Now that I am getting my feet wet and starting to get into the hobby I was hoping you all could share with me some of your regrets. I already finding myself in the early stages of the hobby as having to give up some things in order to have others. If you could do your layout again, what would you do different? One of my examples is not going DCC. I plan to run the model by myself and the additional cost of DCC out weighed the benifits. My other regret will be not running a new, modern GE locomotive pulling coalvayers, but I decided on the PRR.
Hopefully I can learn something from your regrets that I can apply to my first layout. My dad always told me “You don’t learn nothing by talking. You learn stuff by listening.”
First, you may change your mind about DCC. It is so much simpler to operate, and the added realism, at least for me, is a superiority it will likely always have over DC operations. I am a lone operator, and would not be without it since I can run multiple trains and not have them chase each other or stop unrealistically when I forget to flick a switch.
My biggest regret, to address your question, is not tempering my initial enthusiasm enought to spend another few hours of reading, browsing, and planning. We can’t eliminate every error or regret, but I planned for no passing tracks, and I had no yard or staging trackage which made operating with all of my rolling stock impossible…much of it had to be stored until I redesigned the layout. Also, I favour loops and lots of scenery and running trains, but it gets to be a bit much when they rotate, with me following, in the same direction all the time. So, to turn the trains, you need a turning mechanism, such as a wye or a reversing loop or “S”. A turntable allows you to turn locomotives, but turning an entire train is nearly ridiculous that way.
My biggest regret so far is using Peco Insulfrog turnouts instead of Walthers. I’ve had nothing but problems (shorts at the frog). I was at a friends layout the other day and saw the newer dcc friendly Walthers turnouts and how they were already ‘gapped’. Nice!
On the micro level, my regrets usually revolve around not approaching layout construction methodically enough. I find that I frequently fail to do things in precisely the right order and so create more work for myself later on. As an example, when I was first laying track, I forgot to cut the holes for the under the track uncoupling ramps before gluing the track down. Now I was able to go back and cut the holes out from underneath the track but it took probably twice as long and was much messier than if I had done things in the right order. Similarly, I often find I don;t have everything I need when starting a project and so have to go back and add the missing component later on in a more time-consuming and awkward manner.
On a macro level, I sometimes regret my choice of roadnames. The availability of equipment really varies between roads with ones like UP, PRR and ATSF having a huge range while I can’t even find a caboose for my NP road. I wish I had done some more research on this before going out and buying several expensive engines that locked me into my current road names.
Regret: Buying rolling stock and structure items before I really knew what I was going to model.
What I learned: I plan, plan, and plan again. And I read anything I can get my hands on whatever my next project focus is on the layout. Then I spend a lot of time thinking through my next step, and five steps down the road, making sure I am following the most logical approach to addressing the project.
Regret: Putting model railroading on hiatus for over 10 years.
What I learned: Cherish every day and moment I have that I can spend on model railroading!
My biggest regret is actually two-fold, both regarding staging. Never again will my staging yards be hidden, requiring me to crawl under the bench-work to even see them let alone do any maintenance. Operating trains totally hidden from view, controlling unseen turnouts and relying on flashing lights on a control panel to know where your train is really isn’t much fun. Second part (and I believe there is a written rule for it) what-ever you figure you’ll need for staging, double it and add two !!! What I had when I started worked fine, but as the roster grew and operations ensued, lack of staging became quickly apparent.
After 55 years in the hobby I regret tons of things.So,I will share my biggest regrets.
1.Not buying something I wanted when it was in hand.
2.My short voyage into DCC/Sound.That mistake cost me around $1200.00 for the following DCC system,extra throttles,Digi Traxx Sound Systems and the extra engines I bought to add DCC/Sound.What was I thinking?
3.Tearing out 2 very nice industrial switching layouts after some "big ideas"thoughts…Again what was I thinking?
4.Selling off my N&W collection.
5.Selling off my brass steam locomotive collection-this was done in 1977.
6.Not staying the course on several freelance short lines…
7.Buying a Kato NW2 clunker back in 92 and NOT sending it back.
8.Quiting a club after 4 years.
9.Being a nasty nit picker for several years.
10.Modeling to please everybody except myself.
The list goes on…
There are many things I never regretted changing and at the top of that heap is realizing I must model to please myself and not others and do what is right for me in the hobby…
I’m having a hard time understanding how DCC could be a regret on a small layout. A small layout benefits greatly from DCC.
DCC allows tuning your loco performance individually and you get cool lighting effects right out of the box. With the NCE DSR13J decoders at $15 each (less in quantity) and a sweet pulse power tuning capability, you will be able to individually tune each loco to have slow running performance that is SWE-E-E-T. Try individually tuning loco slow-speed performance this easily on DC for $15.
So there’s the cost of the system. Well, okay, but to compare apples to apples, you want to get a deluxe DC powerpack with momentum and pulse power. A top of the line MRC Tech 4 pack with monentum and pulse power costs about $60 and to run two trains, you’ll need two of them: $120 smackers right there. Now you will need a control panel with toggles and cab control wiring … figure $50 for that. You’re up to $170 – a starter DCC system will cost you less than $150. If that’s too rich for your blood, you can always get a Bachmann DCC system off ebay for about $60.
So I don’t agree you’ll save any money going DC unless you are really cheap and feel that locos which run train-set level performance is okay. Or plan on spending time taking locos apart and tuning mechanisms to get better-than-average performance.
If you’re going to spend $100-$300 for a really nice loco these days, why not spend the extra $15 bucks for a decoder to get individually tunable performance? And buy one less loco and get yourself a DCC starter system.
Sorry, but I think the “can’t afford DCC” argument is bogus.
Regrets: #1 Buying stuff too soon before I needed it – turned out I didn’t need a lot of it and I lost some $$ on the resale #2 Not building my last home layout as sections or modules when I already knew I had a move coming up. #3 Not going to DCC sooner.
I could make a list of “little” regrets as long as the card catalog of the local library, but the things that stand out as “big” regrets are:
Not preparing the layout space before filling it with benchwork.
Not building more modules and sections designed to be salvaged and re-used.
Not providing enough staging. There is no such thing as too much staging!
Note that I only listed things over which I had control. I don’t regret the impact of unexpected medical expenses or unanticipated moves on my modeling activities - I am neither God nor the U.S. Air Force, and I don’t waste time thinking about what might have been. I need that time to think about where I want to go next - and starting in the right general direction.
Chuck (modeling central Japan in 1964 - since 1964)
This is actually one of the biggest chicken and egg problems in the hobby. Unless you really plan things out in advance, getting your backdrops done the right way before laying track or doing scenery is tough. But at the same time, trying to paint them or install them while leaning over structures, etc. isn’t much fun either.
My biggest regret was not starting out with DCC right from the beginning. As Joe has put into words so well, even (especially?) a small layout can really benefit. And, if you ever decide to go all-out, the sky’s the limit. With no apologies, my Digitrax Super Chief was hands-down the best