> To animate or not animate that is the question.
> Andy Malette
Andy....
Pardon me, Andy, for an opposite opinion. But you are posing the wrong
question. The correct question, in my view at least, is: How can someone
animate in a realistic manner? I agree with Mr. Degnan that toylike animation
is not what we want on our layouts. However, I would think most of us would
enjoy the creativity of some realistic animation that is plausible and
authentically reproduces the real world in a smaller size.
Advantages of realistic animation:
1. It can be inexpensive.
2. It can be mentally challenging.
3. It can be very appealing to non-railroaders as well as train guys.
4. It makes your layout different from all others. Unique!
5. It has endless variety.
Why not start with RR-related animation like operating crossing gates and
flashing grade crossing lights as Dick Karnes is doing. Just a realistic bell
or whistle for your favorite loco is a form of animation -- sort of. Then move
on to more scenic stuff like rotating windmills, working traffic lights,
flashing billboards, smoking smokestacks, etc. which are not hard to build/buy
and do create interest. Rivets are not the only thing that are interesting.
Once your juices are really flowing, advance to scratchbuilding most anything
you want. There is an HO layout in this area with a fully working logging
operation complete with crane, overhead wires, tongs for the logs, loading onto
flat cars, etc. It is an amazing creation out in the woods where the
lumberjacks are hard at work. Logs are picked up off the ground, moved via
overhead cables to a siding, and then lowered onto empty flat cars. If you
model the 1940s era, why not have some background music from WWII to create
some ambiance and establish the time frame? Nothing like good wartime marching
music to get your blood flowing a bit faster.
None of this is difficult to do and each adds some measure of enjoyment to a
layout.
Having fun? You bet....Ed L.
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