QUOTE: Originally posted by plane_crazy
I'm getting into this again after a 20yr layoff. Starting with nothing (ex-wife has the entire old train stuff, let's not go there)
my question is whether to start with a simple 4x8 flat top with limted scenery options and track options or just jump right in and blaze away with a bigger layour with an open grid format . . .
I guess my more general quesiton to keep a discussion alive is;
what is the path you took to get to you present layout?
I guess almost everybody started at some point with a flat 4x8, but you basically had to scrap it to move to the next level right? How much heartbreak was that. (the most general comment is around what does it feel like to 'start over' with a new layout?).
As I look at track plans and ideas, I want to start bigger and better than a simple 4x8. I'd like 22" at least curve, I like track switching and many track options, it just seems hard in 4x8. On the other hand, jumping into an open grid layout seems to "lock me in" to the layout I pick. What if I change my mind in a year?
Oh well you get the gist of my question, comments? opinions? advice?
Thanks
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I'm in a similar situation, except that it's been nearly 40 years since I had a layout in my late teens, although I've been an "armchair" modeler all along. I recently came into possession of a useable basement, the fulfillment of all my teen-age fantasies (those that didn't include girls, anyhow).
I wonder if you aren't putting the cart before the horse, trying to decide on a layout size and a trackplan before you decide which facets of the hobby interest you most (e.g. several trips to Europe got me interested in passenger train switching, a couple of boyhood years in Mojave, CA, sparked my interest in helper operations).
Having had a 4x8, I don't want to repeat that. Not when I can have 36" radius curves and run 20 to 25 car trains. OTOH, designing and building a sizeable layout represents a considerable commitment of time and money and I want to make sure I'm satisfied with the overall concept before starting anything. I'm finding that now that I have the room to build what I want, the problem is defining the theme sufficiently well to be reasonably certain that it would provide ongoing interest. Actually, it's more than defining the theme since I've come up with several attractive options, it's deciding on the theme that stands the best chance of maintaining my interest while still being practical.
I suppose I could just start listing givens and druthers a la John Armstrong.
Givens, Druthers and the Women Who Love them:
Givens:
The basement is under a house in rural Maine, dry and relatiively easy to prepare for a layout. The location may make it problematic to gather an operating/construction crew. One of the mental discussions I'm having with myself is whether or not to design primarily for solo operation.
I'm an SP and Santa Fe fan by nature and upbringing (California). I'd like to incorporate both (perhaps a la John Signor in Great Model Railroads 2004 but in a time frame 10 -15 years earlier). However, I've also acqured some acquaintance and interest in New England railroading and the rather interesting series of junctions, interchanges and passenger operations characteristic of the region in the early 50's . Mikados are a lot more layout friendly than Cab-Forwards as well and New England style railroading probably is a better operational fit for me. Still, there's nothing like a GS-4 4-8-4 or a Santa Fe 3800 class 2-10-2.
That item immediately above is probably the biggest problem I'm having in deciding what to do, especially since I made the common mistake of gathering a rather eclectic collection of motive power that needs to be sold off to provide funds to procure appropriate equipment. Oh well, at least I'm not the first to do that and won't be the last.
Druthers:
Passenger train switching
Helper operations (although I could give this up for passenger train switching)
Moderate length passenger trains (not to exceed 6-7 cars)
Long freight trains (> 20 cars)
Way freight operation
Train frequency appropriate to a secondary main line
The Women Who Love Them:
Construction will be such that the first section built will be operable with "portable" staging yards at either end and construction will be "progressive" so that once the first area is built, the layout can provide operation while further construction moves forward.
Andre
P.S. Of course, I could always take up knitting, but then that beautiful basement would go to waste.
It's really kind of hard to support your local hobby shop when the nearest hobby shop that's worth the name is a 150 mile roundtrip.