[#welcome] Jacon
When I started in the hobby, I got involved in a club. My favorite time was work nights.
There was just a few who were dedicated to working on the layout and they were very knowledgeable. They were usually older members (retired) of the club and had more time. I believe that what I learned by asking questions and hands on ( they put me to work) helped in the building of my Layout. What I learned on a given night I would apply
the next day at home. Here is a list of what these gentlemen tought me. Soldering,
handlaying track, wiring and circuits, rolling stock maintainance, etc. I have yet to come across a model railroader who is not willing to share any knowledge they have with others. Just look at the great advice from the other modelers on this subject.
[:o)] Have fun [:o)]
Jacon12,
I am with you on wanting to get things running to keep motivated. After designing my layout (around the walls), I built the bench work and laid my mainline loops as quickly as I could so I could get something running. I did not build my yard till months later as I needed to spread out the cost of the turnouts. Also, I planned from the start for DCC, but used a cheap DC powerpack for almost a year before getting the DCC system installed. One bit of advice that I did not heed, is to get the backdrop in early!! Anyway, with some careful planning, I think it is quite possibe to get trains running in a reasonably short time.
Put in a backdrop first,yes! i had not done that!!! But after the benchwork tackle the track and roadbed for the mainline(s) , some oval or reverse loop, so that the trains RUN and RUN WELL. Note that dont ru***hese stages, the more precise in your track alignments, the less frustrations of trains later when running!!! scenery later—no not the way some pros do it , but i think the majority of us want the track and trains running before one small section is completely “done” from bench to scenery.