My industry planning book is now live and available from Amazon.
Model railroading is an escape from our daily lives, an opportunity to be transported, for creative expression. If you’re in the game and building something, you’re doing things right. As fun as it is to share our work on social media and through the occasional visit from a friend, it’s generally a solo endeavor. The only person you need to satisfy is yourself. To that extent, it makes sense from time to time to take a pause and reflect on whether there are tweaks we can make to deepen our level of satisfaction. In other words, strive to be better at being selfish.
That was my intent with the book. It’s highly editorialized and meant as food for thought, not the end all, be all. There is no real right or wrong. Read through it and ponder. Consider and apply any ideas that increase your enjoyment level. Pass on the rest. Some key points I tried to make:
-Be intentional in your decisions as opposed to slipping into them by default.
-Do some soul-searching as to what you want the layout to do for you. Don’t just plop something on the wall. Do you want to feel transported to a specific place? Do you want a vehicle for operations? Do you want a platform for satisfying construction projects?
-The composition tips chapter is one of the more important ones.
-Be wary of falling into the “cool kits” trap, the tail-wagging-the-dog approach to design.
-Have reasons for the industries you select and move beyond the old 1970s approach of defaulting to a coal mine, pier, and sawmill.
-Understand the importance of kitbashing in moving your modeling forward, especially from a design standpoint.
-Get out in the field, take in the fresh air, breathe……and carefully observe your theme to truly see what’s there.
I’m expecting my order tomorrow and looking forward to it!
My copy is arriving today. Needed new reading material.
Read through the book cover to cover twice. Excellent distillation of modern industries. The book is highly focused, which can initially come across as light on content, but for the industries it does cover, Lance covers all the bases.
I’m now using the ideas he presents (and the matrixes to measure them) to evaluate locations for “switchability” and appeal for operations.
Got mine in the mail today. But Lance I have a question. Have you given any thoughts to having your books available in digital format? Or is it cost prohibitive? I would much rather have them all on my tablet that I can take with me and read anywhere. Just wondering.
John B
Thanks for the feedback and your continued support John. For a variety of reasons I don’t see the digital format ever happening.
Another excellent book. Love the York designs. You know, just the left wall of the “operations” version, with a staging lead, makes a beautiful, practical switching layout.
And now for my heretical wish. You are fully committed to modern railroading, but I hope you will devote at least one book to transferring your concepts back to the transition era. Essentially a time-adjusted version of this book, explaining the most model-viable industries, trackwork, operational practices, and architecture for switching layouts. Interest in the era seems to be slowly decreasing, naturally, but it was an absolutely fascinating time for railroads, motive power, industry, and architecture *in transition* (so to speak) from the smoky Depression/WWII era into the modern era. In short, a gold mine for analysis, explication, and discussion.
Thank you, Lance, for reigniting my interest in model railroading. There isn’t anyone better than you at getting to the heart of our hobby.