I came to the realization that a large layout when you are a lone operator can be a daunting series of difficult tasks.
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I agree. I had an unfinished layout in the attic of our house. 25ft x 22ft of wonderful space…
Building it was a nightmare and getting nowhere.
Household Authorities said I could have the small, spare bedroom; 11ft x 8ft.
I never looked back. 
David
David, “Household Authorities”, that’s a good one! Hope you’re feeling better.
Regards, Chris
David, “Household Authorities”, that’s a good one! Hope you’re feeling better.
Regards, Chris
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Yes, Chris. I feel much better. Still got to take it easy.
As for ‘Household Authorities’? Dawn knows where I am. and I can get to her quickly when needed.
David
For those who are satisfied with a small layout, there is no question is has cost, space and time advantages.
As for me, swtiching/shunting cars, or running short trains sbort distances, while a fun aspect of the hobby, it does not fulfill my interests.
Another aspect is scenery. Hard as I tried on a previous layout, I simply was not happy with a narrow shelf layout that only models what is along the right of way.
I think many times the big layout trap, is trying to do too much simply because you have the space. My new layout will fill a 1500 sq ft basement, but with wide spacious aisles the benchwork is only about 950 sq ft.
Rather than cramming in more features, curves are bigger, yards are longer, scenes are deeper and include more “non railroad” features.
My passion, realistically long trains traveling thru scenes with depth and context.
BUT, I will have switching and other more “intimate” operations as well. Largely removed from the double track mainline, there will be what amounts to an “Industrial Switching Layout” that can be operated completely independent of the mainline.
There is no universal ideal layout, only what is right for you.
I have never “started over”, sold off a bunch of stuff, changed guage or era once I figured out at an early age, what I liked and wanted to model. I have vertually nothing that is outside the era or theme of the currently under construction layout.
What a great hobby. Something for everyone.
Sheldon
That sounds a lot like my layout. I have a long double mainline with a lot of sidings inside it to service 11 large freight houses with LCL boxcars.
Rich
Yes, I think our big picture concept is similar.
Sheldon
My story with moving a layout went a bit differently.
I had a good size layout on the ranch where I grew up. I was living in town and didn’t get out to work on it much. My Dad ended up to the point where he had to move to town due to illness. At that point I knew that I wasn’t going to get to the layout any longer.
I had started the framework for a yard expansion shortly before. What I decided to do was start over in a sense. I took the frameworks and moved them to my apartment in town and built the yard as I had planned with some track changes to accommodate some areas and ideas of the old layout I wanted to keep. All the equipment and buildings moved. (The buildings went to a storage unit for awhile as there wasn’t room on the layout at the time.) I also saved all the turnouts as I had never ballasted them. I also moved a lake section I didn’t want to lose but ended up cutting about two feet off the lake to fit the room. (Hadn’t finished the lake so still rough scenery.) Tight squeeze but i managed to fit the layout in my bedroom.
A year or so after I built the new layout, Dad passed. With help from Mom I bought a house with a garage big enough to put the bed layout in. I ended up moving all the equipment and the layout over to the house mysel on my four wheel cart. (6 blocks and I ended up with a few strange looks from passersby.)
With some help from a cousin I later saved one more section of the old layout but put a completely new track plan on it. The structures ended up on a new plat for the town.
LOL X LOL
I walk everywhere so having items on my cart is nothing new for me. (Never felt comfortable behind the wheel so I’ve never gotten a driver’s license.)
Seriously?
I was the same in walking everywhere. It was only when we moved to the land of the former North British Railway (out in the countryside) I learned to drive.
David
Seriously. I just don’t feel like I have control of the vehicle at high speeds. Even on the ranch, I never got above 20 mph even when I coukd.
Wow, and today I drove my 8000 lb FORD F250 to a job site an hour from my house at speeds between 75 and 80 mph on Interstate 95. If you go any slower than that you will get run over or cause an accident. Posted speed limits aside, the police don’t even look up until you are going 85.
I admit it, I’m a rural kid, we all got our drivers license at age 16, and our parents celebrated the fact that they no longer had to haul us around.
At age 19 the girlfriend (soon to be wife) and I, restored and hot rodded a 1963 Chevy Nova SS convertible. 325 hp, 4 on the floor, top down, all fun.
I can’t imagine not driving.
Sheldon
As a kid living in the city, we could walk to stores and school and church. Nowadays, living in the suburbs, an automobile is indispensable.
Rich
My first car was a 1951 Chevy. My parents turned it over to me when they bought a new car. My first task was to install a radio in the dashboard. Picked one up for $10 at an auto junk yard.
Rich
We live in the rural suburbs. We are only 6-8 miles from two small towns. I mean small - Havre de Grace, MD - Incorporated 1785, 6.2 sq miles, 15,000 people, no buildings over 4 stories tall.
Aberdeen, MD - childhood home of baseball legend Cal Ripken - 6.6 sq miles, 16,000 people.
Interestingly the official incorporated names of both of these garden spots start “The City of…” Both are old (like most places here in the east) and have a number of historic features, buildings, etc.
AMTRAK and MDOT commuter trains do stop at Aberdeen but there is no mass transit that you would or could rely on, just some spotty bus service.
Mostly we are surrounded by dairy farms, horse farms, crop farms (acres of corn, most grown as animal feed, not human food) and yes, even beef cattle “ranches”.
Without a car and a driver’s license you are at the mercy of others around here. You learn quick on the road to watch out for white tailed deer and big green or red tractors.
It’s quiet here and we like that. My two jokes, a traffic jam in Havre de Grace is getting home after the 4th of July fireworks, and a crime wave is three missing bicycles.
Almost every driveway has at least one pickup truck…
Sheldon
Ahh, yes, the ubiquitous pickup truck, and everyone has one but me. And I regret that every time I need something that won’t fit in the back of my wife’s SUV.
Rich
Those towns are huge.
Out here on the Great Plains, I live in a town of 7,900. We are the largest town in a fifty-mile radius.
I simply cannot imagine that. I was born and raised in Chicago. As an adult, I live in the suburbs. This morning, I drove to the grocery store with my wife. We drove three miles and encountered six stop lights. When we got to the store, we had to search for a parking spot.
Rich
Mentioning town sizes: Mine is the largest within a 140 mile radius but it is small enough one could walk from one end to the other in a hour or so.
