First Layouts

[Anonymous]

Change is really healthy, it shows that you can still learn from experience. John Gardner, ex Sec'y of Health & Welfare, wrote a book about Self Renewal. Now a story:
My daughter went to an Ag & Life Sciences college. During freshman orientation w parents some faculty hosted a Q&A. One of the more motivated parents asked if his daughter would be penalized if she was undecided and changed majors. All 8 of the Profs told how they went to college and had changed their field of endeavor. The last one even admitted that when he went to college he didn't know what he wanted to do, only that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life on an 8 cow dairy farm.
So do your thing and get your kicks.

[Anonymous]

When I got back into O Gauge, I went through the same thing you're going through. I built a 6x8 conventional 0-27 layout with tons of operating accessories and realistic scenery ("the layout I always wanted as a kid).

The layout was a lot of fun, but I quickly learned the shortfalls of 0-27 curves and switches! Then, right as I started the ballasting and scenery, I fell in love with the newer scale-sized offerings from MTH, Weaver and Williams (engines requiring 0-31 to 0-72 minimum curves). The 0-27 layout was still a work in progress, and I was already planning a new Hi-Rail layout with 0-72 curves! Worse yet, I regretted having spent so much time and money on the 0-27 layout.

These days, I have TMCC and DCS, and I mostly run scale locomotives and rolling stock (the traditionally sized Postwar stuff gets run on the annual Christmas layout). Looking back, I no longer regret building that "classic" 0-27 layout as it taught me a number of valuable lessons about layout design. I still have the benchwork from that old layout (as well as boxes of 0-27 track and switches), and I'm thinking about recreating it with my son.

[Dave Farquhar]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jaabat

Steve,
On the one hand, I truly don't want the self-imposed stress of making an ultra-realistic looking layout. David spoke of never being satisfied with the level of realism he could achieve. I think I feel the same way about myself. On the other hand, I do like weathering and adding some degree of detail.

(snip)

I guess the reason I started this thread was to see who else had gotten started in one direction, then had thoughts of doing things differently. Our current layout is just right for running Thomas and his friends, as well as the O27 stuff we have. But I can envision a day when the boys and I (and hopefully, Julia) will begin work on a new, more prototypical layout. One with a yard, and industries. One that has more operator involvement.

I think you hit the nail on the head, Jim, with the versatility. We all have to settle on a degree of realism we're pleased with--which, by the way, you've done a very nice job of blending. (As others have said before me.) My level of realism is less than yours, but I still feel funny about having Hummers and low-rider Honda Civics on a layout that features steam locomotives. While my layout is mostly tin litho, it looks like it's set in the 1940s--which gives me the versatility to run the trains I want to run. So that's where I'm drawing the line for me. Funny how I never thought of that.

Most of us have a variety of stuff, for whatever reason, so we have the option of either building multiple layouts, or trying to build one versatile layout that we can adapt to changing needs and desires relatively quickly and painlessly.

[jimhaleyscomet]

My first "permanent" layout started as track on a board with conventional control. I then added mountains and scenery and a few cardboard houses. My second layout was just a flat board with accessories and command control. My third layout was portable with full scenery although I ran O27 conventional control. The very realistic scenery did not blend well with my 027 startet locos and beeps. My current layout is 36" wide, along two 16 foot walls with command and conventional control. Most curves are 054 except for the 031 turn arounds. I have hid them with hill cuts to avoid the goofy overhang look on curves. I hope to combine just enough scenery (using dark green instead of the more realistic light greens and yellows) with plastic houses and accessories to keep the toy look. If I do as well as Jaabot I will be happy!

Jim H

[pbjwilson]

My layouts run the gamut. My tastes are always changing, from setting up an oval on the floor and running some wind-up tinplate to a shelf style realistic layout. The change from one type of train or scale to another keeps me interested. I say go with the flow. Whatever strikes your fancy go with it. The more diverse your interests the more knowledge you pick-up along the way. I find the history of the hobby just as intrigueing as the modeling aspect of the hobby.

[thor]

QUOTE: Originally posted by stevend


Buy several used (and, inexpensive) train cars (boxcars, hoppers, flatcars etc. etc.) and paint them in various pastel "girl colors" .

Then, go to Michael's or any craft/hobby supply store that sells adhesive stickers... i.e Barbie, Dora the Explorer, Minnie Mouse, etc. etc. and place them on the railcars. There are thousands and thousands of different "theme" stickers that you can use to personalize your trains.

Steve thats a great idea! Thanks a lot.

[Jumijo]

Steve,
That is a wonderful idea! My daughter loves stickers, but her interest in the trains has wained severely. I'm going to a trainshow next weekend and will be on the lookout for previously loved cars my daughter can decorate. Thank you for that fine suggestion!

Graz,
I thought I had read that you had started out with tradition stuff and later switched to scale. Your saying so here confirms that. Thank you again for saying such nice things.

Your layout stands out from almost all others to me in that there are none of those toy-like operating accessories. I noticed that because I too have none. I'm not sure I want any. I've seen enough to know they are very tempermental, and even when they do work right, they aren't all that wonderful. And like you, I have come to enjoy weathering and adding details to a structure.

On the one hand, I truly don't want the self-imposed stress of making an ultra-realistic looking layout. David spoke of never being satisfied with the level of realism he could achieve. I think I feel the same way about myself. On the other hand, I do like weathering and adding some degree of detail.

Frank has set out to do more or less the same thing I have. Run O27, or toy-like trains in a realistic setting. I think there are different degrees of realism. He's doing an incredible job making that layout come to life. Love to see his progress posts! Norm and Graz have achieved an ulta high level of realism. To me, they represent the absolute pinnacle of that genre.

I guess the reason I started this thread was to see who else had gotten started in one direction, then had thoughts of doing things differently. Our current layout is just right for running Thomas and his friends, as well as the O27 stuff we have. But I can envision a day when the boys and I (and hopefully, Julia) will begin work on a new, more prototypical layout. One with a yard, and industries. One that has more operator involvement.

Jim

[underworld]

First train was a Marx Big Rail. I was given some American Flyer by a neighbor shortly after that. Got a lot of HO....then some N.....Z.....and most recently some prewar Marklin tinplate gauge 1. It figures that my obsession is now with the Marklin....since it's the most expensive....and hardest to find! [:p] I also have a variety of prewar O from various manufacturers....and a bit of TT thrown in for good measure. I'm sure that I've forgotten something! [:p]

underworld

aka The Violet

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Anonymous]

Jim,
The layout currently under construction will be as realistic as I can possibly make it. A place to run scale equipment through believable landscaping. That's the reason I chose Atlas track and kept curves to a 72" minimum. If I can control myself, future purchases will be small locos that suit the relatively small size of the layout.

This doesn't mean I'm limiting myself to one layout. I'll probably design something modular so it can serve as a seasonal toy train display around the tree. I'll run the Standard Gauge, Prewar and Postwar O stuff I already have on hand. A great place to use up my stock of tubular track and 022 switches too. Realism won't matter here...a layout where even Mr. 45 Gateman won't look like a freak of nature.

Bruce Webster

[Frank53]

I've gone the realistic look, although I believe because of the way I am building it, and the amount of multi-level benchwork I have crammed into a small space, it will add years to the timeline when compared to a "toy train" layout.

My goal is to be as ultra realistic as possible, although flying in the face of that goal, I am using post war tubular track and 100% post war trains. I have many original post war accessories, but will be using only a few, as they will look woefuly out of place on a realistic layout.

I've built a number of "scale" buildings, and am really concentrating on scenery. On the toy train side of the equation though, I will have the ability to run seven trains on three levels when complete, and the room is 12 x 12.

When done, hi-railers and toy train purists alike will agree - it's a train wreck!

[Anonymous]

Gonna see a whole range of responses. I take two approaches. 1. I've got some old Lionel Postwar that I set up on the floor for the kids and I to play with. 2. I bought an MTH V&T set to satisfy my need to do some with more of a highrail flare. Both are equally satisfying, and I'm rarely bored with either approach.
Greg

[Birds]

My tastes changed over time. I started out wanting to model local railroads and was planning on doing freight, coal, timber, and that also meant mountains.

Trains went into storage before a layout was ever built. Trains came out of storage over 10 years later and I started working on different layout designs.

I found I preferred passenger trains, didn't want to deal with scenery anymore, and enjoy the O-27 and Traditional lines.

So I decided to try and recreate a more classic toy train look. I also found I enjoy shorter trains - 60 inches maximum without engines.

[Anonymous]

.

QUOTE: thor

The little girls biological parents arent enthusiastic about me teaching her 'boy stuff' so its an uphill struggle
.
But, she's learning to read by train related activities!

She only really likes the trains because of the play aspect and her real mum and dad dont know how to play.

Suggestion:

Buy several used (and, inexpensive) train cars (boxcars, hoppers, flatcars etc. etc.) and paint them in various pastel "girl colors" .

Then, go to Michael's or any craft/hobby supply store that sells adhesive stickers... i.e Barbie, Dora the Explorer, Minnie Mouse, etc. etc. and place them on the railcars. There are thousands and thousands of different "theme" stickers that you can use to personalize your trains.

It's even possible that stickers for her favorite play characters are also available.

You might even make the project of attaching the stickers to the cars a "team" effort, where she can choose which ones to place on certain cars. Boxcars are the best for personalizing a train set, since they offer more room for the larger stickers.

Just an idea. . [:)]

.

[dwiemer]

Jim,
Unless you are the "Nothing but Scale", type, just go with whatever makes you happy. I was 95% postwar Steam, then picked up a few diesels. Now I am mostly still pw steam, but I have some prewar, diesels, very toy-like whatever. I even see a Thomas set in the near future. I have not been one for command control of any kind, but just placed an order for the Lionel caboose with sounds, which will require a engine to match it. I am just getting the layout started and will certainly have plenty of scenery, and it will be mostly late 40's, early 50's, but if someone comes and says something about the tribute to US forces in modern garb, or the new diesels running the rails, they can just leave. It's my layout and I will do it my way! Anyway, have fun and do what you want.
Dennis

[cnw1995]

My layout in this scale has just evolved from a train set oval to something covering the crawlspace in the basement. It's evolving to reflect my growing interest in traction. I guess I started v. toy-trainy and now have moved about half-way toward high-rail. All sorts of non-prototypical things abound, but I'm consciously trying to reflect on what would be around a pre-automobile early 20th cen. rural setting. I find I like to model a bit more of what I see around me...

[Dave Farquhar]

I went the other direction. I was planning a layout with realistic scenery, knowing I'd never be satisfied with the realism of anything I could make myself or that I'd find on the shelf. Then I read Trains From Grandfather's Attic by Peter Riddle, so I re-did everything and went with a toylike layout. I took it to an extreme, using tin litho buildings whenever possible.

It wouldn't look right with modern scale stuff running on it, but it looks fine with prewar trains, Marx tin, and I can even run postwar Lionel and Marx plastic without it looking too out of place, since the time period and level of detail look about right. And it'll keep me in the hunt for things to add to the layout for years to come.

[Anonymous]

Jim,
My current layout is my first layout and when I started construction, the plan was to do much more of a "postwar - but with landscaping" type layout. All structures were going to be operating postwar accessories.
However, as I began building the landforms, the postwar items didn't seem to look as natural as I had hoped and I didn't really want to do a full "weathering job" to them. Hence the scale building kits (mostly Walthers). Now I wi***hat I would have taken it a couple of steps further and used the thinner 2 rail track with a handlaid center rail instead of the regualr 3 rail offerings to eliminate some of the bulky appearance of the track. I also wi***hat I had managed to create a more "organic" trackplan like you see from the scale guys. Mine still has much of the boxy "postwar styled" geometry.

Also, regarding your layout: As I've stated before, your current ratio of toy train - to - scale looks very pleasing.
Mike

[thor]

I went back to basics, after years of building ever more realistic HO layouts and obsessing over the control systems then trains got played out and I went through a thirty year hiatus mainly because of my family duties.

Then an O gauge train set came into my life and I went back to basics playing on the floor with a 3yr old and not even trying to bring 'realism' into the picture. Actually I've enjoyed this resurgence more than anything for a long time, I only enjoyed the HO when it was with my best friend, on my own it didnt hold my interest.

Asherah - the 3 yrd old girl - likes stories. So what happens is we use the train to tell the story. Theres only one rule, it MUST be delivered by train, whatever it is and she picks items at random from her toy box, sends them to me and then waits for me to explain what part that item plays (or could play) in a railroad . Yesterday the game started with a dragon! I put it solemnly down in the middle and explained it was the sign for a playground. So she started sending toy swings, slides, little dolls and so forth and then when they ran out she switched to animals so it became a playground and petting zoo.

Anyway I'm sure you get the idea. It keeps the two of us happy for hours though my 60 yr old knees dont much like the parquet floor aspect.

Like you I started out solidly a steam loving diesel hater but now I find myself more and more attracted to diesels especially ones with sound and smoke because that really brings them to life.

The next progression will be from the living room floor to the garden until Fall and by then I hope I'll have figured a way to engineer a layout at a comfortable height but we're really pushed for space and I'm thinking of somehow making the bed revolve on its axis to mount trains to the underside.

The little girls biological parents arent enthusiastic about me teaching her 'boy stuff' so its an uphill struggle but she's learning to read by train related activities! She only really likes the trains because of the play aspect and her real mum and dad dont know how to play. A lot of adults dont, I've noticed, its rather sad I think. Most model railway folks are basically storytellers, have you noticed?

[Jumijo]

I've been giving our still-in-progress layout a lot of thought lately. I initially set out to create a toy-ish, semi realistic layout that would serve as a colorful backdrop for the O27 trains we run. To some extent, I accomplished that (so far), and I like it. In other ways, I wonder if I should go in another direction. One that is more realistic. I've already started thinking about a new layout, and I'm only 1/2 way finished with this one.

I've also noticed that my tastes are changing in regards to motive power. I started out as a huge steam fan. But lately, I'm drawn to the early streamliner diesels, and passenger trains are now preferred over frieghts.

How many layouts or layout changes have some of you gone through? Have your preferrences changed in the type of trains you run? Anyone else go through this?

Jim