I have a very important question and I would really like your guys suggestions.
Right now I have a layout made out of two 4x8 tables, arranged in an L. The track is a long loop, with spurs inside and out.
My questions is, should I start over from scratch? I've been tossing around the idea of cutting each table in half and having four 2' shelves to work with. I could have a lot more operation, but I would be undermining all of the money that I have spent and all the work that I've done over the last 5 years.
I know this decision is essentially my decision, I would really like some advice on this before I take the saws-all to the layout.
Thanks
Jacob
I'd say that if your questioning whether you should dismantle your layout or not, then you probably should.
If your not happy with your current configuration now then you probably never will be. Try to save as much material you can from your current one. You could variate the sizes of the benchwork for the new setup, some being 3 feet wide others 1. Get your pencil sharpener and eraser and start planning.
Good Luck and keep us posted.
My first suggestion is to stop thinking of tables and/or shelves of rectangular shape and fixed dimensions. Unless you are talking about modules which have to meet the interfacing standards of some system (N-Trak comes to mind; there are others) that is seldom, if ever, the best approach.
My second suggestion is to beg, borrow or (gasp) buy John Armstrong on Creative Layout Design. Read it through. Then, make a detailed list of your, "Givens and Druthers." Once you have a handle on where you would like to go, then you can evaluate your present efforts and determine the best way to adapt them to your desires.
Unless you are modeling East Pancake, Nebraska, a simple tabletop is also a not-so-best approach. If you want any topography at all, even streams or depressed roads passing under your rails, L-girder construction will trump tabletop. If you would like to have grades and multiple levels, L girder and/or other open framing systems leave solid tabletops standing in the dust of their passage.
Beyond that, I hesitite to say anything. My signature states the reason. My, "Givens and Druthers," are obviously different from yours - and without knowing yours I am working in the dark.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I like the idea of L-girder, because I don't have to completely dismantle my current layout; I could just move it and mock up some sort of L-girder to see how it will look. However, what I don't like about L-girder is that it is semi-permanant. I'm a college student 9 months out of the year, and I won't be living at home forever.
My list of givens and druthers is this:
Also, here are a few photos of what I have right now
Hi Jacob, The 4'x8' does not have to be cut into rigid rectangles. With a little pencil work, one can design a free flowing design that includes harbors,(built at a lower level, or mountain streams cut into the layout surface and properly supported). I used a pull out drawer for my sawmill complex,(in order to have access to the rails behind). Bob Hahn