"How about doing what Eric Brooman does with his Utah Belt? Keep eveything up to the present time on your layout."
Does that include moving the trash heaps and sleeping homeless people around the layout based on what you see on your drive home? Yeah that certainly would keep things lively LOL
Have fun with your trains
How about doing what Eric Brooman does with his Utah Belt? Keep eveything up to the present time on your layout.
Dean
30 years 1:1 Canadian Pacific.....now switching in HO
richhotrain carl425 richhotrain So, what is a lone wolf supposed to do? Post a track plan and some photos. Then the forum can explain to you why you're not as finished as you think you are. LOL I think that I am better off not knowing what I don't know. Rich
carl425 richhotrain So, what is a lone wolf supposed to do? Post a track plan and some photos. Then the forum can explain to you why you're not as finished as you think you are.
richhotrain So, what is a lone wolf supposed to do?
Post a track plan and some photos. Then the forum can explain to you why you're not as finished as you think you are.
LOL
I think that I am better off not knowing what I don't know.
Rich
LOL, Are You afraid to find out....that You're not done yet?
Take Care!
Frank
Dream layout...goes on hold again.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alton Junction
richhotrainSo, what is a lone wolf supposed to do?
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
cmrproductsThen Operations got in the way and I spend more time RUNNIG the layout than WORKING on it.
Ain't nothing wrong with that, it's why many/most build a layout anway, to run those trains they bought!
Unlike the rest of the Hobby guys - that get bored so quick doing a simple 4 x 8 only because they can see the end of their project in coming in a few days and don't realize the reason one purchases ELECTRIC TRAINS is to play with them - NOT Build Layouts over and over! Appeariently the Model Press has once again failed us and told us that Roundy Round IS THE ONLY WAY! :-) ;-)
Appeariently the Model Press has once again failed us and told us that Roundy Round IS THE ONLY WAY! :-) ;-)
Well, most of us as kids built a loop of track so we should all know how quickly you get bored with watching a train go around in a circle - a matter of minutes really. So everyone should know if they build a circle on a 4x8 it's going to be that way.
Of course the reason the magazines recommend the 4x8 is more for getting practice with skills, like laying track, ballasting, wiring, scenery, buildings and all that. Once it's built, we run trains around it and in an hour or two the fun is over, as my wife likes to say. So you have to look at a 4x8 as a means to an end, a project to learn skills and then "funs over".
IMO, I'd rather bypass that whole exercise and build something bigger with the potential for some real fun and running. Thats exactly what I did - my first real layout was built in my garage in graduate school - it was a 16x19 foot hollow L shaped layout that went twice around, loop to loop with a yard, a passing siding and staging in the loops at each end for two trains. I got all the bendwork up and running fine and started the scenery before I had to move, so I sold it for about $450 to someone who wanted a layout already started. It was sectional in design.
So IMO, thats the better way to go.
Cheers, Jim
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Operations can be as involved or as easy as you make it. For local freights, you could have 1, 2, or 4 position waybills with car cards, or you could have a computerized switchlist.
For passenger operations, it could be just a roundy-round, or running specific consists in a certain order that picks up and drops whole sections or just mail & express cars off along the way.
A lone wolf passenger operation, for example, can be quite variable and interesting by using prototype passenger train consist lists. Why? Because the real thing varied by the season and by the day of the week. On the New Haven, which had a lot of passenger trains, the Friday version of the "Merchants Limited" was different from the Monday version. So when you operate your layout, and it's really a Wednesday in the Summer, use the Wednesday consist from the Summer book.
I get a lot more enjoyment out of operations if I can figure out why the real railroads did what they did and I'm able to replicate it on the layout. It gets boring pretty quick to just run trains in circles...sort of like playing Monopoly without using the dice (just moving your piece to wherever you want). Operations is sort of like playing a board game but the rules are reality. If you don't follow the "rules", then what's the point?
Paul A. Cutler III
woodman How long did it take to complete your layout?
How long did it take to complete your layout?
I had the initial bench work and track work completed by mid-2007. Then, I landscaped and ballasted the entire layout over the course of the next year and a half before expanding the layout in 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2013.
The winter of 2013-14 was used to upgrade the electronics and divide the layout into separate power districts.
trwroute I am also a lone wolf even though I live in the D/FW area where there are lots of modelers. When I have a layout that nears its completion, I like to start over. Most of the time in a new scale / gauge. It keeps things fresh for me. I also tend to model on the cheap side. I like to use old MDC cars and older locomotives that I can repower and work them up to my standards. To me, that is as much fun, or maybe more, as building a layout.
I am also a lone wolf even though I live in the D/FW area where there are lots of modelers. When I have a layout that nears its completion, I like to start over. Most of the time in a new scale / gauge. It keeps things fresh for me.
I also tend to model on the cheap side. I like to use old MDC cars and older locomotives that I can repower and work them up to my standards. To me, that is as much fun, or maybe more, as building a layout.
Allow me to be the contrarian. For the most part, I don't enjoy the layout building process and up until now, it has consumed far too much of my modeling time. If I could have afforded it, I would have paid somebody to build it for me. I'd rather run trains, either in formal operating sessions or just idiot running. I like seeing trains run through completed scenery.
Last spring I finally got my mainline fully scenicked and operational and had a few stabs at operating sessions. Still some bugs to be worked out but I really enjoyed it. I still plan to add a branch line on a peninsula so my layout building is not finished. I began the layout about a dozen years ago and never dreamed it would take me this long to get to the stage I am at. Building vs. operating time has been about 90-10 up until now. I'm hoping that during the branchline construction, it will be closer to 50-50 and eventually 10-90 where the only construction will be enhancing what I have. That's the dream.
No layout is ever complete but mine is at the stage where the mainline is fully scenicked and operational. I still plan a branch line addition which I expect will occupy most of the cold weather months.
Model railroading is a cold weather hobby for me and I am just getting back into it. I had my first operating sessions last spring before and really enjoyed it. I settled on the tried and true car card/waybill system after looking at several computer generated switch lists options. It is not as cumbersome as I feared. Still a few bugs to work out, but I think this is the system for me.
I enjoy operations but being a lone wolf, a timetable/fast clock system is not for me. Too many things that should be going on simultaneously can't be done that way. Instead, I work off a script where train movements and switching operations are done in a sequence without concern about what time it is. I had to worry about deadlines before I retired. Who wants to do that with their hobby?
If operation is not your thing, just run the trains. I don't know how big a layout you have or how many trains you operate, but between my operating sessions, sometimes I enjoy just running the trains through the scenery. Even if you don't have formal operating sessions, you can take a free lanced approach and switch cars at spurs and in the yards as you see fit. You might find you like operations and eventually start formal operations.
ollevon Hi Rich, I haven't chimed in, in quit a while, but first off how are you? I had the same problem. So I thought this was a good time to reply Dont send the wife on vacation, go with her. Now that golf season is winding down do what I did and go to Florida for a month or two, play more golf, and while your at it you might get more ideas on your dream layout you always talked about. Just saying. Sam
Hi Rich,
I haven't chimed in, in quit a while, but first off how are you? I had the same problem. So I thought this was a good time to reply
Dont send the wife on vacation, go with her. Now that golf season is winding down do what I did and go to Florida for a month or two, play more golf, and while your at it you might get more ideas on your dream layout you always talked about. Just saying.
Sam
cmrproducts 3. We have no place to store stuff if that thing is in the basement (which we will NEVER use again anyway)
3. We have no place to store stuff if that thing is in the basement (which we will NEVER use again anyway)
I sent the entire reply to my wife for study and comment, but I chose to highlight here your Comment #3 which captures the essence of my dilemma.
Thank you, sir, for your insight.
I get these responses from the many Visitors to our Club and even from our Club members stating that the wives have a problem with a layout in the Basement!
But in questioning the guys - I have found that some of the reasons for their concern (which is being very kind) is that most MEN
1. Can't or Don't finish a project when started
2. The place is always a mess.
SO in the aspect - I have to agree!
I am no better at times! But now that I have the layout up and running the MESS is gone.
If I do build something - it is in the Garage where it should be and that too gets cleaned regularly!
The one reason I HAVE TO keep the place cleaned up is I host OPs Sessions every two weeks and I have to be sure NO ONE falls down due to the clutter!
So - I am very good about making sure the place is clean and the debris is put away.
I sweep the stairs and the Layout room floor - The wife is real happy about me doing that and I do get to practice upstairs once in a while ! ;-)
Now as for the Storage thing.
I was talking with one of our Club members and he was unhappy as his wife stated he could NOT have any more of the basement for an addition to the layout - by chance - this member's wife stopped in to the Club and I had a chance to strike up a conversation with her.
I started off by saying the "club member" stated that you did not want anymore layout being built - in which she acknowledged I was correct.
I then stated that - do you realize that ALL of the space under the layout can be used for "STORAGE" and a curtain can be hung to cover it all up to keep the place looking nice!
I then left it go at that!
The next day the Club Member called me and ask what I did to his wife - I stated "NOTHING" - but I ask what he was referring to and he stated that his wife suddenly decided that the Layout extension wasn't that bad of an idea!
A win win for everyone!
All we have to do is make them believe it was their idea and we can get most anything - within reason.
I did this with my Layout room addition - we needed to fix the back wall of the house and I gave several ways to do it. The room out the back was the best as it would tie the walls to the new room and keep it from falling over - but was the most costly.
Something had to be done - and to put the deal over the top - I stated the new room upstairs could be a SUN Room with windows all around etc. etc and left at that.
About a week later - she suggested we look into the Sun Room idea - Now her idea! I got the new room! ;-)
I have done this (Suggestion thing) to many other wives to help out the guys and most of them have worked to a degree - I have also told the guys how to go about it as I relate the stories above to them.
Whether they had the finesse to handle it right - is another story.
But I have seen it done and done it myself - and no one believes me!
Their loss!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Yesterday, here in the Chicago area, the high temperature for the day was 42, wind gusts over 50 MPH, and snow squalls.
With golf season coming to an end in this part of the country, I will soon be turning my attention to my layout.
So, I am going to find out fast what a lone wolf is supposed to do.
[quote user="richhotrain"]
I do have a potential project for my layout that could take all winter. I would love to add a staging area, and I have the room in my basement to do it.
One small problem. It is called a wife.
A small sign is our house has a saying that has helped me maintain a peaceable kingdom..."Never question your wife's judgement, remember first whom she chose to marry."
What I have learned, to my great delight is that she can look through catalogs, web sites and such to always find something that "keeps it from looking like everyone else's railroad".
I told one friend last weekend that while the acreage of the layout has not changed, the density of the surface area , has increased significantly. Roughly every ten years or so,on the average, the chisel comes out of hiding with the determination to save the best and improve the rest. Trains run regularly, and they sometimes work their way through the operational puzzles built into the track plan.
In other words to answer your original question, I just keep modeling and running a railroad, with no lack of self amazement that what exists, came about inspite of my modest amount of talent.
Don H.
richhotrainHey, there is a 3rd option - - - tear down the current layout and build my Dream Layout !
Nah, then you WOULD be like a joiner. All the kids do that...
Bob's take on things is pretty much how I approrach this question. Go back and build it better. I have lots of structure that are pretty decent, but really are just stand-ins until I get the chance to get back to them, plan what I want to do in detail, then build them. I've already done quick and dirty. Methodical is up next.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Rich,
I am a lone wolf too and often think about finding someone I could 'share' my layout operation with but: I have found that I like to build structures and detail/weather rolling stock as much as any aspect of the hobby. I think when I finish my layout (????) that I would build structure kits and sell them on Ebay (which I have already done).
Then I remembered; when I worked at a professional model shop in New York many years ago we built a model of New York City for the 1964/65 World's Fair. After the fair, the City of New York kept a six man crew full time to update the model to keep up with actual building construction/demolition in the city. Our men would build models of the new construction and place it on the model (replacing the old structure if one existed). The model was used as a planning model by NYC and I believe it is still open to the public. This would be a great way to continue working on your layout; by replacing structures and even rerouting roads to make way for future expansion of some of your industries, housing districts or even rerouting a highway/road. Some of your structures might suffer a disasterous 'fire' and have to be rebuilt with a new one (just an excuse for more structures!).
I don't expect to really finish my layout completely (I am 73 now and have several years of work ahead of me) but look forward to the time when I can spend some time on 'just building structure kits' for the fun of it.
My point is I guess, find what satisfied you the most during the building of your layout, and go back to it in some fashion or other. If you still have the interest in the hobby, maybe just not operations, then focus on those aspects.
I hope I never get to the point where I am bored with my layout.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Howl at the moon, what else does a lone wolf do?
Seriously, you should do what makes you happy. If the layout can be salvaged by making some changes, I would make them. If not maybe its time to build one that you will enjoy more.
Jim
If you have represented Chicago in a certain transition era year, in terms of trackwork, scenery, and structures, do you want to represent certain trains that ran through the city during that period?
Pick two or three of your favorite railroads, then try to exactly model a few of the trains that would have run through Chicago on a given day, in terms of representing actual locomotives and rolling stock. (Chicago seeing lots of trains would give you a lot to choose from). Both frieght and passenger trains being eligible.
Research the history. Research the models. Find out who made the model that most closely represents your prototype...or learn to build the obscure one here and there.
Take your accurate representation of Chicago, and use it as a basis for accurately representing some train operations that took place there. That should keep you busy for a winter...at least.
- Douglas
mlehman Rich, If you feel you've exhausted all other possibilities, there's only two things left to do... * slot cars * open a hobby shop
If you feel you've exhausted all other possibilities, there's only two things left to do...
* slot cars
* open a hobby shop
cmrproducts Well I must be the luckiest Man on earthn then! My wife of 42 years - doesn't really care what does on in the basement! ;-) When we built our new house - she knew what was going in the basement and said - Have FUN! And I have been for the past 14 years! I never could quite understand why the Wives are so concerned as to the use of a OLD Dingy Basement is for anyway. MOST want a fixed up basement and once it is done - NEVER or at the very least infrequently go to the Fixed up Basement to use it! BUT have a problem with having a Layout built in it! Appeariently YOU have done something along the way to make HER not trust you of something! At least mine knows where I am and she also knows I am not out at the Bars wasting money on drinks. I am wasting it on TRAINS - like everyone should be! ;-) BOB H - Clarion, PA
Well I must be the luckiest Man on earthn then!
My wife of 42 years - doesn't really care what does on in the basement! ;-)
When we built our new house - she knew what was going in the basement and said - Have FUN!
And I have been for the past 14 years!
I never could quite understand why the Wives are so concerned as to the use of a OLD Dingy Basement is for anyway.
MOST want a fixed up basement and once it is done - NEVER or at the very least infrequently go to the Fixed up Basement to use it!
BUT have a problem with having a Layout built in it!
Appeariently YOU have done something along the way to make HER not trust you
of something!
At least mine knows where I am and she also knows I am not out at the Bars wasting money on drinks.
I am wasting it on TRAINS - like everyone should be! ;-)
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
My wife went to a dog show for four days and when she got back the grand piano had mysteriously moved from the now completely empty trainroom to the livingroom. Which also required rearranging all the furniture in the livingroom. When she walked in the front door she gave me that look and said " I see you have started on your railway".
Yup! Sending them away can really work wonders.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."