04-17-2009, 07:25 AM
It's hard to say... where do you draw the line between cliche and "poor practice"? E.g. cliche is too many tunnels in a prairie layout, but overly tight curves combined with AutoMax car carriers is simply poor practice that will lead to operational headaches.
I tend to think of cliches as the naked swimmer, the crashed car with attendant police, train wreck, and possibly many of the Woodland Scenics mini-scenes. Cliches aren't necessarily poor practice, but things that really make (most) viewers groan (silently or not...
) when they see it on a layout.
Some things you've highlighted though seem to blur the line - like the spagetti bowl of track. While the trackwork, turnouts, scenery etc may be impeccible, there is simply no way that a prototype - even allowing for modellers' licence and selective compression - would have laid out something like that.
Interesting, though-provoking topic!
Andrew
I tend to think of cliches as the naked swimmer, the crashed car with attendant police, train wreck, and possibly many of the Woodland Scenics mini-scenes. Cliches aren't necessarily poor practice, but things that really make (most) viewers groan (silently or not...
) when they see it on a layout.Some things you've highlighted though seem to blur the line - like the spagetti bowl of track. While the trackwork, turnouts, scenery etc may be impeccible, there is simply no way that a prototype - even allowing for modellers' licence and selective compression - would have laid out something like that.
Interesting, though-provoking topic!
Andrew