Years ago I embarked on my first model railroad construction attempt. Over the course of a year, I put countless hours of hard work into it. It was a modified version of the 4x8 Virginian layout, which I converted into a 5x9. All the benchwork was meticulously done… track work done as well as possible. Even started installing the turnouts… and got to the point where I could finally run trains around it.
Then… I realized that I was going to need the space for something else. It really wasn’t the end of the world. In fact I stopped working on it 3 years ago… Work, life, kids, all took precedence. Now I have a 50% completed build, with no scenery, and am trying to figure out how to phsycially and emotionally deal with taking this thing apart.
I know I could sell the individual parts on Craigslist or eBay, but it would make me feel so much better if someone would come take the whole thing and finish it and get pleasure from it. The thought of taking a saw and destroying all my hard work is too much to bear!
Has anyone been here before? What should I do? Should I take it apart gently and stick it in the attic, hoping that one day years from now I’ll finish? Or should I just rip it off like a bandaid and not look back?
Curious to know what others have done in this situation.
I think at least 75% of folks on this forum have been through this,myself included.
Ten years ago I had to tear down my HO steel mill layout because of health reason. Goofed off trying to fill the model railroad void for a few years. No other hobby could compare.
My wife saw how miserable I was without a hobby. She asked ,why don’t you try model railroading again ? Yeah,why not ?
Present day.
So for the past two years I’ve been scratch building everything needed for my new HO steel mill layout. Machinery,steel mill vehicles,overhead cranes,tugs & barges etc.
Don’t give up.
I know it’s frustrating seeing all your work destroyed. All you can do is salvage what you can.
Keep modeling after you decide what to do with your layout. Look at it as a new canvas to paint your imagination in the next ten years. Who knows where you’ll be in ten years ?
Others with more experience will surely speak soon. I’ve gotten rid of four (admittedly small) layouts so far, two by Sawzall from childhood and two by cannibalism in adulthood. The most valuable thing I take from one layout to another is the education, the things I learn only by doing (and doing badly, until I learn to do them well) because there are so many facets to this hobby and so many skills to learn. The countless hours you’ve put into your layout will really serve you when you next choose to build again.
Also, most everything except scenery and some substructural elements can be repurposed in some way-- take apart what you feel will serve you well in the future and keep it. No matter how you feel about your current layout, the next one will surely be even better.
I have been there quite a number of times in my “career” as a model railroader. I sold all the layouts I built either for parts or as a whole and I have learned a rather harsh lesson from that.
People have no appreciation for neither the money, nor the labor that goes into building a layout. Layouts therefore have nearly no sales value, even those, which are completed and highly detailed. If you are leaving the hobby, dismantle the layout, dalvage whatever has a marketable value and sell that via the usual channels. Expect to get cents for a dollar, though.
You could also donate the layout.
If you see a chance to rekindle your interest later on, store the layout safely.
Oh you can ask around, but you probably won’t find any takers.
Best to salvage what you can and dump the rest.
I have done this many times. For example, I have legs sitting in my new basement waiting for their 4th layout. I have also reused track. About the only thing I can’t really salvage is scenery and cork roadbed.
Don’t you think “tragedy” is a bit overly melodramatic? There are other things in life which the word applies to but not getting rid of a model RR. Is it a bummer? Sure, but not a tragedy. Perspective much?
I tore down my most “complete” layout yet a year ago during summer when my wife and I sold our townhome and moved into a house.
I put a lot of work into that layout, I got some good practice, I learned some things about scenery since I hadn’t done it yet. There is nothing like hands-on to teach you skills and techniques.
No, getting rid of a layout is no tragedy, rather it is part of the hobby and part of the learning experience. You move on, you learn lessons, and you apply them to improve and build something hopefully more enjoyable and satisfying in the future.
Personally, unless your attic is a controlled environment, I wouldn’t store anything MRR-related up there. The expansion/contraction effect from the heat & cold can wreak havoc on both your layout and locomotives.
As others have said: Salvage what you can, dispose what you can’t, and take special care of what you do keep so that it’s still usable if and when you should get back into the hobby again.
Here’s another alternative. If there is a model rr club near you, visit them and maybe they would take it off your hands and you will know it will be put to good use. If not maybe put it in the want adds of your local paper. I can’t speak for others but I for one, check want adds for train stuff.
As others mentioned, what you experience is not not a tragedy. Far from it! Here’s a tragedy: get texts from boss about no longer having steady employment two hours after returning home from vacation (that happened to me three weeks ago). Oh, and experience that with three young children. There is a tragedy. Feel better?
Anyway, I had to dismantle my 1st layout for a move. It was sad to see it get tossed but I was excited about the opportunity to build a larger layout. Even better was reusing some of the stuff and applying lessons learned.
Those who walked away from the layout can attest that returning is very rewarding. Perhaps you need a mental break for the layout? There’s nothing wrong with that.
Being in academics has alway meant the possibility of moving of moving. I’ve always looked upon it as an opportunity for my hobby. My current layout is about finished, but we are planning another move and that means it willcome down. Maybe I’ll continue to model the same railroad or I’ll go in another direction (more likely). Research and designing is a lot of the fun! It isn’t a tragedy, it is a new beginning.
Salvage what you can to reuse on a future layout, if that might be a possibility, and scrap the rest. If you see no future layout sell what you can and scrap the rest.
Sound like you have only laid track so far. That is easy to dismantle and salvage. Most of us have gone far beyond that point with landscaping and that make tearing down a layout much more painful.
I suggest you shift to a strategy that give you more flexability in the future. If you like to build but do not have the space desired for a full layout, build modules such as the 2x4 standard module you see at train shows. These are much easier to stash away in the corner of a garage and can be pulled out from time to time to run trains. Somtime in the future when you do find the space you want, you can use these modules to become a starting point for a bigger layout.
I chose a different option to deal with my need to move occassionally combined with my lack of internal space for a layout. I took a 26’ RV travel trailer, gutted it and built my layout in it. Allowed me to build a 8’4" x 23’ N scale layout in a space that I can take with me when I move. It has already been through one move. I chose a travel trailer because it looks like an RV which most neighborhoods will allow to be parked at your home. A utility trailer can also work but may not be allowed in some neighborhoods. Although the initial cost can be an issue for many, that cost is sometimes less than the money and time lost in tearing down a static layout. I bought an old RV for $1500 and then spent another $1500 making it serviceable That worked for me.
I was fortunate to be able to sell my Pennsy Middle Division Layout. It was quite the undertaking. Cutting it apart as carefully as we could to minimize damage was of the utmost importance.
It was bought by a buyer from Taiwan. Literally on the other side of our planet from me. It was advertised on eBay for $28,500. I never expected a guy from so far away to buy it. His cost to crate & ship it was about $20,000.
Below is a link to a few pictures & videos of the layout, the tear down, the move, the crating, and it’s arrival in Taiwan, where it was dropped on the street before being loaded by crane into the gentlman’s building.
Amazing layout! Must have been very sad dismantling that.
Very helpful replies everyone. Especially like the idea of contacting the local club to see if anyone there is interested or maybe I could donate it as someone else suggested.
BTW - my post was intentionally melodramatic as an attempt at humor - of course this is not a REAL tragedy, but it is very sad having to admit to myself that this project won’t be continuing anymore. I definitely plan on re-entering the hobby at some point in my life when I have more time to devote towards it.
