I am a person with a very active inner child. This is why my wife loves me so. Willoughby, Ohio - the home of the CP & E RR. OTTS Founder www.spankybird.shutterfly.com
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
QUOTE: Originally posted by waltrapp Peterfin: I understand, because I see them all the time, the thought of asking for help on a layout design by coming to a forum. I don't know how that works though. I design a brand spanking new 14'x15' Christmas layout each year and have been for the last 25 years or so. I have a thread that I updated Saturday on the thought process that I use, not that it's unique or wonderful or anything. To me designing a layout is just so personal that I can't imagine what kind of information might be forthcoming to help you design something. However, I do keep a notebook of ideas that I read about or see in magazines or places like this forum. There are lots of individual ideas that one has to sort thru, weigh the merits of, and decide how to combine them into a unified plan. I use individual ideas on my Christmas layouts each year to instill a new wrinkle and make running it more fun since some new 'pattern' that I've never used before is used. I ain't being critical of you for asking and I'm not being critical of those that try to help. I, personally, just don't know how to help. To me you have to start with some basic goals and go from there. Then maybe some creative help from others could be used. There are just so many questions, where does one start? * What kind of layout are you looking to build? Prototypical or not? * Multi-layered? * How many trains do you want to run? * Switching/Operating layout versus one that leans more towards just running them? * How important is scenery and what kind? * To a lesser extent, command control or conventional? * 12'x12' is consider small for 'O' but big enough to do something. Are you concerned about windows, doors, closets, etc. And this is just the tip of the questions that you might want to consider. I hope I didn't come off snobbish - I was actually trying to be helpful. I don't have a permanent layout so I rarely offer any suggestions since I think the thought process is different when it comes to a permanent layout versus a Christmas layout. Good luck with your plans. Visit often and tell us what you're up to! - walt
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