N-Scale - What is the average mind set?

[robert3985]

And you know this how, exactly?

And thank you for a good chuckle--your deconstruction of the "rule" was quite the rib-tickler... methinks you are reading entirely too much into it, and getting hung up on the isolated definition of the word...

I know it the same way you do...to quote you "I have seen it".

Yeah DKS, we all have our hot-buttons.  This is one of mine, just like absolutes drive you crazy.

I always enjoy a spirited conversation...Thanks again! 

[John]

For every stunning photo you see here and elsewhere know that there is a whole memory card full of crappy pictures of crappy models to go with it.

I just have the memory card full of the latter    

[jlong]

DKS...that's the point.  Obviously, since "...one moves closer to the layout to place items on the rails." the 3ft "rule" is obviously spurious...obviously.  If all details not able to be seen at an arbitrary distance of 3ft were superfluous, then trains wouldn't run, turnouts wouldn't work, solid state electronics wouldn't work...ad nauseum.

Of course people look at their layout and work from different distances.  But to assume they're backing off to look because details disgust them, or  they're thinking "Uh oh, I can see some details, so I'd better back off to three feet" is ridiculous.  They're just getting a different perspective...obviously.

To state a fact.  Everybody in this hobby gets up close and squints at their models, or their layouts...sometimes stooping to do so.  EVERYBODY does it...100% of us!  Not all the time...obviously...but on a regular basis.

Stating that I'm being "disrespectful" by calling this spurious "rule" a "crock" is 100% correct.  It doesn't deserve a whit of respect...because it isn't a "rule"...it's a fabrication, and it governs nobody...unless, of course, you choose to be governed by a spurious rule.

Assuming that I'm disrespectful of everybody who looks at their layout from more than six inches away, is patently ridiculous...but also very funny! 


Thanks DKS for the laughs!!

No.....thank-you for the laughs. You take the 3 foot rule litterally. It's a loose term that's been around for decades. Yes it means standing from 3 feet away but it also means what we don't notice won't hurt us when it comes to scale fidelity. Sure we squint at our models from 6" away but if we don't know or care to know if the air cylinders on the trucks are right or wrong, what difference does it make??? All that matters is the major proportions are right or close to right and current Mfg's are doing a good job with this.  A good number of N scalers wouldn't know how to tell a GP-7 from a GP-9. Do they care? Not many do. Are they having fun? Yes. Get the picture? FUN. Can you say that word, Robert?

[DKS]

[VonRyan]

I think we should rename the forum to "The Memewire"

 






-Cody F.

[PAL_Houston]

thanks everyone!  This has been a fun read!

Me, I am definitely not your average modeler.....maybe a p70 on the distribution if we are talking about height and weight, or age.

I might be p50 or so if we are discussing longevity in the hobby...for me that'd be about 7 years (not counting Lionel when I was a kid)

I am definitely sub-standard, probably a 2 sigma on the low end if we are talking about modeling quality...I haven't gotten around to "whethering" or weathering much of anything that rolls, and super-detailing is not my thing either. 

("Whethering" is hereby defined as "the process of deciding whether or not a particular piece of rolling stock is appropriate and is appropriately painted, decaled, etc. for the era you model.")

But I do use C-55 and weather the rails, and also put down ballast in multiple layers and colors.... etc. etc.

And as to the "3 foot rule", well, in my opinion it's kind of like the "5-second rule":  it definitely applies right up until the point that I gross myself out and decide it doesn't apply to me in this instance.  You know, like that donut that fell face down into a pool of motor oil.  Or, kind of like speed limits - most times it's best to observe them but sometimes they are too fast (like rush-hour) and sometimes they are too slow like when you are trying to pass grandma on a 2-line highway and traffic is coming the other way!

Regards,
Paul

[wcfn100]

If you model post-'53, cars like the Atlas Steel Rebuilts need to have their K Brake replaced with an AB Brake if they are going to remain in interchange service.

Average can go pound sand.

Jason

[mmagliaro]

...
...
...
You probably don't want to take on too much work, because then it stops being fun and you feel more stressed about your hobby time than if you're doing it for yourself. (I know this first hand.)

Lee

+1  WHAT HE SAID.

Like Lee, I don't do a lot of "hired gun" work.  I do a little.  People send me locos to fix, and I do those K4 rebuilds.  And no, this is not a plug.... DON'T SEND ME YOUR ENGINES, PLEASE!   

Because I found, like Lee suggested, that when 3 engines pile up on my workbench, and I know people are waiting for them,
it is stressful.   We are not "Wal-Mart" (at least, I'm not, and I'm assuming that you are not), meaning that you want
to do a beautiful job every single time.  You don't want a single customer getting your custom-painted engine and saying
anything less than, "*#()*@   He's GOOD."

That's a stressful thing.   Every time I mail an engine back to somebody, no matter how nice I think it runs for me,
I do not cash the check and I bite nails until I get a message from the customer saying it's beautiful.   

Stress...  yikes, it sure is.

[robert3985]

No.....thank-you for the laughs. You take the 3 foot rule litterally. It's a loose term that's been around for decades. Yes it means standing from 3 feet away but it also means what we don't notice won't hurt us when it comes to scale fidelity. Sure we squint at our models from 6" away but if we don't know or care to know if the air cylinders on the trucks are right or wrong, what difference does it make??? All that matters is the major proportions are right or close to right and current Mfg's are doing a good job with this.  A good number of N scalers wouldn't know how to tell a GP-7 from a GP-9. Do they care? Not many do. Are they having fun? Yes. Get the picture? FUN. Can you say that word, Robert?

Thank you for your well thought-out response and the exceptionally logical and well-worded manner with which you got your point across.  We'll just have to agree to disagree.
(lesson learned from Jason (superturbine)...thank you Jason)

[Chris333]

Seems like it has been a month since I was last within 3 feet of my trains... 

[babbo_enzo]

The "3ft rule" is a crock.
Well, it ... depends from your eyes? And... 3' in N scale correspond to 6' in HO?
 

[rogergperkins]

As to level of detail on a model railroad layout,  I like to run and watch trains, thus I want to have sufficient detail in the scene, scenery and structures to evoke a memory of the actual place being modeled and will spend my time on those details rather than on adding detail to locomotives and rolling stock.
So my focus could be described and reviving personal memories of railroading days long gone.

[sirenwerks]

I think a good example of how the 3 foot rule hurts N scale is when some manufacturers develop their products with the same mindset.  Take for instance brick structures.  I'm not advocating for exact scale brick here, but some manufacturers create models that are actually scale concrete block in a brick color.  Or the monster window mullions on laser cut kits.  Or how Walthers engineered the joints of its modular wall system.  Even 3 feet away, those looked like crap, IMO.

Personal perception has a lot to do with it obviously, awareness of the world around you and the value system you place in trying to represent it is the crux though.  3 footers are the guys who drive slow in the passing lane and refuse to move over when the slow lane's clear; the kid whose mother told him he was special and he can do anything he wants, when he really wasn't and can't; the ones who don't pay attention to the cat when they're in the matrix.  So, red pill or blue?  Or would you prefer Koolaid?

[VonRyan]

As to level of detail on a model railroad layout,  I like to run and watch trains, thus I want to have sufficient detail in the scene, scenery and structures to evoke a memory of the actual place being modeled and will spend my time on those details rather than on adding detail to locomotives and rolling stock.
So my focus could be described and reviving personal memories of railroading days long gone.

I have to agree with this.
 I myself am a very old soul, preferring a Ford Model A over any car post 1989.
(I was deadset on buying a 1967 AMC Rambler American for only $3000, and in amazing shape, but It was quite the hard sell to my mother)

I model mostly between WWII and 1956 so that I can "live" in an era that I feel more at home in... A time of great American industry and the postwar economic boom.
I also am looking into modeling early 1900s PRR/PRSL to try and recreate how my hometown of Repaupo, NJ looked pre-WWI and during WWI when there was still a major amount of traffic to and from DuPont, and there was actual passenger trains coming down the line, which turned into only a doodlebug sometime in the '20s or '30s.
Only downfall is that I have been unable to find a single picture of the Repaupo station.



-Cody F.

[DKS]

Cody, you might want to check out this group: http://www.aerialarchives.com/Historical-Aerials-New-Jersey.htm

Contact them via email for details, as they have a lot more in their archives than what's online.

They might have some aerial images of your hometown, or possibly not; worth a look. Obviously it won't solve your station dilemma, but it might inspire other ideas.