Well, I did design a ranch style house (log home actually) with a full basement. The stairs aren’t right in the middle but about a third of the way from one end. I made them as steep as those in my previous home but I learned that is steeper than current codes. Fortunately the county I built in doesn’t require adherence to building codes so I was able to do as I pleased. The original plan called for the stairway to take an L-turn to reach the floor but I overrode that. The HVAC unit (geothermal) is right behind the stairs. A couple things I hadn’t figured on that I had to adjust the layout for was the electrical box and the pressure tank for the well. originally my staging yard was going to be along the wall those items are on so I had to redesign to move them out a yard from that wall. A minor inconvenience. I also didn’t take into account the duct work which goes down the middle of the basement. My branchline peninsula passes right under it and naturally that is the highest point on the layout so the overhead clearance is less than I would have liked. Also the geothermal system has two pipes which come in on one side and then run up the wall so I had to bow the backdrop around those. These problems proved to be nothing more than speed bumps that had to be negotiated.
One thing I do have is generous aisles with just a few short choke points. I designed it for lone wolf operation although a small club (6-8 operators) could work comfortably on it. I didn’t allow space for a crew lounge or a dispatcher although if I ever do get an operating crew, I’m sure we could find a way to squeeze the latter in. There is also no restroom on the basement level. That has proved to be a bit of a bother due to my enlarged prostate.
There is no duck under required although I incorporated one under the peninsula. I’m not sure how much I will use it when I commence full operations. It will come down to whether I would rather duck under the peninsula or walk around it if I
I am kind of doing the same thing. I went through and eliminated over half the freight car fleet, all the passenger car fleet, and all but two of the painted locmotives. This is not as drastic as you might think. I probably only lost 20 freight cars, 4 passenger cars, and 4 locomotives. Oh yeah… all non-brass cabooses are gone too.
.
I am working on a fleet of 150 freight cars, 30 pieces of passenger and express equipment, and 42 locomotives. All I need to purchase are 3 more locomotives, and I will have it all!
.
The painting and detailing is all much improved this time around. I have the right equipment and I have honed my skills.
.
It is nice to have a well thought out plan for once.
My current layout is based on the same theme as my very first layout built during my early high school years; of course back then, my theme was pretty vague, limited to a coal hauler in NE PA with a freelanced name.
Over the years I tweaked the theme to be a “tipple-to-tidewater” route and fixed the time period to 1910. While I re-focused my roster acquisition and interim layout designs toyed with moving the tidewater location around (Great Lakes vs. the Hudson River), I stayed on track with the original theme.
Some may attribute this to good long term planning, but there is a rumor that those four scratchbuilt wooden passenger cars I built in the '70s with the 19 character RR name applied with dry transfers, letter-by-letter, simply put too much skin in the game to change![:P]
Wow. I read this whole thread. It spoke to me. I guess I’m blessed because I am starting over after 35 years from the last time I did model railroading. I got to rest though from a long work day remodeling. Remodeling is quite a bit different from enjoyable modeling. Heavy day tomorrow back to remodeling.
I can say one thing. If the low-profile steam locomotives from the turn of the century make you happy put them on your layout and run them, enjoy them. Life is short.
The Railroad workers and retirees from the Union Pacific restored the Challenger the only running steam engine of its kind left in the world from give or take 70 years ago.
I really admire the one poster on these forums that quotes my railroad my rules. Agreed I’m sure of it, he has the right idea
Maybe someone on your railroad organized a group to restore an old turn-of-the-century locomotive that was found in a Roundhouse on someone else’s land sold off by the railroad years ago and was nicely preserved. The same retirees take turns operating that steam engine pulling more modern cars not from that era and they sure are proud of it. Just like the restored Challenger that came through Shakopee Minnesota in 2008. 70 years later like a ghost.
Guess what ? It happened. It was and is completely prototypical.
Enjoy life take it easy and don’t sweat the small stuff !
My father designed and built my benchwork to bolt together in manageable sections that can theoretically be moved to another house when the time comes. He was here, also, when I laid out the track.
I can sawcut the foam top, and separate the sections…this thread has me looking forward to the day when I redo the layout.
when i was younger,7 to be exact,i just bought whatever i wanted.i had a ATSF geep and a PRR K4 running on the same 4x8.But when i was 11 i modeld the Seaboard Coast Line in the late 60s-early70s.Now i model n scale. but if i would do anything again,i would have not let that buetiful K4 fall off the table.[:D]
When getting into the hobby, I would have picked the railroads and time period right away. I spent a lot of hard earned money in high school on items that I now would never include on a layout. I regret getting buy happy whenever I had the money when I should have been choosing wisely what to buy.
I have also considered changing scale so I could have more formthe space I have right now. I realized, though, that I have too much invested into HO.
Howard, I say go for it! Why not, especially if building is more of your thing than operating. You seem to have the interest and you can fix all of the old problems like too much hidden track.
I plan on keeping my layout but plan on building two additional ones in spare bedrooms. One of which will be 1800s Virginia and Truckee so I can model the wild west with train robbers and a sheriff’s posse plus lots of horse draw wagons but no cars and have short trains and small cars and locomotives. The other layout is going to be a sci-fi train on Mars kind of based on the one in the movie, The Ghosts of Mars.
Plus staying active is what keeps you alive. My grandmother lived to be 100 because every day she got up and did a bunch of stuff. She was never one to sit around and read or watch TV. She was busy busy busy all of the time.
I have been given the chance to start over. This is our last chance for a new house and it is being designed with no steps. Instead of a basement, I am designing a structure attached to the house. Work has stopped on the current railroad and the tablework was built in modules, so with a few cuts on the surface, they should easily go out the door. The current layout will be incorporated in a new one about twice the size. The only radical change is no under the table staging yard. That is the HO room. There is also going to be a toy train room, a bunk car for overnight guests and a crew lounge. If the small stuff gets boring, the BNSF Chicago to Denver main is our next door neighbor. The property is large enough so that on one end you look down at the track, the middle is track level and at the other end you look up at the track. Ten cars of the California Zephyr go by in 7 seconds or less. Hopefully, construction will start next spring. It is going to be a long wait.
Howard, I am 73 and have been building models since I was 5 or 6 years old. Several layouts, lots of buildings sitting on shelves, having fun all the time.
As for starting over, I guess I would try to buy fewer kits to stack on my shelves. But I don’t want to sell any of the ones I have so I guess I would still buy everything I could afford.
I have just ripped out my layout (again) and am starting fresh.
This time I am building three layouts around the room, stacked over each other.
One at 30 inches, one at chin level, and one in between.
Layouts are all 16 inches deep, basically level, and will all use HO standard gauge track.
I am happy that I am enjoying the hobby every bit as much as I did 65 years ago, but I can afford more now.
My lovely bride of 47 years thinks my hobby is great and will be with me at the Narrow Gauge Convention in Denver.
All is good. I am happy. So I guess I would do everything just as I have done so far.
The next time I start over, I plan on going up at least 1-2 sizes. Either O or O narrow gauge or even F scale. I find that detail and heft are things that apeal to me.
I’ve had the privilege of seeing Howard’s layout twice. It’s magnificent. The idea of a tear down and rebuild is mind boggling. Not to say it can’t be done if that is where the heart’s content is. But perhaps a short break would rekindle the desire to keep and improve. And if you want to do something different and scratchbuild 1910 equipment; why not? It’s not an either/or proposition. Even a small layout on the side could be a diversion. I have a very small shelf layout, 13’-4" by 18" and I get great enjoyment from it. Just some thoughts to share.