Time for a layout party

[Anonymous]

Okay,
I know you're out there. Yeah you, and you, and you with the potato chip hanging off your lip and coke sitting beside you...lol. I know you're not working on your layout as much as you hoped to. Well what I am proposing is a layout party for a 6 week period - a layout design self help group.

The purpose of the group is to encourage others to get out of their armchair and do some more work on the layout. And also to motivate you (and me) to do more work on our layout. I am hoping we can get a small group (but no one will be rejected) of people who will be committed to posting their work on the layout from the following week. This means for 6 weeks you are committed to posting once a week (or more – several did). We will of course congratulate those who work on their layout, and encourage those who haven't.

Rules:

1. Brief description of your layout to present, with what you want to accomplish in the next 6 weeks (don't make it grandiose is my recommendation).

2. A brief description of what you hope to accomplish in the next week.

3. A commitment to posting once a week describing what you have or have not done. It is important to report if you have "fallen off the wagon (not worked on the layout" so that we can see all are human here, and that we can encourage you). You can include pictures, problems you have encountered, get bragging rights around the cooler, etc. I’m looking for you to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk.

4. A commitment to not fudging your reply so that you look better than you are really doing. By joining this group, you are acknowledging already that you haven't worked on the layout as much as you know you should have. The idea here is for us to have some fun and act as an electronic round robin self help group. When I have others coming over to my home to help me build, I am more efficient because I have to plan and prepare, then work when they arrive. Well, this is the IRRG (the Internet Round Robin Group), we may not be able to physically help you out, but we can support you and your efforts.

Many had a good time with this format. It was not uncommon to hear people say they had gotten more work done on their layout, in the short time we ran the thread, than they had in long time. Many posted pictures, asked questions, helped others, moaned about their problems, and encouraged others through theirs. I am including the threads to the last two layout parties if you want to check out what happened and what is expected out of you. I host this at www.trainboard.com in the “Layout Design” forum; I am the moderator there. I have found it is easier to keep track of one longer thread there than in some other forums. Also trainboard has free Image hosting (picture hosting) so you might want to take advantage of that forum. You have to join the trainboard to participate, but it is free. To get directly to the layout party, you can connect here, the thread is entitled – “From armchair to benchwork!”

http://www.trainboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=33&t=000234





Lonely Hearts Club Band
http://www.trainboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=000106

High Balling the layout

http://www.trainboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=33&t=000178#000000

[Anonymous]

i would but i arent working on a layout atm but i am searching for a track plan

i vageuly remember doing something like this when building my first laytout but it was a bit differenter LOL!! no offense to those people who dont get it

[dknelson]

Here is a motivator -- pretend your layout is on an NMRA tour in 6 months.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

Dave,
I had to laugh....NMRA tour in 6 months. I know how frantic the activity gets as one builds for that big bus(es) to arrive at the front door (or back). My layout hasn't been on tour, but I model at a friends house and his layout is on tour every year.

There have been some late nights, and extended activities I can assure you. But my favourite moment occurred last November, one half hour before the first bus was to arrive. He took off a large tunnel/mountain to inspect some track, but bent the track when putting the mountain back on. This track was right after the yard throat so it was critical as you can imagine. After all the swearing subsided, I assured him everything would be all right, and to just get to work repairing it. Turned out it was only about an 8 minute job. But if you can imagine a frantic person as he realized a bus was about to arrive with lots of people, he was one.

[dknelson]

LOL Cascade but I have a funnier one. The NMRA National tour bus pulls up and we all get out. There are no signs but the address is correct. We knock on the door and the wife answers -- she is totally shocked. She says "But he thinks the tour is TOMORROW!" and we ask, well where is he? "He is at the convention giving a clinic!"
We all have long faces so she agrees to show us the layout and she attempts to run some trains for us. Evidently she had never done this and is real nervous as a variety of modest disasters occurs -- derailments, etc etc. We leave politely before the guys equipment is totally trashed. Immagine coming home, learning of the mistake (which I believe the convention was responsible for) PLUS seeing your stuff derailed and some front couplers broken off -- all before the big Friday operating sessions!
A pity as it was an exceptionally nice layout with some gorgeous scratchbuilt cabooses that I really wanted to ask questions about.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

I'll go for it. Providing that you'll accept a module as a layout. I belong to a modular club as I don't have room for a layout but the modules been sitting with no work done for a long time.

First priority is to clean all the accumulated clutter on top of it. That will take most of the first week.

Doug

[Anonymous]

The purpose of this "layout" party is to help motivate people to complete whatever layout project they have going. It isn't scale specific, however in other areas, I have only advertised in the HO and N forums, however if the guy or gal has a G, O, S, TT, or Z (did I miss any?) layout it is irrelevant. Whether it is a garden layout, a 2 by 2 z scale layout, or the guy with the largest layout in North America, it doesn't matter. We just want to get motivate, make some commitments, post our results, ask for help, offer help, cheer others on, etc. If you stick with it, I promise you the results will show it. And all this for free.... lol.

By the way, if you go to www.trainboard.com on the thread I supplied above and try and post, it won't work, as you have to join at trainboard, just like here and any other forum.

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave,Ineed physical help. I extended to 12x16,bought all gargraves track,switches, lionel TCC everythingsc-2,old rebuilt ZW ,ran gnd, spaced terminal blocks,cut 300' roadbed,now I'm TERRIFIED!!!! I've got gar &lionel vidios ,its the electronics,&layout of 3loops, switchovers(O-72's)nobody I know in Schenectady,NY(near Albany)has TCC, but i'm new, I'm 54, my 5yr old grandson is to young to help.

[Anonymous]

Please, no one respond to this thread by going to trainboard.com as some one has brought forward an old post of mine and the next layout party won't be until early October of 2003.

I know the initiator of the thread is Cascade, but that is my son's name. I couldn't remember my name and password, so since he was permanently signed in, I just used his. So the thread was started by me.