I was wondering how long did people have this first layout when they were new the hobby. I am about 6 months into my layout and for the most part I happy with it and have learned a lot in building it but I also have seen a lot of things I wish I had done differently. My layout is made up of 3 4x8 sheets of plywood done in a U shape, it has about 60 feet of main line with about 3/4 of it double mainlined, a nice 4 track yard, and plenty of spurs but after getting the 10 Great layout extra from MRM it really got me thinking I should have done a shelf layout around my garage to maximize my track distance and industry layouts. I am not looking to rip it apart now but might make it my over the winter project this winter after some planning.
First HO layout a 4X8…about 2 years. Buried it in the backyard after I was done. 2nd layout 16X13… 6 years because we moved. Current layout 11x8 shelf…4 years and going strong.
My first layout was a 4x8 with green grass paper on it. It lasted through my teens was only allowed out during Christmas season. It left when I joined the Navy in 79.
My first was a 5-by-10, donut-shaped layout from 1964 to 1970. However, I had three different track plans over the benchwork during those seven years. In 1963 I had built the framework for a 4-by-8 rectangle, but dumped it before doing more as its shortcomings became quickly apparent.
Mark
Double post. The other didn’t show up right away and I didn’t think it took. [%-)]
My first layout was a 4x8, later extended to 6x8, spaghetti bowl based on the book ‘HO Scale Railroad that Grows’, which my Dad and I put together when I was about 6 or 7. It lasted until my parents moved out of their place earlier this year, when Dad took the layout off the top and sold it as a table. So that would have been about 15-16 years. Having said that, it got little use during my teen years, then I got into N scale once out of high school - and I’ve been through 2 of those.
Had an 8’x12’ with two duckunders for one year, then a 22’x12’ for 3 years, now my current 42’x22’ for 3 years, no plans to replace it.
First layout was probably less than a year, and it consisted of a single track bachmann EZ track main with two long “yard” tracks for trains. ran it with a bachmann powerpack. had the innocuous green grass mat and was on a 4x8 table. Next layout was on the same 4x8, atlas code 80 laid on the plywood top with woodland scenics roadbed. that lasted a few months, then just messed around with my code 80 for a while, built a small desktop layout in that time. current layout is still on the same 4x8 I started with, but it’s blue foam base and Atlas code 55 track, MRC DC powerpack for now, and Atlas engines. I have over half a year in it
I had a 4x8 my dad built for me when I was like 8 or 9. That lasted a while until I decided I wanted to add some industrial tracks. By this time I was in middle school. In general I did a pretty shoddy job on the trackwork and wiring, so I hoped DCC would cure my problems. I experimented with DCC and scenery techniques. Eventually only half the tracks were functional and had power.
Needless to say this was not fun and didnt last too long. The table pretty much sat dormant for a few years during high school until I got motivated again and ripped everything up. I then laid down a simple oval with a couple sidings to store cars and a programming track. Its pretty much stagnant right now, no scenery or buildings, but I’m planning on building a new (non 4x8) table this summer.
First one was 4x8 and lasted about 4 months. My wife insisted our first born son had priority for the bedroom. But she did allow me to build the second one in our bedroom.
Enjoy
Paul
My first layout was a 4 x 5 foot platform that lasted about two years, then I was able to negotiate enough space from my parents to have a 4 x 6 (which could be folded up against the wall). That lasted about 12 years, until I got through high school, college, getting my career started, and buying my first house.
Greg
My first layout was a 4x8 with American Flyer S guage, a Christmas gift to all three of us kids. This was in 1950! It lasted a year and my sister and I (with Dad’s help) built it into a 17’ x 8’ layout with mountains, bridges and finally we added some automated accessories like a barrel loader, coal loader and a pair of manual switches. I just started my fourth layout about a year ago, HO and 18’x20’, with two duckunders (sorry!). I love my new layout and it will be my last (I will be 69 next week). I have been buying and saving equipment, engines, track and building kits for the past 4-5 years. I have just started some of the scenery and that is one of my favorite parts. The detail level and technology has come a long way baby!. I have two BLI Hudsons w/sound and DCC and they are outstanding. Hope they last as long as I do?
My dad made mountains back in 1950 by taking old window shades (the roll up fabric kind!) and soaked them in the tub to remove the starch, then he heated flake hide glue (made from horse hoofs, really!) and we brushed the smelly hot glue on the fabric shades. When the glue dried/cooled it was hard and could be painted. A very crude system, but to me very ingenious for the time. I later used window screen and plaster, but we couldn’t afford much for the hobby then. I guess that’s why I bought all the trains now that I have some cash saved up.
My fist layout (1969) started out as a 3 X 4 foot N scale adventure. I began construction when I was 12. Over a 2+ year period I added to the perimeter and modified the track plan until it reached roughly 4 X 5 feet. It was a great way to experiment with all kinds of ideas.
My second layout (age 14-20) was the result of much learning (thank you Model Railroader). It was an L shaped point to point. I look at pictures of it and I still feel pretty good about my work:
My first layout was a 4 x 8 which I started at the age of 11 and took down at the age of 16. I used Marklin tin-plate sectional track, laid on plywood, and it made a terrific noise, when running the trains. “Mountains” and “Tunnels” were made of plaster cloth over wire mesh. I did not earn my mother´s liking, when I built that!
It was fun to built, I learned a lot while building it. The reason why I took it down and sold all of my Marklin stuff, was, well - it had become too toy-like for me, after seeing the layout in our local MRR club.
My very first layout lasted for a couple of weeks, a couple of hours at a time. It was an 027 oval with a passing track and hung on a hook behind the door when it wasn’t on the living room rug.
When the Christmas tree disappeared, so did the layout - until the next year. By that time I was almost a year and a half old, and had enough hand-eye coordination to turn the throttle knob myself
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Well, my first actual layout (had a Marx set when I was ten) was in 1971 that I built for my kids. it was a 4x8 HO over and under and lasted about three years. The second was a 4x7 O27 that I built for two more of my kids about 1976.
Then in 1983 I started one for myself. it was an HO 4x7. The it had a small offset for a yard. Then I tore that off and added a yard. Then I added a city, and then…
Yes, this one has grown and it is still growing. I consider that it is still the 4x7 that I starter in 1983, but has grown and grown…
And I have added structures and rail to all of it. I’ve changed to DCC. I am, however, restricted in overall size. 
My first one took up about 2/3 of a double wide garage. When my ex wife and I separated, I left it there, until I found a new residence with enough space. 2 months later, she moved in with her boyfriend, walking away from the house. No, of course, she didn’t tell me. When I found out, the house had been broken into, and, well, the layout was still there, but the controls, rolling stock, motive power were all gone.
My 1st layout was built on a 5X9 ‘ping pong’ table. Lasted about 2 years. The scond layout was built a little larger and lasted much longer. The current layout is over 20 years old.
Jim
My first layout-a ISL- lasted about 2 years…I was quite happy with the design and overall operation.
My first layout was when I was a kid. Not sure exactly how old I was-- my Dad and my Uncle built it for me when I was about 8 or 9, maybe 10. I had it until I was about 16 or 17. Then I discovered computers and electronics and spent the next 30+ years programming and designing electronics & automation, which is still related to my principle vocation today.
Around 10 years ago I started getting back into the hobby. Around 2000-2001 I started building a layout in a bldg my brother was leasing. I had a pretty good start on the benchwork, mostly completed and was starting to lay track, when something happened (not sure what) and the lease agreement “expired”-- I think the landlord needed to expand into our space or something. But in any case, we had to move out of there. And that layout effort was abandoned.
So for mostly the last 10 years I guess I’ve been mainly a “collector”. Then when we (my wife and I) found our current house, it had a basement big enough to build a layout in, and that’s what I’ve been busy doing ever since. Currently its still in its “pink foam” phase, but its getting there little by little. I have to finish re-finishing (repairing) the basement from the structural rearrangement before I can get fully going again on the layout. I don’t want plaster and sawdust getting into everything-- its already bad enough. When I get the walls and ceiling work done though, I think I can shift gears and start working on the “real, permanent” layout and the pink foam can begin to subside.
John