As I'm in the process of building my 3rd layout, I had to stop and think. After the benchwork,plywood and foam is installed, what is next? I started putting down track to get an idea of spacing. Then installing WS inclines and measuring for bridges. My point is, how far do I go into scenery or do I start wiring or put up buildings or ballast track or plaster hills/mountains and so on. I do a little of each, so it doesn't turn into a JOB, I want to keep it as a hobby.
Well, any approach that works for you is fine. The thing to avoid is blocking yourself so that you have to undo something later on. I.E. don't pour the water before you put in the bridge piers.
On my current under construction layout I am getting all the track installed and wired before any scenery. But that's because I want to get to operations right away and be able to adjust the track if necessary. But doing some track and then scenicing it is fine too. There have been modelers over the year who do their layouts in a modular fashion finishing each before doing or even planning the next.
Enjoy
Paul
Rock-solid benchwork, trackwork, and wiring should be a priority while there is easier access.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
I think once the benchwork,track and wiring is done the rest is whatever you're in the mood for. If you don't like schedules all that much don't set yourself one. You should however discipline your self to do at least a few minutes a day on the layout to keep from going stagnant.
I am building my fourth layout right now. The benchwork is first, of course. Then the bridges and track. But I laid track with the feeder wires hanging below the benchwork - wiring comes later. I'm not done with the track, but I have started scenery where the track is down. I try to ballast two feet per day [should finish by July 4]. When I get tired of standing, I work at my desk preparing feeder wires or putting the stripes on roads. I'm in no hurry, so the variety keeps it fun. I do what I feel like doing at the time.
Of course the obvious steps Back drop first you don't want to be leaning over a completed model to set a back drop, next room lighting( high hhats or track lighting), bench work, track work, wiring etc. I persoanlly like to have at least the section I am working on powered up and have trains run through switches, over bridges, up or down grades etc. any place where potential problems may occure.
Once I have the track work satisfactory I paint and weather all the the visable track work, then ballast all the completed track work and then start adding scenery, structures.As far as schedules and getting things done etc. I feel you work on it as long as your having fun when something frustrates you or your getting board stop and walk away. There's nothing wrong with taking a brake even for a few days. Your not in a race it's supposed to be fun. Usually after you let your head clear after a few days that problem that was giving you grief is no big deal to solve.
Oh yeah I almost forgot the most important thing, your never done. There is always something to do or change on your layout.
I build the bench, drew centerlines, laid roadbed, laid track, and then wired. Any scenery stuff of any kind, structures, bridges, etc, come after I have tested the tracks to that point. In my case for the bridges, I left the spline roadbed as a single section and tested the track that way. Once I knew the tracks were good and that continuity was good, I removed that section of track, cut away the block of splines, and then added the bridge. I ground gooped the bridge at that time, and once the bridge looked naturally placed and scenicked, I continued around the rest of the layout. Once all the ground foam and bushes and such were glued into place, then I began on the ballasting and weathering of the tracks. I left the urban settings to the last.
My first step will be to remove/dismantle unwanted layout modules, bunk bed, etc. from the second of two bedrooms and then pay an electrician a lot of $$ to put in some decent lights (there are none presently).
After that, having pretty much settled on a layout plan, start on benchwork, backdrop, subroadbed, roadbed, track, wiring, scenery, structures (mostly built), and so on like converting DC locomotives (already acquired) to DCC....
A lot depends on the size and complexity of your empire. Mine is comparatively vast (16x20, two peninsulas plus 50 linear feet of wall-mounted shelves, track on multiple levels..) so I decided to do it incrementally, starting with the most critical part of the netherworld (which occupies one 5x12 peninsula and about 10 feet of wall shelf.) Now I'm slowly expanding along the shelving (some very recently installed) toward the eventual site of the other peninsula.
I don't build benchwork until I need it to install track. Cookie-cut plywood subgrade and foam roadbed goes on as soon as there's structure to support it. Rail follows soon after - flex track and hand-laid specialwork - and wiring follows right on the heels of the tracklaying crew.
Then I start running trains. Not just test runs, but a Reader's Digest edition of my master-planned schedule. As a result, additional layout building happens in fits and starts, at the pace of a seriously arthritic turtle.
I have to build the lower, to be hidden, levels of track before I can cap the area with to be visible subgrade. As a result, there isn't a square millimeter of scenery on the layout at present. Planned progress being what it is, I'll probably scenic the corner at the end of my main town first. There will be a five-tiered pagoda on its flattened hilltop, and would-be Yokozuna participating in a sumo tournament, in that corner - possibly before the turntable is installed at the other end of town, and certainly before the second peninsula is framed in.
Once scenery building starts I will be able to work on whatever facet of the construction process catches my fancy at the moment, from benchwork erection to putting ruts in a dirt road. If one thing becomes tedious, I'll just do something else for a while.
So, when do I expect to finish? Possibly by my 100th birthday, if I start working faster. Only 28 years to go...
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Allegheny2-6-6-6Of course the obvious steps Back drop first...
True most of the time, but I made my backdrop detachable, and am able to adjust or change it out when I make changes to the scenery on the layout. It was installed last.
My n-scale layout started as a shelf layout above a workbench, so the legs in front were short, and the back was resting on 1 x 1 attached to the wall. When I moved it I added legs all around; fortunately the legs were only attached with drywall screws, so were easy to replace. It was a quick, I afternoon job.
The backdrop could slide in and out behind the layout, against the wall, on the shelf layout. Now, I am changing the backdrop somewhat as I've added some shallow hills in the background since the layout is now freestanding. So it will again be installed last.
In my case, adaptability and flexibility are key, since my layout is continually evolving. I've painted rails before laying track, and painted rails after the track is laid.
Just my two cents (in today's economy, may be altogether worthless ).