I think I have come to a wise and rational decision, but I thought I’d toss it out to the forum community to see if the readers agree or think I’ve lost my mind…[:-^]
I started purchasing HO rolling stock about 15 years ago, long before I had any space for a layout. I had no idea what I wanted; if I saw a car that ‘looked cool’, it was purchased. So now I have a collection of over 1,000 pieces of rolling stock.
After building a new house 8 years ago, I was blessed by the wife and was given control over the 15 foot square game room which I promptly announced would be my train room. Finally, after being in the house for 7 years, I decided the only way a layout would ever be had was to get off of my butt and start building one. Since the UP runs through Austin where I live, it only seemed natural to select that roadname for my power. After working through several designs for my trackplan, I started to build my layout. And thus, my dilemma…
When I was planning my layout, I had a vision of a free-lanced scenery and structure plan that wouldn’t pigeon-hole me into a specific time frame. If I wanted to run the few Rivarossi steamers with a string of ice-bunkers, I could. If I wanted to run modern power with a coal drag, I could. In theory…
My trackplan evolved into a mainline-branchline operation and I chose the Great Northern to be my branchline. I have since discovered that the Rivarossi’s I own won’t run on the Code 83 track I’ve used, so now I have no steam power. I have also come to realize that no matter how hard I tried to avoid creating a time-specific era to my railroad, it has in fact developed on its own. I have sorted through my rolling stock and divided it into 2 distinct categories: steam era cars and modern era cars. Basically, I took everything with a roof catwalk and placed it in the steam category. I also took a hard look at my modern rolling stock and have decided that even though I have a few 30" rad
To keep the cart on the right end of the horse, I would go even further and say that, prior to planning, do some solid reading and thinking about what you want in a layout. It’s not good planning when you don’t know what you are planning.
As the old fellers will tell ya, make an educated list of givens and druthers once you nail down a central era/theme. None of anything in this last sentence can come without some research. It is at this point that you can actually plan your layout so that you get all your givens and most of your druthers.
In response to your last question, Don, I don’t think the question is rational because you still don’t know what you want to do! How long have you been developing your layout, and to what purpose, yet you are still asking for approbation. At least, your last few sentences don’t indicate to me what your dilemma is. Separating the rolling stock by era may be rational, but what is the purpose? What are you really wanting to do? What is your destination? If you can tell me that, I can tell you if your choice, whatever it ultimately is, is a reasonable one.
You seem to have whittled your way to a fork in the road. Now you can build a dual layout, swapping buildings and the like, but I’d start with one or the other.
Selector, I wholeheartedly agree with your statement. My planning has taken place in the form of looking at the work that has taken place and analyzing that in regards to what I wanted in my layout. That has caused some re-work and redesign of the original trackplan. I realize that this is not the most prudent or efficient manner in building a layout, but I am learning from my own mistakes and so far it has been a price I’ve been willing to pay.
I guess I forgot to say that I planned on selling or donating the items I have divided out as not fitting my layout. [#oops]
As my trackplan has evolved it has developed into an operation based o
This is why I’ve become a regular visitor to this board. I’ve got lots of ideas and have tempered many of them after a little education. I’ve come to the conclusion that if you build a layout in the era of your choice, nothing from an earlier time will look that far out of place. I’ve come to realize that it is a hobby that has the potential to be a serious drain on financial resources in order to get up and running. If you are an impulse buyer without a plan, you are doomed to failure.
Look around in the real world. There is a lot of surviving equipment from the late 19th century that hasn’t been scrapped or enshrined in the basement of a museum still getting trotted out and run on modern track. A lot of the stuff from the 1940s and 50s is still doing revenue work on a regular daily basis for secondary railroads. Buildings and houses built 100 years or more ago are still around and industry located next to railroad tracks is probably some of the slowest to change. Many cities like Los Angeles that threw mass rail transit on the trash heap back in the late 1940s in favor of autos and freeways are now casting a friendly eye to it and calling it a solution. Look at San Francisco where some of the trolleys in daily revenue use are older than many of us. New York’s subway and commuter rail service never went away. Systems and rail lines might be modernized but in my mind old equipment can still run on it and not look that far out of place. Some among us might have a critical eye and a prejudice to running a modern day locomotive on the same track as a 50+ year old ALCO but it happens on an almost daily basis. Some rail fans with a serious love for the past spend much of their hard earned pay to drag their less than interested significant others and children out on weekends and vacations to catch that rare picture or ride in something they experience as a youth. Standing next to a steam engine that is fired up can really inspire the imagination of a kid who’s only other contact with somethi
I tend to think your plan is still a little foggy, but I would just keep the rolling stock if it wasn’t causing me any grief or wasn’t taking up much space just for the simple fact you could still run them if prototypical operating wasn’t a major issue, and if you build a different way or build a new layout, you can have them to run.
You’re correct; I was at a fork in the road…go down one side into the realm of unplanned operations and reason for the railroad to exist, or take the other fork and further refine the work and plans I had made to date, thus ensuring a working and enjoyable layout in the future.
If only I had read your recent words of wisdom 2 years ago: You wrote -
“I think you are approaching this backwards. Your road name and location determine your scenery and industries. Your scenery and industries determine your track work. If you go the other way, what happens is you have track work with scenery and industries that don’t fit.”
I see now your stement rings true, very true…so now, I am gathering all of my thoughts and dreams I have for my layout and am applying the decisions I should have made before starting the layout. You are wise beyond your years…and I thank you for your help.
You could build a second smaller layout under the first. Make it so you can run your Rivarossi and others that don’t fit on the main layout.
Personally, I have a lot of stuff that doesn’t fit the main railroad - era, scale, locale, etc.; but I plan to keep it and have smaller layouts underneath the main one. I call it “multi level railroading without the helix”. [swg]
Well, having a little over 1,000 pieces of rolling stock does take up more space than you’d think…and since I sacrificed the storage closet where they used to reside for a double tracked turning loop, the boxes and boxes of cars now sit on the floor under my benchwork. Since delving into this analysis of my layout, I see no need to keep fifty 86’ high cube boxcars if I can’t run them on the layout.
Could you explain why your Rivarossi steam locomotives don’t run on code 83 track? Are the flanges too big or something? I’m starting to lay code 83 on my layout and I’d hate to end up with something I can’t run steam engines on!
That’s exactly the problem…the Rivarossi Big Boy and F-E-F that I own have the large flanges…I bought them about 13 years ago and they never saw track until about 6 months ago when I hooked a DC power pack to my rails while waiting to bring home my DCC system. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. So, they are destined to go on the auction block since I can’t use them on my layout.
I don’t know if this matters to you or not, but in real life this would have limited you to the northwest like Idaho & Oregon. When the GN existed the UP didn’t go to Texas.
Just curious, is your GN equipment orange and tree, or do you have big sky blue in there too? Big Sky units would really limit the beginning time period.
I faced a similar problem having started modeling the Santa Fe & CB&Q only to be eventually discouraged by their boring looking silver passenger trains. I switched to GN only to find their steam equipment was umm umm unique, they didn’t like Challenger class locomotives, they never ran any Alco PA units, etc. So I switched to modeling the NP, but in the back of my mind I knew my Colorado roots were calling me to model (home). Year pass waiting for layout space and all this time the D&RGW & MP equipment had been creeping in. So I eventually found myself in a situation similar to yours. I discovered that in the early 1960s the C&S was short on power and leased all sorts of equipment from the parent of parent (grandparent?) roads NP and GN. I have pictures of NP pine trees, and GN Orange units in Pueblo CO. and Fort Worth TX. So by modeling southeastern Colorado (Route of the Texas Zephyr) I can prototypically use
Just curious, is your GN equipment orange and tree, or do you have big sky blue in there too? Big Sky units would really limit the beginning time period.
I faced a similar problem having started modeling the Santa Fe & CB&Q only to be eventually discouraged by their boring looking silver passenger trains. I switched to GN only to find their steam equipment was umm umm unique, they didn’t like Challenger class locomotives, they never ran any Alco PA units, etc. So I switched to modeling the NP, but in the back of my mind I knew my Colorado roots were calling me to model (home). Year pass waiting for layout space and all this time the D&RGW & MP equipment had been creeping in. So I eventually found myself in a situation similar to yours. I discovered that in the early 1960s the C&S was short on power and leased all sorts of equipment from the parent of parent (grandparent?) roads NP and GN. I have pictures of NP pine trees, and GN Orange units in Pueblo CO. and Fort Worth TX. So by modeling southeastern Colorado (Route of the Texas Zephyr) I can prototypically use much of the CB&Q, GN, NP, SF, MP, RI, D&RGW equipment I’ve accumulated.
[quote user=“Don Z”]
the Rivarossi Big Boy and F-E-F that I own have the large flang
The truss-rods are the rods on the underside of old-time cars. This would be the 36’ Box cars, cattle-cars, and reefers. The 34’ Overtons, the 50’ Overland, 26’ tankers and the 30’ caboose. Here’s the only example I could come up with that shows the truss-rods. They might be before your era even with your massive collection.
Older Rivarossi, around 1990 and earlier have flanges too large to run on code 83. As code 83 began catching on as the new standard, Rivarossi retooled to produce smaller flanges. Whether you can run yours on code 83 depends on their age.
Yours is a common tale. Many new modelers start out buying up everything that looks cool without giving a thought to how it will all fit together. As a theme for a layout begins to materialize, they begin to realize that a lot of what they have doesn’t fit their time frame and locale. Been there, done that and I my guess a majority of modelers have too. Now that you recognize the problem, you need to settle on a theme for your railroad. Whether you want to freelance or prototype, you need to decide on a time and a place. There are two ways to go. Decide where and when you want your railroad to be set and keep just the equipment that fits in or figure out what equipment you own that appeals to you most and let that dictate your choide of era. Whichever way you go, you will have lots of stuff that won’t belong but with a railroad in a 15 foot square room, you wouldn’t have room for it all anyway. You can hang on to it on the shelves or unload it on e-bay or through your LHS if they sell stuff on consignment. You’ll get back just a fraction of what you paid for it but it could still pay for some new stuff that fits your layout.
To follow up with what jecorbett is saying, I just eBayed all the stuff I bought on impulse that I never needed and I have enough to go a long way in finacing my new layout. It was still hard parting with some of that stuff.
