Oh, man, I wish I had........

[St Francis Consolidated RR]

1. decided on 1:29 scale and stuck with 1:24 to 1:29 right from the beginning

2. spent the same amount of money of many-fewer, higher-quality locomotives (instead of five or six Bachmann Shays, for instance )

3. decided on smaller rail, code 250 at the biggest

4. gone battery right from the beginning

5. had always kept one continuous loop running so I could always see trains running

6. finished one scene completely at a time as a module (as much as possible) before moving on to the next

So, that's part of what I've learned in the last four years since I started, and since I'm three months into starting a new layout in a new house, I get a second chance.

I guess that's the nice thing about a hobby...you get DO-OVERS! (if you don't count all the bye-bye money during the learning process

 

[vsmith]

I think I've started over three or four time now, but my interests have remained surprisingly consistant (tiny trains, tiny engines, tiny cars). I sold off all the stuff that no longer works on the layout, but I could still consolidate the roster smaller, I still have some track left over, but I also sold off a huge cache of track and switches. I am slowly accepting the fact that one spot in the yard I want to build a small layout will likely not happen anytime soon. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk so to speak

[tomgb]

It's always nice to have a chance for "do-overs," especially as your modeling tastes change. A layout that is all scale-true and nicely done as some of your previous layout photos attests is certainly a visual treat. However, if you aren't inclined towards faithful realism then mixed scales, less detailed rolling stock and non-typical layouts work just fine. That's what I have and I don't let the discrepancies bother my enjoyment of building and operating at all. Guests to my layout find lots to enjoy and don't ever mention the mixed scales if they even notice them. I have some local rail modeling visitors who aren't fussy either. The mixed stuff is acquired  for the love of how it looks and it goes together quickly as less time is spent checking for 100%  compatibility.

The fact that you still want a round-and-round loop shows you haven't entirely shifted your focus to total reality. Most continuous loop train operations I have seen in full size are in amusement parks. But on our looped home layouts we can pretend our miniature version represents more typical point-to-point operations while letting the trains run and not having to monitor the movements every second.

[Greg Elmassian]

Not bragging, but, there's nothing that I would do differently now. The only stuff I ever "got rid of" was some bachmann 1:20.3 that looked neat, but not the same scale as my 1:29. I miss my shay, but it's at a good home now. I bought an Annie that was my first DCC conversion, that's for sale.

But, before I bought ANYTHING I read every forum I could get to, and read darn near every thread on them.

I learned a lot about what NOT to do. I bought just a few pieces of brass track to see how it would fare for track power in my environment. That test told me the first week that I needed stainless track.

Reading and learning from others first was the best thing I have ever done.

Still happy with 1:29, track power, SS rail and DCC years later.

 

Greg