Yep, it's happening! But, I have an operating railroad, so there is no rush. I am moving very slowly and thoughtfully.
Actual construction will probably start after the heat of Summer....
Paul
Huzzah!
Update:
I have purchased my track: a circle of LGB 18000 r5 curves and a box of LGB 4 foot straights. I have laid it out on the grass, and it makes a humongous oval!
There are many prerequisites to track laying: we had a dead palm tree removed, and have a couple of busted sprinkler head. The project will move forward slowly and methodically.....
The grass will be removed; too water thirsty for drought ridden Cali....
Probably go with the " desert" theme: a rock garden with cacti and succulents, and a humongous LGB loop!
Paul,
I totally get it. We have learned that trains beyond a certain length just look cramped, and, yes, it would be nice to see a prototypical lenght train cruise around the yard.More than a few cars on our "mainline," and it starts to look pretty cramped!
Eric
Space... the final frontier.....
after 2 years of enjoying this railroad every weekend, I have come to realize that some engines/ cars are too big for my grades and curvature.Yes, they run on my track, but rather than subjecting them to excessive wear, I believe the current system should be relegated to the smaller equipment. A new and larger loop would allow them to stretch their legs. Longer trains would be possible. Keep in mind, a long Narrow Guage train might be 10 or 12 cars( approximately 15 feet long in G). The current system can accommodate trains of 3 to 5 cars only. This is my point. I would like 12 cars on occasion....
Lucky for us we are space constrained! Actually, in the "grand do over," I would have based our RR on a single sugar plantation, even if idealized to suit my tastes, ability and available equipment. This would have given us the mill, loco and car shops, interchange with a mainline, spurs and sidings into fields, and even possibly a pier. HRHH King David Kalakaua actually rode from the docks to the plantation aboard the 30" system that fed sugar to the docks and, later, the OR&L. Imagine the fun of modeling a Royal Hawaiian procession!
I am never a proponent of starting over, though, in anything. I enjoy bending what is to suit an evolving vision of what will be. The Triple O will remain as is, a garden railroad slowly coming to evoke the heyday of rail on Oahu....at least in my mind!
On the old garden railroad, I didn't always run long trains, but I could. Occasionally, the mood would hit. It's just that I realized that it's just not possible with this current line, although I am otherwise quite happy with it.
So, this is an itch that I need to scratch....
Thats the mostly USA modeler in you coming out, where long trains are a reality in real life that we see everyday if you live near active tracks. I think the greater focus on smaller layouts in the UK and Europe is from the much smaller railways that dominate the landscape over there, both during the heyday of steam and in preservation days of recent. They also tend to have much smaller garden space or indoor space if no garden space is available. The Brits especially lead a more compact lifestyle than most of us in the states. I am kind of envious of it at times, just not the high cost of everything they have to pay.
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Yeah, but....
I miss the sheer bliss of " highballing" with a long train. The sound of all those wheels on the rail joints...Very exciting indeed!
I have always been a proponent of small layouts, ease of maintenance,easy for one person to handle.
But, there are some things that require wider curves , and longer straightaways. I miss rolling a long train!
Many times smaller is better, the Brits know this very well as they make small railways that feel much larger than they really are. Tag Gortons Longlands & Western, Shawn V's Kittanny Mt Railway logging line are a couple examples, not large in overall size but when viewed in photographes or videos as one might be railfanning a real railway, seem much larger. The smaller size lets the building concentrate on scenes and details that a larger railway restricts as one deals with the scope and costs of such large operation. Many UK lines are just one live steam engine, some freight or passenger wagons and a small loop of track winding thru the garden or on an elevated line above the bushes. But its the detail and small scenes throughout that small railway that brings it to life and gives it purpose. Mike
Eric,
"Phase 2" is my pipe dream, which is how all my projects start. I get an idea, and then mull it over, and mull it over..
I've had this persistent idea that keeps resurfacing in my mind: another Main Line loop. On the grassy area in the main part of the yard. I want to be able to run longer trains at speed,which I used to be able on the previous railroad. And, to watch them from the patio table as we dine....
The details haven't been worked out yet, but this is the concept. It will be in addition to the present railroad, yet not connected...
While not as close to retiring by a long shot, I am with you in that engaging in my hobby always brings a smile (one exception...tracking down the phantom break in power continuity through the rails!).
I have no Phase 2, as the yard is too small, but, like you I also try to look ahead to the next year. A failed motive power project ate away my free time over the summer put me behind in the hobby sense of the word. I have a series of projects intended to build skills and test materials "stepwise," in as much as no one failure blows my hobby funds for the year! Having reached the constraints in terms of funds and storage space for tools and gotten a real sense of what is reliably available out here in terms of material, I have been able to reflect on what I CAN do as I steer our railroad gradually towards a reasonable impression of Hawaiian cane roads.
This current garden railroad never fails to put a smile on my face.....
It is much smaller than the last: current 16x23, previous: 20x25. But it has so much more going on operationally,with the cog line. I like it better!
This next year I will probably retire, and hopefully can complete some of my unfinished projects. Many things unfinished in the train room.
And, I am already contemplating " Phase 2" of the garden line......
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