Layout Design Bootcamp -- NMRA 2010

I am pleased to be presenting a Layout Design "Bootcamp" at the NMRA Convention in Milwaukee this Summer along with other members of the Layout Design SIG.

This four-hour clinic begins at 0800 (8 am) Monday, July 12th and will be an intensive session on track planning and layout design. Discover how to refine vision, concept, and purpose; select layout footprints and schematics; draw accurate and useful plans; create efficient and engaging yards and industrial areas; make best use of staging tracks; maintain space for people; and avoid common track planning errors. Step-by-step examples from a variety of layout designs will be discussed.

Click logo for convention details

Whether your dream layout is strongly prototype-based, a creative freelanced theme, or somewhere in between, this practical session will give you the tools and best practices to design a great layout!

Among the topics to be covered:
- Layout design phases: Conceptual, Structural, and Detail
- Developing vision, theme, and purpose
- The impact of givens and 'druthers considering space, resources, and skills
- Prototype research techniques and tools
- The user and viewer experience
- Layout footprint techniques- Drawing and rendering tools and best practices
- Planning for people
- Multi-deck considerations
- Yard planning
- Staging design
- Signature elements vs. typicality
- LDEs: Possibilities and pitfalls
- Tricky traps of layout design (common errors to avoid)
… and much, much more!

Note: For a limited time, the NMRA has decided to allow non-NMRA members to also register and attend this convention, but this offer may be withdrawn at any time. (Convention registration fees and some other conditions and restrictions apply -- see the NMRA site for details.)

Ready to build some track planning muscles? Then meet me in Milwaukee, Recruit!

(Oh, and I promise, no calisthenics or 20-mile runs …)