Do you like this town yes or no

[Dave V]

You can see how I have my town laid out...  I have structures on both sides and an intersection like you originally had:

[bc6]

Thanks for the satellite view Dave, it looks much different. Back to the ol drwaing board.

[One of One-Sixty]

What size is your town?  I think that is a key question we all forgot to ask.

As for buildings, I have a collection of building from various companies, not really favoring one over the other with the exception of DPM due to the fact that they are readily available from the LHS.

What you might also looking into doing depending on the era and size of your town is kitbash a few DPM, Tomix, and Kato buildings, so they fit in more with the look of your town.

[One of One-Sixty]

To give you a better idea about what i was talking about with your buildings, here is some examples a friend of mines work where he kitbashed foreign manufacturers buildings to make them more Americanized and fit into his city.

Jim's layout is proto-freelance based in eastern PA a roughly med size town like Lancaster or Reading.

Federal Courthouse - multiple Tomix buildings.


DSCF0404b by Jimmi B Jr, on Flickr

City Hall - Vollmer or Faller

IMAG0037a by Jimmi B Jr, on Flickr


IMAG0001 by Jimmi B Jr, on Flickr

City Hall and Memorial Park, made from 3 Vollmer kits

DSCF1600a by Jimmi B Jr, on Flickr


DSCF1594a by Jimmi B Jr, on Flickr

[bc6]

One of One Sixty thanks for posting your friends work, I think Im going to go for an mid to small size town. Im going to work with what I have and expand on it more. I need to look at some more layout and get a feel as to what Im looking for in a town.

[davefoxx]

bc6,

If I could change my vote I would.  At the time I voted that "It needs more buildings," there was no picture viewable here.  So, if I could change my vote I would.  I agree with the statements about matching the architecture in your modeled area.  When I look at your pictures, it is difficult to even tell that the area would be the United States, but for the American trains, especially considering the Japanese and American mixture of architecture and because your vehicles are driving on the wrong side of the road.   

When you make your revisions, please be sure to post your updates.  The Railwire can be a great source of modeling through peer pressure, which usually results in expanding one's own modeling talents.

DFF

[bc6]

Thanks Dave based on your comments Ive reset the poll now that pics are visible. Thanks for the heads up on the cars on the wrong side of the road. Im going to take a lot of the comments and incorporate them into my town, Ive already re-arranged the town, fixed the flow of traffic and looking for more buildings to add.

[wm3798]

A)  It's too flat.  Even a midwestern cross roads has SOME terrain.  Add some humps and bumps.
B)  It's too parallel to the edge of the table.  Granted, in the west, the railroad came first, so the street grid would match the railroad.  But having it parallel to the edge of the table, an artificial boundary, makes it look toylike.  Skew the whole track plan about 5 degrees, and see how much it improves the viewing angles.
C)  I like the angle street parking.  Very small towny.  However, that would likely be limited to the town square, while other streets in the grid would have curb parking.  (Not a hard and fast rule, but likely more plausible.)
D)  If you're modeling post 1960, I wouldn't worry so much about the mix of Japanese buildings.  I've always thought they looked reasonably like dreadful post modern infill structures common in many otherwise older downtowns.

Lee

[DKS]

A)  It's too flat.  Even a midwestern cross roads has SOME terrain.  Add some humps and bumps.
B)  It's too parallel to the edge of the table.  Granted, in the west, the railroad came first, so the street grid would match the railroad.  But having it parallel to the edge of the table, an artificial boundary, makes it look toylike.  Skew the whole track plan about 5 degrees, and see how much it improves the viewing angles.
C)  I like the angle street parking.  Very small towny.  However, that would likely be limited to the town square, while other streets in the grid would have curb parking.  (Not a hard and fast rule, but likely more plausible.)
D)  If you're modeling post 1960, I wouldn't worry so much about the mix of Japanese buildings.  I've always thought they looked reasonably like dreadful post modern infill structures common in many otherwise older downtowns.

+1. Lee and I don't always see eye to eye on some of the finer aspects of architecture, but with respect to these basic observations, we're in 100% agreement--particularly on Point A, and to a lesser extent Point B; regarding the latter, if a 5-6 degree angle isn't feasible, then angle some of the cross streets to make odd-shaped corners; they make for more interesting structures.

[Nato]

             If you grew up in Salt Lake City,Utah the extra wide downtown streets are normal also the regular perfect square blocks. When laid out by Brigham Young and the Pioneers streets were made wide enough to U  turn a wagon and ox team in. Their width has carried over to modern era execpt with light rail Trax now running down the center of Main Street there are fewer auto lanes and no more angled parking where cars rears stuck out almost into the street. As you go out to the urbs all that changes,winding roads some of which were in the rural country before urban sprawl streets that run at angles and smaller towns that have expanded and meshed with the citiy boundries.One consistent thing though also found in other Utah towns is the street numbering system,the Temple Square downtown is considered "Ground Zero" and all addresses are so many blocks North,South,East,or West of this. If I live at 6200 South and 2300 East then you get the general idea. I much perfer other cities with their mix of growth grids.The photos of some of the Americanized foreigh buildings are nice but that building with the added clock tower and all the blue trim still looks like it belongs in Paris ,France. Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.