Well guys-n-gals
I finally got the track laid and trains running, there's no dead spots at all anywhere within the yard, that's beacause I have almost every section track connected to a wire feeder and the feeder wires are about 2 feet apart, almost over kill but it works for me!!! I would like to know since I have that done(of course no scenery yet) would it be a good idea to go ahead and lay track to the rest of the layout, then come back and do scenery, or work only a section at a time?????? I have alot of help in the scenery Dept, LOL just wondering which is the best way to go, Thanks,
Take Care, and Happy Modelrailroading!!!!!
The best way is not always the most fun. I am sure that to get the whole layout done perfectly before you start any scenery is the "best" but it bored me silly. So I did some scenery early. In fact I seem to change the layout with each scenery step.
That is how the prototype did it. With each new customer and industry they would change the track plan and then adjust the sceney to make it all work.
I did it all at once in a very unorganized way. I am sure that is not the "best" but it sure suited me. After all, this is a hobby for me.
Gidday, Once again its up to personal choice, if the main purpose of Your layout is operations then getting the rest of your track work done so you can have an "operate" so you can adjust things, if necessary, would be the better thing to do.
Having said that you might like a break from track laying, so a bit of scenery work could be just the "tonic", it is after all "just " a hobby, there should be no stress attached.
As long as you're Having Fun.
Cheers,the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
My preference is to get track down and run trains, both for the enjoyment of running trains and to test the trackwork. Typically, the last thing I do is ballast the track, so it may literally be years between tracklaying and ballasting. All that time, though, I'm testing the track and fixing trouble spots, so that the track is pretty bullet-proof by the time I'm ready to ballast it. In the meantime, I work on scenery.
Sometimes, though, you've got to do the scenery first. If you've got bridges spanning water, in particular, you'll need to at least get the scenery base in place so that your trestles or abutments will fit correctly.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
The case of the "chickenor the egg", Of coarse it is always best to fine tune all the trackwork, however, if you"re satisfied w/ the trackwork in an area , there's no reason why you couldn't start scenery in that spot. Some background or hard to reach scenery should be done or at least get the majority of it done and the messiest portion out of the way.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
I go with the wind. Last layout, track first, some playing to verify it, and then I covered it with tape so that I could take the next three months to build the scenery. Ballasting and weathering the tracks was about the last thing I did, along with addding poles and trees.
This time, I'm doing it the other way. I am ballasting as I go. I figure I know what I want now, and I know how to ensure I get it. It is wise, still, to prove the work, so I have tested the rails carefully as I go, but once I can see that they are oriented properly, out comes the sand bucket, alcohol bottle, and the glue mixture. I just about have the main completed. I'll run a few different engine and trailing tonnage combos at all speeds and directions to serve as a final proof, and then I will cover it all to begin the terrain-building.
To me, the secret is organization, getting each step right, proving it, and then taking the necessary steps to protect what you have accomplished from the potential harms in doing the next several projects. Ballasting tracks well fixes them in place, and it precludes all but serious collision damage from carelessness or exhaustion. Swinging a long 2X4, for example, and catching one of your rails with the end of the board after it has been accelerated fully. Not going to be a good end to that work session. But if you ballast it to fix it in place, and then cover it to keep dust and groop off it, the rest is the fun part to me. Getting the track to ballasted stage isn't generally much fun for me, but it does seem to get better with each layout I build.
So far....
Since you have some track that you can run trains on, you have a choice. To take a break from track laying, you could put together a building or two to place around the yard and begin some basic scenery there.
As mentioned above what works for one, doesn't always work for someone else.
Your choice.
Have fun,
Richard
If you are going to paint your track, I would suggest you do that before scenery to prevent any over spray on to ground foam, buildings, trees, etc. You could then proceed to scenery and ballast.
Scott
Part of this is a function of layout size. It would be entirely possible to have a miniature mail carrier delivering letters to rural post boxes directly across an aisle from raw benchwork that doesn't even have any cookie-cut subgrade on it.
Two things that drive my own thinking:
There's also the matter that, if there's a little bit of everything going on at once, you can do whatever moves you. This is, after all, a hobby, and the object is to have fun. Tracklaying might be fun one day, and detailing a house with miniature bushes in the yard might be fun another day. Ideally, the layout should allow either, just in different places.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
MisterBeasley My preference is to get track down and run trains, both for the enjoyment of running trains and to test the trackwork. Typically, the last thing I do is ballast the track, so it may literally be years between tracklaying and ballasting. All that time, though, I'm testing the track and fixing trouble spots, so that the track is pretty bullet-proof by the time I'm ready to ballast it. In the meantime, I work on scenery. Sometimes, though, you've got to do the scenery first. If you've got bridges spanning water, in particular, you'll need to at least get the scenery base in place so that your trestles or abutments will fit correctly.
I think this says it all.
Like Mister B., I finish the track work before working on the scenery. And, quite honestly, for me, track laying is pure enjoyment although the struggle to get it perfect can be a bit frustrating.
Rich
Alton Junction
Hi,
I won't go so far as to say there is a right and wrong sequence of events in building a layout, but I will tell you what has worked for me since my first layout (Lionel 8x20) of the mid 1950s....................
The sequence I have successfully (IMHO of course) followed is: design, room prep, benchwork, track laying, wiring, testing. This sequence is followed by more testing, which of course is followed by additional testing. At some point you will be satisfied that everything runs as it should, and the design is at its best.
Then, structures are placed (remember them in the design phase), and scenery is begun, starting at the furthest "reach point" working inward. Ballast is the last scenery item applied.
There is one exception to the sequence, one that I almost forgot on my current layout. Bridges and other track connected scenery items need to be placed during the benchwork or track laying process.
The above is what I have done - and it works for me. I've known others that will lay out a section of the layout and totally scenic it before even track is laid on other parts of the layout. There is nothing wrong with that, and if it works for them, that is great!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central