the Amazon code, you just saved me $5. 

Thanks for mentioning the discount

My wallet is $16 lighter. Even though I now model an older era I like how he thinks. I didn’t get the artist gene and I struggle with the small details. 

Got mine today

I did get the $5 Amazon discount. I haven't started it yet but from leafing through it I'm sure it will have some good info and an interesting perspective.