HI, I have not start on lay out yet.!! yep have every thing tracks, train and cars…
real problem is we rent in house, am trying think of good lay out like 8 or 10 ft long 2 ft or less wide. for now.
SL,
I think this is where a module or two would be practical and handy for you - especially if you might eventually move into another apartment or house someday. It’s portal, accessible, and can be slim enough to fit against one wall. What scale are you modeling, SL?
Tom
LOL… dunno yet! Still building… like it so far, but like you, Tracklayer, I have some SERIOUS 2.5-3% grades that may be a problem… I plan to overcome this and make it interesting by double heading some steamers (or putting one on the back end if a steel caboose is there). This will probably take me months to get right, but it will offer some operational fun… Luckily the major grade is near my turntable and steam servicing with a few extra tracks so it works well (in theory…still building the servicing portion).
Brian
I WILL be happy when I can afford the rest of the track and turnouts to finish it. (and a PA)
Cuda Quest Ken:
Very Prolific.
NOW do something about that 18" radius.
(‘Big Boys’ shouldn’t play with 18" curves) - even if they’re Girls’ - (Too young)
Guys,A modular is a great learning tool and need not to be a flat lander.
Heres our “back layout”-a standard flatlander.
Heres our “front” layout.
Both layouts are modular and connected to each other.
You might want to read my thread:
YEP!! Layout started in 1985, has been updated, upgraded, finished, refreshed, still the same railroad. Three decks, covering 28ft by 35 ft.
Enjoy it as much in 2007 as 1985, just in different ways (operation).
Bob
Thats a loaded ?..Yes I am happy with my layout but I sure would make some changes…I have had a bunch of layouts over the years but gotta say I was never 100 % happy with any of them…Cox 47…But I keep trying…
My layout has been very satisfying to me and yet very frastrating. I am sure everybody has issues with vareous aspects, I am no different, just have to muddle through those parts to get the rewards. I have not been working or running lately and I think its because I have to come up with solutions to scenery and structures and I am reluctant to make those decisions.It seems to final, but at the same time I could then move towards the super detailing aspect I am wanting to get to. I started to work on a operating schedule also but have not touched it in a while.
Good post. Its making me think about what I could do to chip away at the hurdles. A little progress here and the is ok as eventually we can enjoy and share more.
Anyone in my neck of the woods should PM me to get together for work or operating sessions.
Wish I could, John. The commute is just a bit on the far side for me. [swg] If I ever do, at least I’d be able to bring my on throttle. [:)]
Tom
HI Tom,
my modeling is the HO size… I not going be planning move in an Apartment at all.
SL
I’m not happy with my layout - I’m THRILLED with it!
A few facts:
- This layout is the culmination of six decades of experience modeling railroads and their surroundings.
- The grand scheme was written in detail in 1968. It has not changed significantly since.
- My rolling stock roster has been built up to fit that scheme since before it was written.
- Finally, I have the amount of space I’ve always wanted - in a house that I won’t be leaving.
- Having learned patience over the years, I don’t expect to “finish.” I do expect to enjoy many years of construction, operation and (truth check time) miniature railfanning on a layout that will still be offering opportunities to expand and experiment right up to the end (mine, not its.)
Everyone should be so lucky. (Luck - found at the intersection of opportunity and preparation.)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
No…[:(]
Happy with the layout?
Not even close.
It sucks.
Compared to what’s in it now, there’s 10 times more work yet to be done.
And that’s a good thing.
Because when it’s done, and all there is left to do is blow the horn and turn the throttle, yes, I might get bored.
Because it never was a goal to begin with. It’s a process.
You see something wanting, you work it through in your head, put in some time and effort, tear it out, do it again, tar it out, finally get it the ay you want it and there’ no more difference in the layout, from the ten foot view, than in a clock hand, three minutes after you checked what time time it was last time.
Except you know it’s different, and after months or a year of microscopic changes, you look at old pictures and realize, yes, it is changing.
Until it stops changing, and then a big part of it dies.
Luckily, we saw that going in.
It’s not just one layout, it is three. 1890’s mining, 1940s-1950s diesel, 1990s military. It takes longer to build foundations for buildings that are lighted, that remove at the drop of a hat, to be replaced with a catalytic cracking tower, or a roadwheel and drive sprocket repair depot.
That’s a good thing.
It’s really not even three. No city or town or military base just…appears…out of thin air. It…evolves…in the case of mining camps, from tents and pans, to sluices and burros, to headframes and steam plants.
I guss some folks just run trains. Thier layouts often seem to model dust very realistically. Outs has to grown and change and evolve, or else it will get tossed, and maybe replaced.
Our layout sucks, but it’s getting better, a little at the time.
I can say I’m happy as it exists. More room would have been nice, but the “boss” only allowed 12x16. I do fiddle with things to make it more friendly, move a track now and then. I enjoy all aspects , modeling the towns , vehicles, industries, etc. so I’m always busy with something.
When I first wanted to get back into model railroading a friend suggested an approach that has worked for me. He said to start with a layout section and completely finish it down to the detail level of adding street signs, people, mailboxes, etc. Your knowledge and experience will grow doing all phases of the layout, some of which you will like a lot more that others, but force yourself to completely finish it.
He then added a key point by saying to include two exit points of track (interchanges) on the first layout so you can add another section if/when the time comes. He said I would probably enjoy the construction phase more that the finished phase of just running trains, and the ability to add another section would keep that interest going.
Also, don’t be afraid to rip out and redo a section of a finished layout if you have a better or different idea of how to do it.
I would give this, my third serious layout, mixed reviews. I’ve learned a lot about what NOT to do from my first two efforts, and have also incorporated a lot of things on this layout that I hadn’t used before (Tortoise switches linked to hand-built signals, painted ties and rails, that kind of thing). I tried to plan my layout in such a way as to make its performance smooth and reliable - easy grades, generous radii, and so on. But because I hate the look of bare plywood, I’ve spent most of my time building and scenicking, and not operating. Now that the pike is about 90% scenicked (except for additional details that I can add as the mood strikes), and I have had a chance to run trains, I am seriously considering some major changes. I realize now that before I plunged into the scenery aspect I should have spent more time running trains and verifying that the operation was as satisfying as it was reliable. The notion of performing major surgery at this stage is something I both relish and dread. But you can be darned sure that I will plan very, very carefully before I launch into it, and will absolutely do a lot of operational testing before I re-scenic. Cheers.
I am happy with my layout. Just beeing in the room give me mental peace.
Lately, my best time is when my 2 boys (6 and 9) are “helping” me. Last week i learn that every bridge must have a guardian lego knight [;)]
Sounds to me like you succumbed to 4x8 fever. Actually, the first N-scale layout I ever built to any level of completion was exactly what you described. A figure 8 with an oval intertwined. Two separate mains, two separate trains. Fun to watch for about 30 minutes, then the yawning began.
Then I discovered operations. My next layout was another 4x8, not nearly as complex, and had no grades. But it had a passing siding, a small yard, and a couple of industries to switch. I never finished it scenery wise, because I was having too much fun bumping cars.
Later on, I built one of my favorite layouts, which featured a long main line that poked through the wall, an urban landscape with lots of switching in the laundry room, and a sleepy branch line serving a couple of small industries in the family room. It was an interesting design, incorporated a small yard and engine terminal, facilitated the kind of operations I like (one train looping on the main while I switch a branch line or drill the yard) and was the first layout I built that looked like “something”.
But alas, a real estate malfunction required that layout to be dismantled, and I went for years without a “real” layout. I spent that time studying and planning, operating on other layouts to see what worked and what didn’t, and focused myself on a particular prototype in a particular era. That recipe has resulted in my current effort…
[img]http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_ChooChoo_Vision