Well, it looks like I won't have a garden RR after all. I became ill in July and finally got cured last week. I can't dig or lift or do heavy stuff anymore. Or risk sustained exposure to heat and cold. I was so devastated I told my wife to get rid of all the Jun--er, stuff I've been gathering up for the past year or so.
However, Friend Wife said, "Why don't you get rid of your big shop? You haven't worked in it for more than a year. Put your garden RR in there." My 'big shop' is a one-car garage. It has my metalworking machines, some of which I got back in the 60s. Ever really, really want a few cold ones?
To me, the big challenge was to utilize that steep overgrown hillside out back. It's too steep to mow, and a RR would've been an almost endless series of cuts and grades and real-world drainage (erosion) issues. A pond. Something to become absorbed by.
I got to thinking. What really appeals to me about model RRing? Scratch/bashing, which I couldn't do in hi-rail Lionel. (At those values?) And I didn't like that third rail. I moved to HO, and soon realized I couldn't see it, and it was finicky. At least more finicky than I was/am prepared to deal with. I stumbled on G Gauge while surfing the web. Ha. A home at last. Big enough to see and, at the cheap end, common enough to saw into little pieces to create other things from. Gearing and detail that, while it might make one snarl with frustration from crudity of execution, won't cost much to replace when it disintegrates. And upon which one can climb the expensive learning curve.
Open-frame benchwork would allow for at least some contours. There is air-conditioning and heat. Animals and the occasional beer bottle someone flings over the fence (there's a thruway between the two subdivisions) won't be a bother. Neither will the kids who are frequently in my backyard to retrieve a ball. And are curious. Plastic track becomes an option, and can be upgraded when desired. I was going to hand-lay track anyway, when pre-formed radii won't suffice. And build my own switches and crossovers. Point-to-point is fine, since running takes a backseat to shunting, for me. I'd intended to use either link-n-pin or chain, since I want pre-1890 era, a subspecies in all scales, I'm given to understand, in that ready-built is not easily found.
Ever notice how many times in life path 'B' becomes the only viable route?
Les W.
That actually sounds like a perfect solution for you. And if you wanted to, I'm sure you could sale the tools that you have in there, and I'm sure that they haven't lost their value. And then maybe even build on to your shop to make it larger for more train room. You could even have different levels, with all kinds of things to make it interesting to you.
Don't give up on this, all you need are some plans and a little innovation.
Good luck.
M
Those tools will contain much value. Probably more than enough to keep you and wife in savings for a time. Yes they are big and heavy but if they are in good condition, perhaps someone will pay handsomly for those items.
Dont let health get in your way. Ive about 10 years before I lose alot of vision, by then HO will be sold and O gauge will be the rule. That is how I deal with it. Ha.
While I've modeled in HO for nearly 50 years, I am new to this "G" (1:20.3 for me) business. I have found that large-scale projects are consuming much more time than I expect when I begin them. With the larger size, it is easy to see extra detail that could/should be added. A basic Hartford Products flat-car kit took several weeks of my extra time. When I started scratch building a station, I had no intention of adding interior detail, but then I realized that the larger windows in "G" allowed vision into the structure and almost demanded that some furniture be added... so that was scratch built out of scrap wood. The results are quite acceptable.
I hope that you find the same.... that the enjoyable hours are still available as you detail even a small area or a single piece of rolling stock.
I hope that your health continues to improve. A couple surgeries in 2006 also stopped the heavy lifting for me, but I've learned that it is okay to ask for help from folks on those occasions when I can't figure out a way to break the project into smaller portions.
Bill
If you want something twice as big using G gauge track, try 7/8 (1:13.7):
https://www.7-8ths.info/~seveigth/78yackety/index.php
G indoors is very doable, there are pluses and minuses. Plus, climate can be controled, layout easier to secure, weather is not an issue, scenery can be lightweight foam based; minus, radiuses are space dependant, small area usually dictate small radius, I stuck with R1 which also limited me to smaller trains and rolling stock, which for me was fineas thats what I liked.
I've been planning to restart my innie, but other demands have me on hold for now. But it is in the works. Its basicly the same as doing smaller scales only everything is bigger.
Have fun with your trains
FJ and G wrote: If you want something twice as big using G gauge track, try 7/8 (1:13.7): https://www.7-8ths.info/~seveigth/78yackety/index.php
FJ:
I tried copy/paste to get to that site and got some sorta strange warning. I handcopied it into Google and came up blank. I'll try a 7/8th scale search and see what happens. I'm unfamiliar with that size. Thought it was live steam. Thanks, though.
sorry didn't work as it worked for me. Try this. Go to google.com and type in:
7/8ths.info
The first thing that came up was that site. It's big and it's a builders scale and some of the members do indoors and some outdoors.
Whatever you decide, best of luck
on30francisco wrote:I am also doing Large Scale indoors in a confined (for G) space. I built the baseboard and scenery the same way that the smaller scales are built. I find scratchbuilding in LS much easier and enjoyable compared to On30 and the detailing possibilities are great - you can see the details without a microscope. I'm adding a Gn15 line in addition to the 45mm track. I can utilize some of my On30 equipment for this. I discovered that some LS supplies, including detail parts and some locos (I like small narrow gauge steam), cost no more than some HO equipment.
Yeah, I am planning a mine/granite quarry using '0' gauge, courtesy of a tip from Steamdriven Bob. (Or, Bob @ Steaming Cog--heck, I can't remember. His site is down at the moment, not playing games with his name. He has neat-looking critters over there). He laid out a line of sensible facts, which I don't remember, that decided me on 0 ga for the track width. When I actually start building the thing, I'll check in again. I am intrigued by dual-gauge tracking and intend to have some, somewhere.
Les
Les, you left me speechless. What I would like to suggest is find a known general contractor and build 2nd car part attaching it to the 1st. Keep large door in bay 1 and no door in bay 2 where climate can be more controled.
After my 1st illness (1997) a second came up Jan 1, 2007, I love my trains and ain't no one or no illness going to part me from mine. There the only thing that make me happy.
Toad
here's the link; they apparently changed URLs
www.7-8ths.info
/quote]
Toad,
I can't expand the garage due to city zoning ordinance. What I really want is a 60x90' steel building with a bath, kitchen, living and bedroom along one end. The rest is all shop.
But, the wife don't see it that way. Sigh. The city don't either, but they don't cook my food.
Nah, I'm not givin' up. Just changing direction.
Les- I havn't posted anything in the large scale forum for a couple of years. I too am considering an indoor large scale layout due to health considerations, and my HO is just beginning to get a little too fuzzy to see.
Reading your post and the replies gave me a pretty good boost in both my interest and my desire to get the layout up and running.
Thanks.
Phil,
Glad it could help someone.
I tried HO and found it too small for my tastes. Lots of great selections, though. I just stumbled on G gauge (Fn3 I think is the proper description for 1:20.3, which I'll do as soon as I get some technical issues resolved in my head). And it certainly is big enough to see, the main reason I chose it.
Good luck with your new layout.
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