If I had a $Million$

[Fergmiester]

If you had a million dollars what kind of layout would you have?

[Anonymous]

I would have exactly the layout I am working on now, only built for me by professionals with all kinds of intriguing cabinetry built in, and located in a climate-controlled room with speakers built into the ceiling for ambient music (or five-chime horns as may be appropriate), with all sorts of electrical features which I am likely to never attempt on my own. The truth is, though I once dreamed of gigantic gymnasium-sprawling layouts, I am much more in tune with the concept of "just enough" layout for me; I have a story to tell, in the line that I model, and I really only need enough layout to express that tale. In my case, that is 15 feet by 15 feet.

[Anonymous]

a life size layout in 1:1 scale

[Big_Boy_4005]

I honestly tried that once Fergie, and now I have a lot less than a million dollars. Check out my profile.

The layout that I'm building now, is made up mostly of what was left over from that other layout. It will feature realistic operation througout, switching, mainlines and yards, command control, computer aided control, and even some virtual engineers. Walk around wireless cabs, that can not only operate the trains, but can control almost any function on the railroad. Day and night lighting and fast clock operation will also be included.

The layout will be able to be operated by any number of people from 0 to 10 or 12, and will have at least 5 industrial switching "puzzles" that could be operated without turning on power to the mainline, "mini layouts" if you will.

There will be scenery and structures, but in limited amounts, including lots of "flats", after all the focus is the railroad.[8D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Avondaleguy

I would have exactly the layout I am working on now, only built for me by professionals

Thats no fun.[V] building it is most of the fun for me!

If i had 1 million, i would buy my own building for my Trains, have a large layout that prototypes the CPR in the rocky mountains, buy some Kato sd90macs, ac4400s, and DCC. And then i'll have some fun!

[Anonymous]

I'd hire a crew to build a U-shaped layout in the center of a basement. One side would have an incredible urban scene with a huge city terminal as the focal point, with interior lighting in all structures. Overhead lighting to effectively mimic dusk to dark. Sound system to echo all the sounds one would typically hear in a large city, especially downtown. As the layout progresses from the urban scene it was make the transition to serene rural areas, with long stretches of straight mainline trackage and broad curves. A midwestern look. Lots of passenger trains from every railroad I loved. DCC!
Continuous running!

Don't think it would take a million bucks...but it would be great knowing that whatever I wanted I could readily afford!

[AggroJones]

First, I would move out of this old, broke-down house, into a fresh new one with a finished, clean garage. It would fill the better part of this 2-car garage, around the walls, with a peninsula and duckunder. The layout would depict multiple western scenes I find fascinating. 3 mainlines would pass through them. Each scene would be devided by a natural wall with a tunnel that matches each region. They would include UP open plains Wyoming, SP/SF semi-dessert in southern California, SP high in the foothills, and D&RGW in rocky Colorado.

There would be a turntable, large yard, sweeping curves, and very low grades. My backdrop would consist of blown-up photographs taken of each modelled region, so it matches correctly. Trackwork would be well done Atlas code 83 layed on cork roadbed. The layout would be controlled by several MRC ControlMaster 20s.

Fun to dream, ain't it?

[CP5415]

I'd have a slightly larger house to build a slightly larger layout but with curves broad enough to handle a T1a, H1b & a K1a. [;)]
Along with my other locomotive I'm going to buy, just don't tell my wife!

Gordon

[GDRMCo]

I would have the entire GDRM&MCo Barrier Reef Division. It would be increadibly massive and it would probably suck the power out of town.

[lupo]

- Fergmeister: canadian or us dollars, maybe european dollars ( Called euro's overhere)??? -
I close shop immediately clear most machinery and use the space to build my layout with an 100 ft straight and curves with a radius of 10 ft minimum to let let my BB's move around in style,
But first I would go railfanning across the ocean for at least 6 months, to get inspiration for my lay-out!, or maybe:
come over to your side of the ocean to a place a bit warmer as where I live, above sea-level, and buy me a house with a humungus basement , or have one builded!
yes I would have a huge basement build! Who needs a house when you have a basement for your trains!

BTW BigBoy4005 is there still some info or pics available on the internet from the lay-out you had in the shopping mall??

[Jetrock]

Quite honestly, half of that "million" would be spent on a downtown Sacramento high-water bungalow or Victorian house, since they are the only buildings in Sacramento that feature finished basements!

Having secured the locale, I'd build a nice meandering model of the Sacramento Northern in said finished basement--modeling most of the North End and some of the South End through the Sacramento river delta, with a larger area representing Sacramento and its local trolley lines.

WIth the extra funds I could buy brass Suydam, MTS and MEW interurban cars representing the SN's traction complement. I'd build the layout myself--by taking a year or two off work with some of said funds, I could teach myself the things I'm not that skilled at yet (like benchwork and electronics) and save myself some money as well as getting the fun of building the layout!

[Anonymous]

I would buy [censored] loads of everything

[Anonymous]

I just go and buy me a real train and learn how to run it [:)]

Chuck
Chico, CA

[Anonymous]

Here are my choices:
1. Buy a good size house with a huge basement. Then, have a HUGE layout. It would feature UP's Sherman Hill, SP's Techapaci loop and Cajon pass, Rio Grande in Colorado, ATSF's mainline to Chicago from LA, and SP's Clifornia coast route. It would be western railroading at its greatest! DCC, lots of steam and diesel, and a huge layout to put it all on!
2. Buy BB 4014 from LA county fairgrounds (just to have it[;)])
3. Buy an SD9 or something and run it on my local line, doing all the work for them.

The choices are endless!!!!!!!!!!!!![:D][:D][:)][:p]

[Big_Boy_4005]

No Lupo, not that I'm aware of. The internet was just taking off back then, and enterTRAINment never had a website.

I have most of the photos here, and have been meaning to put together a scrapbook, but have just never gotten around to it. The magazines are out there, but I don't know if those back issues are still available from Kalmbach. Classic Toy Trains has more pictures than the MR version does.

There was a video made, and it is still available for sale!
http://www.tmbooks-video.com/
The title is Great Toy Train Layouts part VI, and enterTRAINment is the second half of the tape.

Hmmm, slight correction, after checking the TM books website, it looks like my buddy Tom has put all six volumes onto a 2 DVD set for $29.95, a lot of cool material there, mostly 3 rail layouts, but a couple of S gauge in the mix as well. Its the one with the light green background, 283 minutes. One other interesting thing about this DVD set is that it also features the late Disney animator Ward Kimball, and his collection.

There may still be copies of the tape, but I'm guessing that they would be $19.95, and not really worth the bother. With the DVD I'm sure that you would be able to index right to the part you wanted to see.

[vsmith]

1 to 1 scale 24 or 30 gauge steam, REAL steam, not a ride on but a real plantation or field locomotive, ex-SR&RL RR type loco, Hawaiian suger cane loco, or I'd pay to have someone build me a exact replica of a 6-8 ton Porter or Carter steam locomotive, and enough track around my estate(LOL) to run it. Be REAL fun to wake up the neighbors at 6 am with a steam whistle, hey gotta get ready for an operating run early with those engines!

[Anonymous]

A million $, huh ?
-If I were a farmer, I'd just keep farmin' 'til it was all gone.
-But I'm not, and I'd move to a newer house.
-If it were just up to me, this would be out of Ontario altogether, due to weather, property taxes, and other issues. But my wife would not like to be too far from kids / grandkids.
-Sell off all H0.
-Go into Lionel 0, in a separate climate controlled building.
-Besides........a million isn't all that much any more, [:0] when some $ would go to kids & grandkids, so a major lifestyle change couldn't really happen anyway.....but I WOULD be gone away to a warmer climate every winter, November to April, guaranteed, even if it was just me.[;)]
regards;
Mike

[Noah Hofrichter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by codyr

a life size layout in 1:1 scale

I agree, and I'd also have a large room for a huge layout. It would be at least 200x30 and I'd model the whole Wisconsin and Southern railroad system in HO scale

[:D][:D]Noah[:p][:D][8D][:p]

[Anonymous]

I would pay bills and acquire a suitable house. Then found a club on 5 acres somewhere and use that as a forum to help get people involved in the Hobby. The majority of the funds probably will be used to maintain the Organization until a sufficient number of people (Critical Mass) is reached to allow it to operate by itself.

[Anonymous]

buy a house with a climate-controlled basement, build a 3-wall layout with plenty of turning space for the return loops. Upstairs, an N-scale layout with broad, sweeping curves, not the tight little ones I'm forced to use now.

Both layouts DCC equipped, computerized dispatching, and all built by me!

If I had anything left over after acquiring new locomotives and rolling stock, maybe I'd try to build 1" scale in the yard.

[Anonymous]

I'd buy alota land & hire me some gandy dancers & start building a huge outdoor layout , One that you can ride on. Get a few dozzers & make my own mountain grades Lets say at 3% so I can have a helper station , This would be like the Super Bowl for my friends to come over & help run this layout. But if you mean an indoor layout ........................well , I'd add a huge polebuilding fully furnished & make the largest layout with real waterfalls ,ect. & run mostly the Fallen Flags of Wisconsin on it.

[Anonymous]

A scale layout of the river line, which I live a few blocks from, with NO detail ignored. Or maybe start my own railroad company with the help of a couple 100 other million dollars.[yeah]

[Anonymous]

I would build this layout, but with DCC.

http://www.trains.com/Utilities/get_galleryfile.asp?idOLG={90E0A869-A526-4FD8-8217-0A245250FF88}1 (Copy and paste the whole link)

CAUTION - If you do not want to read a lot, don't click on the link. Also, since it is a large PDF file, it may take some time to download/display.

[lupo]

I found this ad in the classified section: a lay-out with a house attached !

HO layout, 18 x 36 feet, digitrax radio system. Over 500 feet of track. Over 70 turnouts. Midwestern and small urban scenery. Located in prestigious gated mountain community 50 miles north of Atlanta. Golf, indoor and outdoor tennis and pools, fitness center, lakes and trails. Comes with a charming 3-level cottage. Master on main, bath, great room, sunroom, deck. Two loft bedrooms. Full walkout basement w/bedroom or study, bath, shop and layout. Totally wooded, no lawns. Four season climate with mild winters. Call Earl Brinson at [phone].

http://www.trains.com/classifieds/default.asp?id=ScaleModelTrains#7020

[Fergmiester]

Well thanks for all your great ideas guys. I think if I could do it I would start off with
1. HO
2. 18'x30' space
3. Suround sound and DCC with sound
3a. Full lighting for 24 hr simulation
4. block signaling
5. 2 main lines with sections of double track
6. Full steam servicing facility (transition time period)
7. A Really Big Freight yard
8. Rivers, Lakes, pastures, hills and mountains
9. A town or two
10. Bridges, Bridges and more Bridges
11. Really good scenery with at least a dozen industries and a couple of harbours
12. Lots of Brass Locos and yes a T1a or b, Selkirk, Royal Hudson, a CN Northern
13. And I really like the idea of several little layouts in the big layout idea.
14. Beer Cooler
15. Maid Service
and finally
16. Bancruptcy protection

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy
...have a HUGE layout. It would feature UP's Sherman Hill, SP's Techapaci loop and Cajon pass, Rio Grande in Colorado, ATSF's mainline to Chicago from LA, and SP's Clifornia coast route. It would be western railroading at its greatest!......lots of steam and diesel, and a huge layout to put it all on!

You little copy-cat! [;)][:p][:p][:p][:p]

[bow]The West side is the Best side![bow]

[Anonymous]

Not to be too cliche, but I would buy you a green dress, but not a real green dress, because that is cruel.

Sorry folks, a million dollars brings me thoughts of a certain song...

[Anonymous]

If i had a million dollars, i spend 150k on a big house, with a big finished basement (and yes that is the price in my area and is in canadian) and build a prototype layout from my area. From Saint John NB to Moncton NB, and i would build it so as to grace the cover of MR

[MAbruce]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mrbornac

Not to be too cliche, but I would buy you a green dress, but not a real green dress, because that is cruel.

Sorry folks, a million dollars brings me thoughts of a certain song...

I was just going to say something along the same lines (from BNL). [(-D]

Seriously though, I’m not sure I’d be able to do all that much will a million. Let me throw the proverbial bucket of cold water of reality onto this (yeah, there’s one like me in every crowd). [:-,]

First, taxes will take a big whack out of this sum.
Next comes donations (more of a personal priority for me).
Next comes paying off the mortgage.
Then there are all those renovations to the house that need to be done.
Oh, and I can’t forget setting something aside for the boys college fund.
We also need a new mini-van.
Also have to set some money aside for investments (medium and long term).

Well, as you can see, there won’t be much left of that million for my MRR empire. Probably a whopping $23.96.

A little lesson from someone in the treasury profession: A million dollars doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to. Aim higher next time!

My [2c] (after all of the above is deducted).

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by acanrinus

If i had a million dollars, i spend 150k on a big house, with a big finished basement

150K for a big house? you ain't in Southern California are you?

150K wont get you a lousy condo here, the median price for a home here is now in the 300K's. Most new homes are in the 400K and up range, who's buying these homes? Rent is now averaging at $1300 a month, and people are still moving here in droves?