Standard of building and completion

[ern45]

Hallo all fellow MBS members!

I wish to introduce this topic (if approved), because of the number of layouts (completed/extend etc.) I have viewed.

I have viewed numerous layouts published on the net that is fantastic! However, I have also seen quite a few published layouts where the “building/construction” standard was not good and some extremely poor. Here I am talking about track alignment, adjusting the terrain, absence of catenary (yet electric engines running) or poorly adjusted bridges that don’t fit etc. Sometimes you see a brilliant track plan built very nicely but then the scenery (mountains, rivers, roads etc.) does an injustice to the layout.

Please don’t get me wrong! In the beginning some of my first layouts were also of a very low quality – and I realized it by comparing it to those great ones published – and therefore I was too embarrassed to publish my first attempts!

The high standard of building and completion of layouts on the net had motivated me to improve my building and completion skills just like with a real layout to the effect that I am now publishing some of my layouts on the net. I think at the moment I have 11 published ones running on the net but, I monitor how many “likes” I get and, if the “rating” drops – I take it off.

I am not saying that layouts should be assessed before being published – This might discourage some of the new members from continuing with MBS – I recall my first published layout and not even getting one “like” in two weeks! This inspired me to jack up my skills and then after the next layout was published....within a week I got 3 “likes”! Wow!! It felt great!

So...what do fellow MBS members think?

[Klartexter]

Hallo Ernest,

die unterschiedlichen Anlagen können ja in erster Linie eine Hilfe sein, um Fehler bei den eigenen Anlagen zu vermeiden. Grundsätzlich kann man die fehlerhaften Anlagen ja auch für den eigenen Bedarf korrigieren, allerdings kann man diese dann nicht wieder ins Netz stellen. Die einzelnen Anlagenbauer haben eben auch unterschiedliche Sichtweisen und Fähigkeiten, das muss man immer mit berücksichtigen. Die meisten Anlagenbauer werden sich wohl über Hinweise und Tipps freuen, andererseits muss meine eigene Sichtweise nicht unbedingt die richtige sein. Du darfst aber selbst stolz auf die Likes sein, die bekommt man in der Regel ja nur, wenn man wirklich etwas Schönes gebaut hat. In diesem Sinn ein Gruß nach Südafrika und einen schönen Sonntag.

Hello Ernest,

The different systems can primarily be a help to avoid errors in one's own systems. In principle, you can also correct the faulty systems for your own needs, but then you cannot put them back online. The individual plant engineers have different views and abilities, and this must always be taken into account. Most plant engineers will be happy to receive hints and tips; on the other hand, my own point of view is not necessarily the right one. But you can be proud of the likes, which you usually only get if you have really built something beautiful. With this in mind, greetings to South Africa and have a nice Sunday.

Walter

[Phrontistes]

Hallo @Klartexter,

vor 44 Minuten schrieb Klartexter:

but then you cannot put them back online

But it is possible to publish the revised layout under a new name, which I find legitimate if the source is acknowledged. _NORJAN does this regularly, for example. He builds several cameras into beautiful installations and then publishes them and writes "_NORJANsCopy" in front of the name." Look here for Exemple: 3443CBB4-6A21-4323-BE22-B9BE80459D86.

Hallo @ern45,

It's true, the quality is extremely variable, but that's the way it is when there is no central assessment, which you don't think makes sense either.

Kind regards

Phrontistes

[simonjackson1964]

Hi Ern

I have to agree with you... Containers sat sideways on flat-bed wagons, massive gaps between ground and track or the track disappearing underground, bridges that are too low, tunnels that are too tight....

But then not everyone is a perfectionist like me. I think I've only published one of my layouts (at V5 or 6, I don't remember exactly which) and even then I was forced to state that there is no road traffic - because road vehicles were simply not working for me...!

I think the thing to remember here is that this is something we do for fun! If it ceases to be that, and becomes a chore, why do it? If, like me, you get a kick out of getting everything just so, then that is part of the fun, but for me that means I'm hardly ever going to publish anything. For other people the pleasure lies in showing off what they've built, and so they publish stuff that might be unfinished or has errors they haven't spotted...

I think that if we were talking about the real world, I would be extremely concerned about the quality of the engineering in some of the railways. If we were talking about physical model railways, I would probably be concerned that some of the models would not physically work. But this is a virtual world with it's own "laws of physics", where a train can pass straight through a  road vehicle on a level crossing without killing several hundred people, and two trains can pass through a diamond crossing in opposite directions at the same time without a massive explosion... (although there is a simple fix for that one).

I think my advice here would be not to get too hung up on the details in other people's layouts. Take inspiration from them, fix the issues if you like, but accept that different people have different standards. It's not like the layout is hurting anyone by being incomplete.

Cheers

Simon

[ern45]

Hallo everyone!

Thank you for the responses - all very valid points made! 

The essence lies in the fact that people have different skills, different standards and different motives for publishing (Simon). 

Having thought about these comments I have come to the conclusion that people find different areas of interest in MBS. For some it is just the track laying with points galore. For others it is massive scenery with overpowering mountains, others enjoy the water/ships side, some the aircraft side or the motor vehicle side etc.  It is when a modeler can combine all of these into one combined layout that you achieve that "exceptional" layout. BUT....some people are not into that....they just enjoy that part of MBS which interest them...and in that lies the fact that they do it because it is fun...to quote Simon: " I think the thing to remember here is that this is something we do for fun! If it ceases to be that, and becomes a chore, why do it?" 

Thank you for the greetings and wishes Walter! On Wednesday 31st May the mouth of the East River opened again....with very little water left in the river now. It will probably take 6 months for the sea to close up the mouth again. We saw it coming as the river was extremely full, so we managed a boat trip on Saturday 28th with a nice braai afterwards (braai = barbeque).

Kind regards to all!

Ernest

[ern45]

18 hours ago, Phrontistes said:

Hallo Klartexter,

But it is possible to publish the revised layout under a new name, which I find legitimate if the source is acknowledged. _NORJAN does this regularly, for example. He builds several cameras into beautiful installations and then publishes them and writes "_NORJANsCopy" in front of the name." Look here for Exemple: 3443CBB4-6A21-4323-BE22-B9BE80459D86.

Hallo ern45,

It's true, the quality is extremely variable, but that's the way it is when there is no central assessment, which you don't think makes sense either.

Kind regards

Phrontistes

Love what NORJAN has done with Donner Pass!