John Armstrong. Creative Layout Design (1978)

     John Armstrong. Creative Layout Design (1978) Still one of the best introductions to layout design, as opposed to track planning. Armstrong’s book consists of expanded versions of articles he wrote for Model Railroader. He expands on the backstory, the design criteria such as historical era, layout purpose, and so on, that are less obvious yet turn out to govern the design even more than the available space, finances, and time constraints. Beginning with just such constraints (space or location, scale and gauge, etc), Armstrong shows how some one aspect of the design task governs all others. Recently, there have been a spate of books about design in general, and each agrees with Armstrong: that all design is a compromise of competing interests, desires, and constraints.

     Throughout, Armstrong relates his designs to specific prototypes, which guides not only the schematics of the track plan but also the scenic treatment and the inevitable tradeoffs. It also allows him to offer designs for all types of model railroaders, from the train watcher to the operation nut.
     Armstrong attempts to get the most operational track into the available space. At first glance, his plans look very much like the spaghetti-bowl style he reacted against. But closer examination shows that his careful placement of viewblocks and backdrops, his use of multiple levels, staging yards, and aisles, all work to control what the operator sees, and so create the desired illusion of one railroad alone, at work in land- or cityscape. The majority of his plans are buildable by a solo modeller, but most would benefit from the help of a circle of friends, both in building and for operation.
     Armstrong pioneered and established what many now consider standard practices: viewblocks, staging yards, multiple levels, reference to actual railroads, and so on. He built on Frank Ellison’s concept of the layout as a stage. Iain Rice has taken both these pioneers’ work a step further: he starts with a theme, and works backwards to the track plan, which sometimes seems to be mere afterthought, until you realise how cunningly it’s been integrated in the total design. ***½ (2004)