I had the chance to visit Bruce's layout during the NMRA National Convention in Grand Rapids, MI during the Summer of 2012. It really is a spectacular layout and was on my bucket list. Sit back and enjoy!
Mr. Chubb is up there with the great model railroad pioneers. I remember so many of his articles in publication when I was just getting into the hobby in the early 80's. I could barley grasp his concepts of computer interface back then. His IBM Commodores looked like something out of the future. He remains well ahead of his time.
I can't believe what's happened since my teenage days visiting Bruce's home and "playing with trains" in what I remember was just an ordinary room converted to an operating rail system. It was fun!
Wow! For me, the most amazing thing is that a home layout of this magnitude can ever get to the state of completion evident in the video. I know he had help, but it's still an amazing accomplishment.
I am one of the lucky ones. I work on the HVAC system here. It is as cool as he is saying. Very overwhelming. With souch to see. I even got a chance to drive one of the trains. Way cool!!!
I never knew or remember who started it or own it.. but in the mid 1950 we seen the Sunset Valley R.R. It was even then, it was a very large layout. We remember them talking about how they started to use the South Pacific Daylight colors.. The two most large layout at that time was this one and The V&O. Use to see these the Modeler Railroader Maz. off and on. Very impressive modeling.
I don't know who the camera belongs to but I can tell you that you need to slow down.I ran camera everyday before taping became the standard ,one of the things I had to learn was to slow down so the viewer could see what you were showing.Its better to see the layout once well than many times in the few moments you have for recording,fast pans as most yours were come across to the viewer as mostly a blur.
Many years ago, I contacted Bruce Chubb. He was so rude that I decided never to contact him again. I don't use his designs on my layout. I haven't read his book though I possess it. What a shameful example of what not to be.
Ken, we probably could do it except that I can't afford it. It's in the Grand Rapids, MI area, which is a long drive from here. However if we did get to go I would take you to Grand Haven as well to the Iron Mountain, Marquette, & Lake Superior to video tape for the MR article. There is also a layout in Mattawan that I would want to see and photograph. Money more than time stand in my way.
Just take your stock, locos, trees, what track you can save, structures, etc, and repurpose them on a layout with world class detail. If you need some pointers i suggest you watch luke towans how to scenery videos. In my opinion he is the best there is. Blows you outta the water 10 times over. I couldnt do scenery for shit then i watched and watched and watched and watched his videos and bought me and airbrush and spent a few hundred on chalks, brushes, accessories, dies, paints, etc. and the very first thing i did was weather one of my walthers flat bed long cars with tire marks and did my trucks, the sides dulled it all down with a diluted flat white and i just laughed when i was done. You would have thought i bought that 25$ carr for 79.99 at a trainshow. From there my scenery skills took off and i was making my own trees using natural products from outdoors with woodland scenics products for the leaves and such and airbrushed them lightly to simulate light. From what i saw your trees look like they were fresh out the box.
Here is a friendly critique of cameramen who always seem to be on Speed, who dart and feint with the camera as if they were ducking punches in a prize fight, who apparently are commanded by some railroad god to NEVER stop shooting but keep the camera rolling on pain of death. Don't you dare stop, re-position, frame, and shoot, with maybe a SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW pan here or there. If you went slower, maybe I could see where are all those blessed fish this fellow is talking about.
And also the layout has merit but its just become a huge mess. Way too much and way overdone. Too bad. You get to a point with a project where its almost perfect but to completely destroy a family home with a complete mess is kinda self defeating. Although id love to see it in person though. But turning your kitchen and bathroom and closets into layouts its way to much. I remember watching this guys model railroad how to videos as a kid 30 years ago and remembering when he talked how his head bobbled up and down and twitched and shit and now i just finally remembered it and typed it into my youtube search and now ive finally seen the whole layout and what a discombobulated mess it is it all makes sense now. Bruce burn it down and put a new sensible layout together in a basement. Like a massively super detailed 15 by 25 instead of a gigantic massive mess that i just saw. Its too bad your obsession got the best of you. Ive seen layouts in basements that took 3 or 4 years to build but the scenery was super detailed. Almost where the scenery took center stage to the trains. You let your trains take center stage to your scenery. Thats kinda okie scenery. Nice but messy.
+chris kenemore No. You must not have seen the track plan. This layout is pretty realistic and is aimed at real train operation. It's based on the SP's Siskiyou Line and has many other branches and other railroads throughout the area. This layout is not your so-called "Spaghetti Bowl" It's just a really big layout. PS I don't think the full size dispatcher panels are for spaghetti bowl operations...
You don’t know what you’re talking about. Trains move from lower to upper staging. Dr. Chubb wrote the book on operation and car forwarding. ( how to operate your model railroad. By Bruce Chubb)
