I’m about 3 or 4 years into building a simple and fun little layout. It is a 4 by 12 foot island that boasts an outer and inner loops, 2 passing sidings which double as small representations of yards, some extremely steep grades (3 or 4%), a tunnel, and 5 bridges, among other features.
The reason I call it my first, “real”, layout, as opposed to just simply my first layout, is because I have had 2 other setups before. My first layout was slapped together track perched precariously on lopsided boards running down the hallway in my trailer in Nickson. After visiting a model train store in Vegina SK, I commenced work on my second layout while I was living in-town. That one was just a one-block standard dc layout that had no elevations, sidings, spurs, etc. I was quite proud of it. Nowadays, living out here in Partson BC, I have this little behemoth taking up my entire kitchen in my 16 wide, with maybe 2 or 3 foot of space to walk around in the “kitchen”, which I have reduced to half of it’s initial size, devoting the other half of my kitchen to one of my other hobbies; electronics and general tinkering.
The other reason I say this is my first Real layout is because this is the first layout I’ve built with which I can run as many trains as I can install cabs and block selector switch panels of 9 switches each, one for each block.
I know some of us are going to say something to the effect of “urgh, dc! It’s dcc’s where it’s at! this guy must be old, lets hear his wisdom” but nah, I’m only 32 (at the time of posting). I just so happen to prefer dc over dcc. It’s more fun (…Funner?) to have to be on the ball and select the right block for your train, and knowing when to turn each block on or off. Not to mention that with simle dpdt switches on the bss panel, I can install Block-On Illuminator signals and track powered signals that come on the instant the block is turned on or the instant enough forward voltage is appli