Just a curious question: How many people work on their layouts during the summer? I know it's kinda considered "off-season" for trains.
I have in the past. My big shelving project was done in the summer because the price had been reduced for the shelves at Home Depot.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
I have when it is too hot to be anywhere but the basement. But not much in the summer.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
In my case there's no off-season or on-season. If I feel like working on the layout I do, if not, I don't.
However, there's definately no off-season for operating sessions!
KRM: Kev....Florida ....... Wish we had a basement.
Firelock76: Kind of agree.
Although we live in the "Sunshine State", we do have rainy days during the summer which are great for layout work. Aside from that, unless there is a major layout project, I'd say that we defer to the Spring and Fall.
I do not have an "off season", I am woking on my layout whenever I feel like it and that is usually a couple of times a week. However I tend to have more operating time than construction time. I am currently working on two building kits for the addition I made a couple of month back.
That depends on what it means to work on the layout. Mine is flat and nothing is permanently attached. I can move the structures at will and reconfigure the track on a whim. For example, this week i elevated an oval. I am pondering a folded eight that would result in three concentric circles running two trains and a trolley line.
Wait. There's an "Off Season"...?
If that's the case, my off season comes Oct-Dec, because we are way too busy at the scenic rr. But then again, I have to set up Fifey-Wifey North Pole Village and Gingerbread train every Thanksgiving, so that even narrows that down.
Working on my new layout year-round, just a little at a time. What really prompts me is when someone is coming to visit (grandsons, nephew, friends, co-workers, neighbors). I find myself working with a sense of determination when I know I'll be operating the layout for others' enjoyment.
On my last layout, I did the lion's share of scenery during the year-long Coffee Pot Interchange. It drove me to focus on completing different sections, for staging an incoming car's photo.
During his recent visit to my layout, the oldest grandson asked about former tunnel openings, that were to be sceniced over. He is into dinosaurs at the moment... "Hey Pops, maybe you could put some dinosaur bones in one of those caves...?"
My "off season" is late February to late April. It starts after I've finished dismantling and storing the Christmas layouts and ends when I start cleaning and repairing things for the summer layout. Then I start working on improvements and additions to those Christmas layouts which usually leads me all the way up to Thanksgiving-eve.
Most Disneyland work is underway by the end of May but this year I've been lazy! We have no air conditioning and trust me, trying to sprinkle ground foam on landforms in front of the fan that's blasting at your head because it's 93 degrees is a real adventure!
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Moved to Southwest Florida from NJ 2 1/2 years ago. Started working on a layout as the weather got warmer. Too nice to be indoors most of the year, but much too hot in the summer. So my "off-season" is reversed from what I was used to up north.
I don’t do much, but I usually fit some train time in, even if it is just cleaning and/or rearranging. So far, this season has been tough to get down there. Hopefully, kid stuff will ease up soon, so I can return to my hideout.
I just started a new Flyer layout the weather has not been the best this year that I have not been able to fish the bay much. It is something to do on rainy days or days. Looking forward to the new layout.
I work on my lay out everyday and run trains every day but if I had an off season it would be January to March when my basement is as cold as 44ﾟ right now it's a nice 62ﾟ in there, do outside gardening early am before its 100 and 80% humidity, the down to the layout.
Not really working on the layout, because it is not laid down. But I work on the rolling stock. Right now I have seven #50 Gang Cars I am restoring. I have a few post-war locos that I will also be working on.
Virginian Railroad
My "in-season" is 24/7/365! Real trains run in the cold, why shouldn't my toys?!
This car stops at ALL railroad crossings!
I do a lot of layout work in the summer. Too hot and humid outside! I know many people think of the winter as the prime time for trains, but I work with income taxes, so January - April is usually my busy time at work. I try to get any layout projects done by December, so I can just run trains and relax during those months, then start up again after.
I do next to nothing on the layout in the summer months. However, the wheels are always turning in my head for the post Labor Day train fun. This June, I did help the grandkids put a layout in their basement so that was enormous fun. They are about 800 miles away so we will have to trouble shoot via the inter webs.
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