Do you have on favorite scene on your layout?

That really looks great Andre.

Brian,

I'd estimate Clarke has produced in the neighborhood of 50 private residential layouts during his time in this business, and he's assembled quite the crack staff of artisans, carpenters, and wiring experts -- many of whom have been with Dunham Studios for a good chunk of those layouts, not to mention the commercial projects as well.  It's so tough to rank these layouts, because they each have their own personality.  Nonetheless, I'm extremely pleased with how everything turned out with mine.  My only regret is that I didn't plan for a staging yard either in a different room (which I suppose is always still possible) or within the same footprint as a lower level (which would be impossible at this stage due to the portability design of the layout platforms and support structures). 

The layout as it currently exists is a wonderful "stage" that fits my preferred style of running multiple trains with enough variety of routes on the main level to keep things interesting, while the upper and lower levels are more for unattended running of additional trains for added interest of 3-dimensional motion.  Thinking of the trains as actors on a stage, it would be ideal to allow different trains to enter and exit the stage WITHOUT manually touching the rolling stock.  That's where a staging yard connected to the main level of the layout would have been an ideal way to shuttle trains on/off the stage.  But we'll need to leave that for another day -- if ever.

Beyond that though, this layout has been a terrific culmination of lots of ideas in my head -- brought to life by a wonderful team of craftspeople.  It is "A" version of what I was thinking about AND could afford.  If I had to describe the finished layout in a nutshell, it's a version that represents a whimsical, almost toy-train atmosphere with lots of Lionel tinplate buildings and accessories, along with Dept 56 buildings as well as some newer operating accessories and a few Korber buildings painted to blend seamlessly into the bright colors of Lionel tinplate buildings.  Amidst this hybrid stage of hi-rail and toy train landscapes runs anything from Lionel tinplate trains to Lionel postwar-style trains all the way to the latest scale equipment primarily made by Lionel, MTH and Atlas-O.

It's certainly NOT 3-rail scale.  And it's not even pure hi-rail either, since there are some scenes that have just enough detail in them to allow our brain to fill in the missing details that would otherwise be present in a truly hi-rail or 3-rail scale layout.  Making this all come together is what Clarke and his team do best -- given the finite parameters of a financial budget.  Team Dunham could certainly have produced a more highly detailed, 1,000% ultra-realistic version of my layout from corner to corner in every sense of the word .  But that would have blown the budget into the stratosphere.  And truth be told, there's a law of diminishing returns that kicks in when the clock is running.  Time is "real money" when somebody else is doing the detailed work.  Whereas when WE undertake our own projects on the layout, they fall more into the labor-of-love category -- which is another way of saying that we could never afford to pay ourselves for all the time WE put into various enhancements to the layout.  For the most part, I'd say we pay ourselves with the satisfaction of a job well-done. 

So even the privately commissioned layouts are never quite 100% done... and there's always something to do.

David 

Great pics guys!!

Thanks,

Gary.

Splendid scenes, indeed!!!  Can't believe it's coming up on a year since your layout was featured in CTT last December.

JDADDY. I had to look your pic again. The bar/billiards building and the other structure are so well placed on that part of your layout. I am sure that many of us have walked down a street like that in real life!

Well Done.

Gary.