Has anyone ever build a temporary layout...

[FJ and G]

...that they knew at the time that they were building it, that it would only be temporary?

Well, this weekend, I'm going to launch into a temporary layout that I've always dreamed about but was too chicken to do. I've always wanted to do a 1-track long layout with lots of wild desert scenery and Loooong trains. To accompli***his, I will be building a 1 to 3-ft wide layout , fully hi-rail sceniced, on the ground for about 70 feet or so, including a backdrop. The crazy part of the layout will be my ferroequinarchaeological abandoned track segment with burned out trestles, rusting track, weeds, etc.

It will be temporary b/c looking at moving w/in the next 6 or 8 months or so, as my job eventually will get "BRAC"'d to Ft Meade and will need to relocate anyways.

But just wanted to do something fun, that, to my knowledge, has never been tried.

[Frank53]

I've got a temporary layout now - a 4x8 and a 4x6 in an "L" in the future train room. I have painting, benchwork, track planning, etc ahead of me, so while I have been rewiring switches, fixing trains and testing, I threw a couple of loops up and have been running teh heck out of my postwar trains on the "temporary" layout.

Porblem being, it will all have to come down before I start building the permanent layout.

[Anonymous]

Just about every layout I've ever built has been temporary--sometimes intentionally so, and sometimes made that way by circumstances. About the time I ever get them to what might be considered a "near finished" state, I find myself wanting to explore things from an entirely different perspective.

[trigtrax]

I built a 16 x 20 temporary layout every Christmas. Start Nov 1 and take down on Jan 6. It was a family tradition.. When I started as a kid I only had a 4 x 8 with one train set and a few accessories.. But it grew and grew and eventually it got down to running for a couple of hours each year with the rest of the times spent on construction and mechanical adjustment to get everything working.. Totally nuts.. but lots of fun.
Now that my kids have moved out I'll be putting a smaller permanent layout up.. That is if they ever take the rest of their junk with them. [banghead]

[cnw1995]

Yes, David, my first layout was only 3 by 5 ft. with folding legs - that slid behind the couch when not in use. I put a handle on it so I could carry it on the train too.

[palallin]

I'm making final preparations to pull down my temporary layout and start on the permanent benchwork. The temp is a 4x8 with an 042 oval, an 027 figure eight, and an elevated 027 oval. I've used it under Christmas trees for a number of years and on sawhorses (temporary benchwork) the rest of the year. I learned quite abit from it, though scenery is minimal. I may hang on to it as a portable layout for shows and public displays (a use to which I have put it in the past).

[cheese3]

Yup every christmas, just kidding, I had a loop set up on a 4x5 sheet of plywood on the newly built 10'x10' HO layout. I knew it was temporary because of the construction of the HO.

[Dr. John]

My annual Christmas layout changes every year, although it keeps its 30" x 80" configuration (hollow core door). I change the track arrangement and scenery each year. The layout goes up right after Halloween and comes down by January 1.

[Anonymous]

I am building a fairly intricate temporary layout that will fill a good part of my parents' basement. It will be somewhat modular and have only basic, removable scenery so it can be stored easily when I'm not at home. The layout will feature a lengthy main line run capable of running trains 12-13 feet long without looking overcrowded. The minimum curve is 042, so semi-scale articulateds and small scale engines can operate with ease. When I get my own house I'll just take the layout down and move it there in pieces, although I'll probably be wanting something a little different by then and may just start over.

[Anonymous]

Of course the ultimate temporary layout is on the floor, thrown together on a rainy day with the kids. I keep lots of 027 track, crosses and manual switches and a couple of small transformers with lockons. We run cheap scouts or other junker locos and have fun. Take it all down that day.

Charlie

[Anonymous]

Please see the September CTT for an article on my "temporary" Fastrack layout. As an Army officer, I have had to move every couple of years so my layouts were designed to build up and tear down easy.

Joe Bolton [:D]

[MTsteamfan]

I put up a temporary layout every year in the store where I work. The benchwork all comes apart and/or folds down against the wall. Takes a few hours or so to put all the pieces together, and then a few days of spare time to get the track and accessories together and looking good and working well.

We just converted the layout to TMCC this past year. The layout started about 20 years ago with all Lionel track on an 8' square table. It's grown every year, and is now L-shaped and about 35' by 4', with the L extending 14' off one end. I'm trying to work out a new track design for this year. We now use all Gargraves track and Ross switches.