Choosing Your Theme

Latch Shoes at 2201 17th Avenue is the last major structure on my Downtown Spur layout. My model of it will be finished in a week or so. Reality is sinking in, the layout for the most part, is “finished”.

“Finished” layouts, they can sneak up on you. It begs the question, what next? Do you roll along, shifting your efforts to smaller and smaller details and rolling stock? Was “finishing” the main goal from the outset? If so, congratulations. You can enjoy running it for decades. The answer will vary from person to person. If you’re a diehard operator you’d probably keep it and run it. If you’re a modeler, you realize you’ve worked yourself out of a job. If that’s the case, then what? It’s something I’ve been thinking about more and more lately.

Theme selection is one of the most important strategic decisions you’ll ever make. Get it right and your enthusiasm will propel you forward for many years. As decisions go, it’s not always the easiest. For some, the theme choice is obvious and doesn’t take much thought. Others struggle with it and never truly find the sweet spot. The hard part is it takes a lot of self-awareness, much of which exists in our subconscious. Making it even more difficult is that things change. Our modeling interests shift back and forth. Social circles change as folks move out of the area or pass away. Prototypes change and evolve. People move to different homes. Nests become empty. People retire. Do you need a pure prototype? Are you happy with a totally freelanced theme? (I couldn’t do it. Too hard. I don’t have the imagination to make it plausible).

I’m not going to make any immediate changes but by 2026? Maybe. Prime candidates would be the FEC in Miami, Baltimore, or LA. Each has pros and cons making any decision harder.

Here are some of the things I look at. First and foremost I want something that “grabs me emotionally”, a place that I want to feel transported to. That’s the most difficult to find. Without that, I just have miniature technical exercise, that may be fun to build but won’t sustain me for the long haul. How well does the theme lend itself to modeling? Linear roads with the spurs parallel to the main fit onto shelves easier. Themes that are more circular or square are harder. Baltimore and the FEC aren’t as linear. How many contacts do I have to help with information? I have lots in Miami and Baltimore, none really in LA.

I realize that my interest is modeling something that actually exists, not something that’s now history. Site visits provide a major injection of enthusiasm. How easy is it to get there? Baltimore is super easy. Miami isn’t bad, I can fly down and back in a day for less than three hundred bucks. LA is harder and more expensive given that my long legs can’t handle six hours in an economy seat.

How important are operations to you? This is a tough one because I go through phases where I operate a lot and then go for months just building. I want at least some operational potential. This is more difficult to find with each passing year as the prototype, understandably, shifts to servicing massive industries that don’t lend themselves to modeling that well. I’ve never really established a local operating crew, mostly due to inertia on my part. If I had one, I’d be more likely to keep the layout longer. How many small to mid-sized, architecturally interesting, rail served structures are there? All three locations still have plenty but the numbers are dwindling.

Lots to think about. At this point there aren’t any clear front-runners that compel me to make an immediate change.