If there are enough peopel around with a long enough attention span.
I propose to go through the entire development and even possible the building process, of my next layout here. Starting from “here’s my basic idea” and working through a track plan and so forth. And starting with “all I have room for is a few small modules” right through to having enough space to actually build a decent layout. Barring another major life changing event (hopefully not for many many years now), I will be here for a long long time. Even though I was away from the forums for almost 2 years, I really never left the hobby. At any rate, participation is naturally open to everyone, and hopefully we can all learn a thing or two.
This is just a feeler - go ahead and say what you think about this idea here. If I go forward with it, the design thread will be started in the layout design section. Any side discussions on layout electronics will go to the DCC section - but there’s not much up for debate at this point, control WILL be Digitrax DCC.
I bring this up now because I believe I have finally found my way, a grand scheme to allow me to model the mid-50’s Reading and have the mostly single track railroading I prefer, without resorting to proto-lancing or out and out freelancing. Which also happens to fit in witht he idea of building some small modules now and using them later when I have the room for a bigger layout. Maybe even with an intermediate stop, depending on how things go.
50s in Reading? What, no warehouses converted to retail outlets? I had the honor(inconvenience for non-railfans)of watching downtown traffic come to a halt while a manifest train slowly crept through the city. There’s a great looking industry operating in Lebanon which I would guess was there in the 50s. That would make a nice module even tho it sits along side a double tracked mainline. Another scene in the area is up in Hamburg where PA 61 is high, the single track is low and the old route 22 sneaks under the track. Lots of vintage buildings in the neighborhood.
Yeah, I like the idea. My RailImages account is sort of a photo essay of the 4 years since I came back into the hobby, but it’s not particularly coherent or well-organized, and it suffers from the minimal descriptions that I put in at the time to accompany the photos. Whenever I finish a project that I’m happy with, I usually look back and say to myself, “Rats. I should have taken more in-process pictures.” So, with that one warning in mind, carry on, Randy.
You don;t want to know how many projects I’ve done where not only did I intend to take more step by step photos, I even had the camera right at hand! I’d have a lot more decoder installs documented if I just remembered to put down the soldering iron and pick up the camera that was right there next to me the whole time. I just get caught up in the process and just keep working, and later go…oh, darn… I REALLY intend to try betetr this time. I have some in-process photos of the last layout, this time I want even more.
hang a sign over your workbench and or at the entrance to the train room, TAKE A PICTURE! Which reminds me, I need to take one of the trainroom not that the base of the project is finished even though I’ve let it get cluttered with other stuff.