the joy of continuse running

[FThunder11]

Right now, mine is gonna be a point-to-point, but I do like continuous(ey kant sspeell) running. And I have left room ti eventually make it continuous running.

[railman]

the loop is your friend. Keeps the family at peace with the trains. So when you bring them down to the basement, you're not spending all the time switching, and can flip on a couple passenger trains, and let them run, strike a poker face about how much fun it is to watch, etc.

Hey- it keeps the "lease" on the railroad line, ha ha.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by railman

the loop is your friend. Keeps the family at peace with the trains. So when you bring them down to the basement, you're not spending all the time switching, and can flip on a couple passenger trains, and let them run, strike a poker face about how much fun it is to watch, etc.

Hey- it keeps the "lease" on the railroad line, ha ha.

[:-^][#ditto][(-D]

[Anonymous]

my current layout is a glorified oval (with embelishments) what I am doing is taking one section of the oval and passing it through a tunnel. on each side of that tunnel area are tracks coming out of staging. so in essense that tunnel is the end of the layout in either direction. point to point, but on an oval. its under construction and we'll see how the operations work out. but i'd miss continuous running terribly

[easyaces]

I once belonged to a club that had a continuous run and was all modular,(20ft wide x 120ft long) with each module or two having a different theme to it. There was nothing more fun than to watch a long freight or passenger train wind through those themed areas around the layout , like taking a trip throgh the country!!!

[scubaterry]

My first layout was all about "roundy roundy" with very little switching. Got bored with it soon. Next layout had same "roundy roundy" but more switching and a yard. Current layout (the first one I actually thought out before hand) has a double main with a "butt-load" of switching. I now think I am where I want to be. I can run two trains east and west bound while I work one of the two yards or spot cars in the many industry sidings. It is very enjoyable for me to have the unsurpervised activity of several trains working in the background while I hustle cars around. Best of both worlds. Plus the moving trains pickup and deliver cars for my enjoyment making it a little more prototypical. I now have four Loco's with sound and that increases the level of enjoyment for me. I turn down the sounds of each loco so I can barely hear it at the far end of the layout. I can't wait for the BLI sound switchers to come out. So I have evolved from liking all "roundy roundy" to really enjoying the switching aspect of the hobby. Just something nice about having a couple of loco's pulling their load around while I busily spot cars. Just my thoughts on the subject.
Terry

[Anonymous]

I just finished building my first layout. It's a 2'x2' square with just a complete circle of 9.75" radius track, built just for practice before I move on to a larger layout. I can honestly say I will sit there and watch my train go around and around for hours.

[NZRMac]

O, T, N Here's my layout in the living room, just a small switching yard that grew!! Round the walls two track except for the bridge. The round the walls part is just 5"-6" wide.
Room is 10' X 12'





Ken.

[MisterBeasley]

I like the added interest that continuous running adds to the switching operations. With nothing else on the layout, the switcher has an easy time of it. However, when you add a freight coming through the main line every now and then, it becomes a much more interesting puzzle. With DCC, this is much more realistic than DC, because you can use multiple speeds and different directions without a complex block-wiring system. Without having to "run the track," you can concentrate on keeping the turnouts all set right, and your switch engine can "take a break" and watch the trains go by while it's waiting for a clear track.

[RedLeader]

QUOTE: Originally posted by NZRMac

O, T, N Here's my layout in the living room, just a small switching yard that grew!! Round the walls two track except for the bridge. The round the walls part is just 5"-6" wide.
Room is 10' X 12'





Ken.

That bridge is gorgeous!! The kids luv trains going round_n_round, so I did it that way. Better if there are two main loops and if in some point both trains cross each other in different directions.

[tatans]

Well, well, well, so I'm not the only one who sees the merit in continuous (continuse??)
running. I've been planning a logging system with lots of trestles, deep cuts, logging camps, the odd tunnel and a helix inside a mountain to add some variety. I believed this is frowned upon by some of the comments from other forums and the snide remarks "Christmas tree" from the "experts, so you guys go ahead with your little pieces of paper and 300 switches( turnouts?)and spending most of your time trying to get the system running and we "Christmas tree" guys will sit back and enjoy. glad this topic came up. e n j o y

[Anonymous]

personally i enjoy switching it is so much fun, on my friends layout i alway run the local switching every industry along the way on his 18x36 layout!