Well, let's see.
I started the present Yuba River Sub eight years ago with the benchwork and foam 'topping', got the track laid in in about two weeks (yah, this one I PLANNED!), all the electrical blocks and thingies done about a month later. Worked on the scenery for about four years, went back and started 'tuning' the electrical, went back and tore out some scenery and rebuilt it, then relaid some trackage that I didn't really care for, cut some really deep holes for big bridges, then went back and 'tuned' the electrical again, relaid some track that one of my big non-articulateds (a brass 2-10-2) was having a few problems with, then decided my 'blocks' were really too short for the length of trains I was running, re-did THEM--WHEW!!
Spent some time deciding if I wanted to convert my layout to DCC, until I realized that converting 55 brass steamers was financially Out Of The Question, worked on the scenery some more, now that all of my locos did not have problems on my trackage--
Tore out my main yard and relaid it with Peco turnouts, because it didn't work very well with the original turnouts I'd bought---
Took out my Searchlight signals in favor of Upper Quadrant Semaphores (they look neater), then decided that I wanted my layout to represent October of any year between 1939-1952, which meant tearing out most of my 'deciduous' trees in favor of Autumn colors--
SO: Right now, about 55% of the scenery is put in, a lot of it to be re-done this Spring when the weather's better and the glue will dry faster. Track is FINALLY to where it's about 80% bullet-proof, signals are in and (mostly) working.
So, how far am I along? I figure that the layout might be 'done' assuming my son and grandson still want to work on it long, LONG after I've departed to that Great Railroad Yard In The Sky.
The Yuba River Sub is an ON-GOING thing. It'll NEVER be done, as far as I'm concerned.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
It's best just to look at the photos on my web site. I'm done with 2/3 of the bench work. I need to get the last 3rd in before summer. Then operations can start and all the other stuff that will go with a fully benched out layout.
P.S. I lay my track as each section goes in place.
E.G.Hall
www.GSMrr.net
AzBaja
Hey Tom,
I'm right there with ya. I'm currently in the tear down and simplify stage. See my post in the general discussion on "I'm losing motivation". I'll get there eventually but it won't be fast by any means.
Chris
Altoona, thanks for the insight and encouragement. I have a small space in a second bedroom in an apartment. The room, which has the layout sharing space with my office, is approximately 8'X10'. I have a 9 foot section along one wall and a 5' section adjoining aliong another to make an "L". The 9' side is the main part of the layout; it is 2' wide. The 5' section is 1' wide and I had originally planned on making a "fiddle" yard or staging but I may make it a part of the modeled layout as it does already have a painted backdrop behind it too (with painted-on clouds and all) as does the rest of the layout.
I tore the track up when I decided that the vacant corner was too much of a waste of space. I decided to build a brewery complex in that corner, which meant moving the "main line" out further toward the edge of the table as well as re-configuring the trackage to accommodate access to the brewery complex with three tracks serving it. As I get picture-worthy material (and get time to learn how to post pictures on the internet), I will post pictures of my progress.
I was sort of in your boat last year. I had built my first big layout since I was a kid, it was a 4'x8' with a 44"x60" piece on the end that made it a small "L" shaped layout. It was nice but I should have taken more time with it. I had done a lot to it and spent a lot of time on it, but about half way through I decided I wasn't happy with what I had done and decided to tear it down and start over. Well, that and I was starting to remodel my basement and there just wasn't room for the layout. (should have kept it to 4x8 eh?) Anyhow, this time around I'm starting with 2'x5' sectional pieces and this seems to be giving me what I want so far. Now I can't run trains yet, but it is giving me the smaller space to work in/on instead of being overwhelmed by a huge layout that "I'll never get done". I'll be posting pics of my first section progress on this board pretty soon.
Sometimes it's good to start over, hind sight is 20/20 ya know?
Well, I see that it runs the gamut, from really getting after it to moving along slowly. I'm afraid I fit in amont the latter end of the spectrum.
Thank you all so much for the comments, the ideas and the great looking pictures. Soon, when I learn how to post pictures on the internet, I'll show the progress that I'm making. This is a rather humble layout that I'm honing my modeling skills on for that "big" layout someday.
Not very far :-)
Took up a mainline that worked and tore down benchwork before the summer vacation - had gotten increasingly annoyed with myself for not having made benchwork sectional, so I could take it out of the house to work on things that smell or make noise (small row house, wife and one of our kids are allergic and very sensitive to paint fumes).
So I started over again in the fall. Built lightweight sections of 1/4" plywood with foam on top:
And then took a several months long break doing other things before I got started again.
Am now doing risers and inclines, road bed, testing building placement, and getting ready to finally lay some track and get trains moving again:
Can't exactly say I am one of the people who work fast on my own layout :-)
Smile,Stein
I began working on a 12 x18 HO layout in May and to date I have the benchwork complete, 80 % track down on lower level, wiring about the same. Enough done to run my coal drag around the mainline! This is my third attempt building a layout and with the kids mostly out of the house I was able to capture half of the basement. Taking things slow and steady to make sure each step is done best I can... learning as I go!
Bart
well i am almost finished laying track on the bottom level and will then move on to the upper level. after that wiring then ballast then scenery. i have a ways to go
I have a 5'x13' HO layout that I started on and got the double track mainline down. But, I am unhappy with it and want to tear it down.
I am in negotiations with the "better half" for more space in the rec room and I want to put in better lighting before hand... I have sketched up a VERY rough plan for my new idea... the only thing I am pretty set on is the mainline and the basic overall shape. I am very restricted by doors and a closet in this room...
In the mean time, I built this little 2x4 N scale table top for some friends who wanted it to give as a Christmas present. I was very constrained on the budget by them, so there are lots of details needed in the future. But I had fun doing it and it got me wanting to work on mine again...
Well I have been thinking hard on what I want to build for quite a while now. A nice layout in the dining room area was my first idea, wife said OK what ever you want honey (read I dont want it there but do what ever) so I decided to work on something a little smaller and more portable. I just posted a track plan for critiques from those who are more experienced at this than I. So I am really still in the planning stages.
A Veteran, whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve, is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Well let's see - over a year ago I started rebuilding and modifying a layout that was moved from my old house. So far all the benchwork is done, all the track is laid, wiring was done until I decided to convert to DCC and now I am starting to work on scenery to go with the structures I had been building all along. But a few days ago I realized I had 16 feet of empty space that I could easily take over so now I am thinking about an extension which would significantly improve operation and give the trains a couple more places to go.
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
In addition to my afformentioned planning, I have also been engaged in some work on track and rolling stock. I am in process of (slowly) replacing plastic wheels with metal, I have replaced nearly all horn-hook couplers with a combination of McHenery, Intermountain, Kadee, et all Knuckle couplers, have converted some older box cars to no roofwalks, half ladders, roller bearing trucks, etc. Also, have been completing some kitbashing projects, such as bashing an FL-9 from a couple Athearn blue box F-7s )still working on the 3rd rail pick-up shoes), converting a Life-Like little Joe Dockside to a free-lance fireless steamer, upgrading/repairing some older cheap brass and steam locos (International MKT 0-8-0, 1890s 0-6-0, Atherarn B&M plastic 4-6-2), and motorizing an Athearn rotary snow plow that has also somewhat been re-detailed from steam to diesel-electricpower. Have also re-worked and cleaned some older switches, and scrapped the old Atlas fiber flex track, salvaging some of the rail. Have also been laying in supplies to build a few momentum/brake action throttles (I don't see my budget allowing me to convert to DCC, I might be able to set up a minimum portion of my future layout for limited DCC, though. Just to use some locos that have dual-control capability)
Periodically, I lay out an oval with a couple switches of E-Z track just to test things.
I started my layout back around 1986 or so and was never able to complete it. Since then life happened, career, marriage, family and so on. I was able to store the unfinished layout for all these years and recently decided to take it out of storage and set it up. I have the benchwork complete with all the roadbed in place, some electrical started, mostly the DCC bus and feeders and some switch machines, and a small area with the initial plaster ground contour in place. Most recently I have been working on building the control panel so I can make sure everything operates well before I get serious about the scenery.
I have it "temporarily" setup in the house but I am going to have to create some space in the basement to relocate it to. Everyone ends up placing stuff on top of it where its located and I can see that isn't going to work once the rolling stock is put out and the scenery starts.
I have all the track laid, wired and ballasted. Almost ALL of the scenery is done! Woo hooo! I'm currently working on the background scenery for the upper level. This scenery hides the transition track that runs from the lower to the upper level.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
I started the BELLECHASE & BLUE MTN. CENTRAL one year ago. To date I've finished the bench work, 80% of the track work, 30% of the scenery, then took a break for several months. Will start upagain next week working on phase one, the small town of "JUDY GAP". I"m 60% done but not happy with backdrop portion so will revamp it and then work on the small details. Iplanned on taking pictures and posting them when finnished. So keep an eye out over the comming months. My railroad is a long term project 4 - 5 years most likely unless of course I hit the lottery sometime soon. By the way it's a 15' by 12' layout.
hey every one I did it ,oops but there is two picts I only wanted one,oh well .been playing @ this for a little over a year got a bit of a plan but coulndt visuallize ,so I built bench work ,then I built a room around the bench work ,then I tacked track down with thumb tacks,then I built a couple of structures and I call it testing .... but now Im getting an idea of what I can do ...any way room is 14x16 and the benchs are somewhat modular, frame,thin ply,then foam (when I have a real plan)..left side is 12" bench (just track thru the mountains) middle is a blob 54" (may be a helex to lower stage),right side is 24" to 42" angled for yard/ industry type thing .... having fun and learning alot7.photobucket.com/albums/af92/JNWELTER/IMG_2027.jpg[/IMG]" mce_src="7.photobucket.com/albums/af92/JNWELTER/IMG_2027.jpg[/IMG]">
well Im up and running or should I say testing ,here Im trying to post a pict" mce_src="">
E-L man tomHow far along
Not very far and not as far as I would like, but I've still got time to make this a New Years's Resolution. For some reason I don't think that will make any difference.
The Starting Point
UGH
Looking Better
Getting There
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
Trackwork is all done, structures (with one exception) are built and temporarily in their final positions. Layout is operational.
Scenery is about 10% done.
I'm currently in the process of scenicing the river bed, alternating that with ballasting track (which I hate) and detailing some of my bridges. I also spend some time tuning my rolling stock (mostly replacing couplers).
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
E-L man tomHow far along are the posters and readers of this forum on your respective layouts?
I've got some ideas, and the start to an overall plan..... That's about it.
Wikious,
My advice: From my personal expereince of starting over fairly late in life and now living in an apartment (with quite limited space as you might imagine), I have to be reminded by others to be good to myself during this transition time. That being said, I do have a small switching layout that is basically designed to fit into a larger "dream" layout someday.
What I'm saying is go ahead and build whatever fits your space, budget, lifestyle, etc. at the time. You can do nothing but improve your modeling skills in the meantime. just throwing in my two cents worth, for what it's worth.
Nice start to a good looking layout, Eric! That's a great looking control panel too.
I'm starting my first layout.
Here's some links:
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad249/misterconsister/P5035534.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad249/misterconsister/P5035535.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad249/misterconsister/P5035539.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/ad249/misterconsister/Layout.jpg
Will be securing center section fairly soon then will construct the loops
Eric
I'm kinda likin this stuff
My layout keeps getting as far as a semi-workable plan before I scrap it. I'm torn between building a small or partial layout in the very small space I have now, or waiting until I inevitably move in 2 or 3 years.
I began this one (HO) in 2003 in a previous and smaller house, so it was only 4x7. I finished the inner loop and reversing loop, and then we moved to a bigger house in 2005. I cut the layout in half and rebuilt it to 7x12. I left the old 18-inch curves as "abandoned track," and my larger radius curves and reversing loop work much better now. I have some hope of expanding the layout off the table to the walls to simulate the Gilluly Loops near Helper, UT, which is a really good place for railfanning, BTW.
I still have only the inner loop of the double-track main line done, and I have cut and painted the wood and masonite parts for the control panel. Slow progress, but the nineteen-car train looks and sounds just great running with temporary wiring.
Well, my current layout was started in 1984 and for all practical purposes is done. It is a three deck, 29ft by 33ft layout. Scenery is done, track is done, structures are done, it is an operating layout now.
I See that I'm not alone in my venture in that life seems to get in the way of the progress in creating a railroad.I must say that I have one major fault - - not being able to get off of a project I'm having trouble with and doing something else (like working on detailing locomotives and rolling stock or building structures), to give the "problem" project a rest for awhile. Although I have completed some structure scratchbuilding and kitbashing, I can't seem to get off the track plan thing that I've had such a hard time trying to figure out. I only built the structures because they are two of the major industries that are served by rail in this industrial corridor and I had to know how the track would go into and around them.
I do however, feel a bit relieved now that I have some concept of a track plan that is doable. Building a switching puzzle can boggle my mind. I'm wondering: Anybody else out there had that problem of trying to figure out the "maze" of a switching layout?