Customer Reviews

Great Toy Train Layouts of America, Parts 1-6

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have no other model train videos to compare this to, but it didn't disappoint. The fact that it was shot a couple of decades ago on tape is evident, and it does not seem to be one single documentary, but a series of shows put together on one DVD.

Quality varies. Different segments cover different people and their train layouts. Some of the segments carry on too long about the hobbyist's background, etc. and not quite enough on the trains. I found some of the layouts covered, frankly, to be a little boring, but a few of them were really inventive and inspiring.

One of the hobbyists (who is only briefly mentioned in the Amazon description above) is a dentist named Michael Primack whose layout I loved the most, complete with actual loading and unloading docks. He also had one of the really good insights of all: that layouts where you can see the trains all the time can actually be pretty boring -- the trains should disappear and reappear through tunnels and mountains to be intriguing. It seemed to me that some of the other layouts shown proved him to be correct, and this is a key feature I will keep in mind.

But, if you are dreaming about taking this up as a hobby, one thing this DVD does is give you a reality check on what you're in for -- lots of work, probably years of it. So, it's fun to sit back and enjoy what others have done, especially some of the inspired hobbyists shown here.