Model Train Layout Comes Alive

This was TOO COOL…….

Holy crap!!!
George Lucas’ Starwars is nothing compared to this. This video must have been a lot of work creating all the animations.

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed it a lot and it gave me some inspirations.
Juergen

Amazing! But how real is it? It can’t be real. Can it?

hello
brilliant video
and a great sound track
what is the name of the music
again what great video

Absolutely beautiful. Magnificent. How the heck did they… never mind. Just watch and enjoy.

All I can say is : WOW!!!!

just one word. BRILLIANT.

This is just so horrendously fantastically done !!! ))
I could have never dreamed of something like this when I built MY model railroads….. oh….. some 40+ years ago

Awesomely creative ! Well done !

this was so cool

there are many subjects one can use time. putting one’s abilities and thoughts into a layout
is the essence of the finished product. rough, fine art, hidden adventures in tunnels and those
tracks that one may wonder—is it right ? Electronics, grain of wheat or LED is the light of any layout. Steam-diesel or or that wooden thomas the tank may raise an eye brow. 2011 what
are we planning with so many innovations. Dreams are really productive with a plan.

That was very nicely done, obviously a lot of work. Re-enforces the old saying “Be careful what you wish for”.
Barry Palmer

what a great little film .my God that was fantastic,I cant pres it enough..well looking forward to the next well done mate!!!!!

This is the kind of inspiration that makes you want to get better at this hobby. This was outstanding. A standing ovation and aplaud.

Great Video. Nice layout also!

Totally amazing! Very entertaining, very good! Hope you have figured out how to make money doing this.

Fantastic animation, a real pleasure to watch, makes you wish you could make even a small animation on a layout

outstanding video would have taken hours or days to make

Great…BUT ….I want to do this…on my layout..tooooo

that is neat

SO beautiful. Thank you. Made me so happy. Tequila Mockingbird. Hahahaha…. Bravo.

That was very COOL!!!! Well done. MN, USA

That was an interesting piece of programming and since I cannot get in my loft to play trains anymore must be whats going on up there. Haha if the truth were only known. All in all a very clever piece of work if a little far fetched for train buffs.

Awesome vidio

That is something, now how do we do that??

Fantastic…unbelieveable… Hollywood production?!!!

Wow, What a great job, the modeling, video and music. I can’t imagine the hours that went into this.

Fantastic. And upto the Time Stop point was exactly how I see my model railway when I am at the controls. Thank you most enjoyable.

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Gives me some good ideas.

That was really spectacular. I can not imagine the amount of work that went into creating such a detailed mixture of animation and modeling. I enjoyed it very much.

Just wonderful.

The animation is beyond stunning, but apart from being very clever, it is also very funny; very inventive. I enjoyed the lighting too, especially the very late afternoon sunshine; very effective. My layout is full of the finest detail. I’ve always striven for that and visitors always remark on how much more interesting it looks because of that. We all know that the addition of figures – lots of them – gives an animated look. There are little stories going on all over the place.
The one thing I don’t do, although it’s very nice in its own way, is the smoke. It always leaves a deposit and, heaven knows, it’s hard enough to keep a layout clean!
A remarkable and very enjoyable video.

This is great. I agree, someone had a little extra time and money on their hands. Maybe they can come over to my house and help me with my layout…. LOL. Great Movie!

OMG this is Great! That’s how I want to portray my layout. I am so into realism I think I get caught up in the effects as opposed to getting tha layout actually done.

I’m still working on running 2 trains at once. Thad Carter

Totally amazing!!!!…. Fabulous. Just fabulous…. What an awesome accomplishment.

Wow, great video. The animation was unbelievable.

Nice story. But it’s not about model railroading. How do we know how much of the visuals were actual models, and how much were computer generated and enhanced?

Very entertaining. Nicely done.

Well; I to like animation, and this is a very interesting display of talent in this direction. Only the hobby seams to drift toward video rather then modeling. Which is fine as it takes one to another level in modeling. It brings in the realism of movement which in a lot of layouts, is missing. there are many very interesting scenes on a layout but it is stagnant, movement is needed to bring it –Over the Top!
I like the making of the models along with the machining of the engines. But the rest is stagnant. Still, people in a hesitation mode. Like a living snap shot.

totally awesome and the best realistic display I’ve EVER seen!

wow,very,very good,well done.

Quite a vedeo. Really excellent. Can’t say enough about it

Two thumbs up.

Interesting. Wonder how they did it.

That was terrific. It expresses well what most model railroaders attempt to achieve. They are attempting to recreate things they have seen or remember. Thank you.

Wow!! (my only comment other than wow is where are the eyes?) I made this comment before I saw other reviews. There is a huge amount of talent here on display

Dumbfounded, how, beautiful, more.

Absolutely Fantastic!!! That is an amazing piece of workmanship.

Thanks for sharing.

Totally awesome and inspiring. Can’t thank you enough, but THANKS anyway.
Will Farr

That was some awesome video editing! Great Clockstoppers action.

I always enjoy looking at layouts for do’s and do’nts ………..had to watch this one more than once.

That was phenominal. To bring a train layout alive is great. The best part was when the little boy had someone to share it with. That realy mde the movie. Thank you for your creation.

Wow, someone has a really great sense of humor and some awsome computer skills.
Finally, Steve, something worthwhile on your site. Kept me hooked.

Wow!!!
Was this done by an ‘amateur’?? I think in that case there will be jobs for that person at animation studio’s!

Erik
The Netherlands

very nice and amazing! Great job

AMAZING!!!! You weren’t kidding when it said layout comes to life. Props to whoever did this!!
Enjoyed it a lot!!! Really put a smile on my face and a longing for simpler times and less stress.
Thanks for posting and sharing!!!

Amazing vid. Enjoyed it a lot.

Great video
great sound track
1 -10 —– 10plus

very nice and realistic,how did you get the animation?Vry cool. GREAT JOB !!!

This is the best MRR video I have ever seen, no I have to start over. LOL Any way to see it in full screen? Thanks

Awesome! Lots of chuckles. So many puns. Great job!

Great video work

WELL DONE !!! SAVING TO REPLAY !!!

I can’t say more than has already been said.

Fantastic, was wondering how they made the birds fly, once the time stopped I figured out the whole video was animated, great job.

Really great. Of course you had to have a really realistic layout to start with in order to pull it off. Congradulations!!

The ultimate train layout! Great video and a nice story to go with it!

I cannot imagine how the animation was done. It is a nice little story with excellent editing and a sensitive expression of emotion. How long did it take?

I’m speechless!

Thank you for sharing. . .I once had a dream like this as a kid. It took me back so many years. Thank you again.

The sentiment and story is spot on but what makes this all plausible is the quality of modelling.
FANTASTIC!!!!!!!

That is really cool. Two thumbs up. Thanks

Rod

careful what you wish for!aside from that that is what you wish for when you set-up these diarama’s.it was also an excellent portrayal.

Very interesting . I enjoyed it

great would be better if a bit longer

cool beans!!! Great video!

way cool

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the video of the young boy who finds a “magic watch” in his box of Cracker Jax! When he was crossing the street, a 1957 Chevy passes by. This was the exact car, and color, that my mother owned when I was a boy growing up in Newark! For that moment, I was very moved as it brought back many memories. I thought it sweet, and romantic, that the boy came across a girl who was wearing the same watch……..none of us will know of the mysterious adventures both of them will encounter. (Note: I did not see any mention of the owner of the train layout or, the creator of the video. Comments from others?)

Ken

A nice play on the Twilight Zone episode, “A Kind of a Stopwatch”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Kind_of_a_Stopwatch This one, however, has a happy ending!

Quite an inspiring video that must have taken a lot of imagination and work.

This is awesome. Great ideas and superb detailing.

Love it
Matt

Absolutely incredible what a way to go how is it done even birds in flight a real touch of realism

I am totally stunned, amazed, awestruct! Wow! I want one of those watches! An absolutely fantastic piece of work – but HOW did you do it? Thanks for the dreams.

interesting

WOW!!! GREAT clip

That is the second time I have been directed to that video in two days The animation is extremely fine and fluid. Yes the lay out is well done and make a great background for the animation. Interesting how well they tell the story just through the animation . Reminds me of the old silent movies.

Wow, outstanding! WAY cool!!!

That was the best ever. Love the music and the little boy and all the trouble he gets into. Great job on the video. The effects were wonderful and the music went with the things that the little boy did.

Absolutely Fantasic……

What an awesome video. fantastic idea for animation.

I’m speechless!!!

Unbelievable! Don’t know if I should have seen this!. I have so far to go to get to this standard – but I will enjoy trying, it will just take time.

Far out !!!

Hello everyone this is Hugh’s wife who has ordered, yes ordered me to come and look at this email video. Now I shall comment.

WARNING: Dont try these stunts at home!

Definitely Beyond The Black Stump!!!!!

Dan, That was just amazing and if anyone else has said it they were right. If there was a Film Award for this catagorie it would surly take First Place in every division. I am going to be sure to show this to all my friends when they come over to see how I am coming with my model.

Again, Two Giant Thumbs Up!!!!!!!!

Sincerly, Jim S.

just great, really enjoyed it. I guess when I run my layout ,I imagine it is alive too.

A fine presentation; to say the least!

There is much more to this excellent work than meets the eye or ear.

Every company that is named is an actual post production company based in Texas (most of them are in Dallas although the scenery looks more like Austin). The Logos are accurate too.

Supercalifrgileisticexpeealidoshes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not poetic enough to begin to describe the depth of my awe inspired feelings,or the superb technical quality of this vid !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you ever so much for your efforts on our behalf. BRAVO !!! BRAVO !!!! BRAVO !!! APPLUASE , APLUASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank yoU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just one word for this….supercalifragilisticexpialidotious!!! (don’t know if the spelling is right)

Excellent film, makes you want to be a little boy again. Great job scenery, looks real.

Absolutely awesome.could not imagine the amount of work which went into creating this video or the amount of time it took to put the idea together.Then one has got to consider the engineering in order to get the movement of the figures.Obviously the creator must be very advanced in computer as well as in model making.This is a master peace and full congratulation to the maker. Tony H.

5 MINUTES AND 26 SECONDS OF JOY AND THE LAYOUT WAS PRETTY GOOD TOO.

WOW! Holy Crap! Well done! Standing ovations! Loved it! What happened??? Did the girl start life again??? What happens after we leave the layout room???

That was quite charming. Looked like a labour of love.

What can you say great

Is nothing sacred?

Amazing Video! Can’t be real

Very good modeling. I love to model and make scenes, especially animated scenes. So, please, teach me how to make the people move and the bird fly.

I am amazed at the creativity.

Plasticville purse snatcher? This is the end. What’s next? Zombees, Deloreans being pushed by
steam engines or flying? Harry Potter zooming on a broomstick? Wake up and recognize what you are really seeing!

Wow! Great job! I had to laugh when I think of my wife’s reaction while I was measuring out a roll of toilet paper. She thought I was nuts! When she saw the outhouse that I made in HO scale, she got a kick out of it.

Excellent is about all that I can say. It is hard to believe that someone can make such a video.

A cleverly annimated little story. However, there needs to be much more awareness of producers of any type of film format as to the safety factors involved in their stories.This not only applies to
this particular film, but to all films showing children in hazardous situations,(ie.) life jackets in water scenarios and in this case, playing around, or even being near railway tracks is a risky
past-time and not to be taken so frivilously. When I was a youngster, I met two kids while I was
in hospital recovering from an operation, and both those boys had lost either toes or a limb due to
playing around train yards. As fate would have it, I consequently, as an adult, came to work with both these guys over a period of years. Strange or what?
My message is to preach safety, anywhere children are involved, even on film!
Congrats on a technical job well done with an excellent layout of urban scenery.

L.B., Toronto, Canada

Fantastic, Technology has come to Model Railroad. Bring train layouts to life. Wow this was magical .

I am a TCA member. I wish your video had shown more of the running trains/ town/industrial complex BUT it was great! The ballast and the sand between the ballast on parallel tracks. The amazing animation, and the ‘stop action’ watch were great ideas. Terrific video, amazing lay-out (as much as I got to see).

Great Little Clip it’s a pitty that we can’t get our people and the like moving on our lay-out but such is liife but still a Very Intreging Idea !!!

Absolutely Awsome! The best I have ever seen with a model rr layout. Professional quality for sure!

Stunning! (-:

very nice. reminds me of an old Twilight Zone eposde. The layout is spectacular.

AWESOME!!! My son wanted more trains, but he’s only three and didn’t get it. Again, AWESOME!

Very cleaver! But I don’t want to see little people runnning around my lay out. I would have doubts about my mental health.

That is a hard one to follow…great bit of editing

that was super! very imaginative!

I really enjoyed this trip into “Fantasy Land”; very creative and well done.

Animation was truly amazing!!! Something to consider in the future.

For those of you who might be interested, there is a small behind-the-scenes article here:
http://motionographer.com/2011/11/01/aicp-southwest-2011-sponsor-reel/

Thought I had seen the greatest model railroad video’s, not true. This knocks the socks off them all. I think eyes on the figures in this video will complete this outstanding video.

Thanks Jason, that is an interesting behind the scenes story and well worth reading.
Cheers
Dan

This was amazing,congratulations on a fantastic video

Great! A lot of time and effort must have gone into this.

that was just fantastic

Fantastic do more for us to enjoy your great work oscar winning work

Great video, For the train hobby fans the scenary is great, very detailed and represent the town living around train activity.

Thanks for sharing this video

Delightfully done! Masterful mix of train video and stop-frame animation. NICE WORK!

Great animation; super detailing

Absolutely brilliant. I want to go fish in that river

The video of the boy stopping time was very good and must have taken a lot of time and talent but very impressive. Regarding some of the other subjects for beginners, if they’re like me I have trouble following written instructions but if someone can show me how to do something I pick it up very fast. I find tutorial videos very easy to follow tools and would like to see more of them. It’s always good to see there are different ways to do the same thing and often times they’re easier than the way I’ve always done them. Keep up the good work!!!
Barry Palmer

Awsome nicelly done good to watch whens the next one?

Beautiful. Absolutely smashing. I love it. And I hope the two youngsters do well in the rest of their life.

Perhaps you could do a video of what an engineer sees from the cab of one, or more, of the locomotives on your layout. I think that would be a very good layout tour to show.

that is SO cool i wish train sets had there own world like that

Hi that’s quite a nifty video with all the moving live figures. I don’t know how that was done but it must have taken some time.It looks like the people were made of clay and then photographed in different positions in sequence and the scale was probably larger than HO. The time of the video location looks like the the 50s somewhwere out west in a small town near a mainline of an American RR. It would be just fantastic to have everything moving on a real model layout.Bill in Victoria BC

It was very enjoyable and different.

That was “” brilliant “” thank you for sharing.

What an interesting and amazing story how was it done and scenery too! Amazing

what a film,it was so enjoyable,i liked it a lot,good luck for the future.

That was way cool. Glad I watched. Way beyond my skills, but very entertaining and lots of great ideas.

Wow ! That is simply awesome. Fantastic story line and great special effects, cool sound track. This is one video to definately bookmark and share with others. Who said model railways were boring ! Only if I could get the little people to finish off my layout…
Cheers for the great video, well enjoyed.

This may be the start of a new kind of model train video. To take a trip through a model train layout and have everything that would move, move. I would think that many layout creators would love to see their layouts come to life.I have a layout video that I watch but nothing like this would be.

Enjoyed the video. Much love involved, as well as the video itself. Need more like that. It is an inspiration to see other model trains working and great layouts. Lots to put into my own layout. Thanks

Absolutely terrific animation – the kicker is that the story line and the sound track are also great!!!!
Thank You

That was fantastic

Pretty Amazing reminds me a Twilight Zone episode.

I have been doing model railroading for 40yrs. I never seen anything like this fantastic piece of work. WOW a great piece of art work.

Just unbelievable. Great animation and fantastic scenery.