August 2004
September 2004
April 2005
April 2005 (Must have been a very productive stretch!)
May, 2005 Installed in the train room.
Lots of evolution since then...
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
How about 23 years? It's still not complete - I have been working my way in sections rather than put up all the benchwork and trying to do all the trackwork at once.
Many other things happened which is why it’s still under construction - about 70% finished. Kid’s sports, Boy Scouts, about 5 years of major home renovation when we moved to our current house and some years of constant travel for work all cut into RR time.
I started in 1986 with a small 5x7 urban area that included a track loop to allow some continuous running for my then 3 year old son. I was just starting some scenery when we moved to the current house in 1988. Took about 5 years to finish remodeling -which included turning a dirt crawl space into a finished train room and workshop. But I got all the carpentry tools now! Then I got back into the hobby. I kept my track plan concept (which included the original urban area) but made the RR bigger to fit the new train room (14 x 35). I have more time to work on the railroad now so it's going a bit quicker, but I do most work in the winter time. Summer gets spent with yard work, fishing and other stuff outside.
George V.
My current 6x8 N scale layout is about 8 months in progress, started shortly after we moved into our current house a year ago. This was my first real entry into the world of N scale, although I've debated the switch several times in the past, even purchasing a few locos and rolling stock in the past, until now I never made the jump from HO.
The layout is in a corner of my basement family room and is being built upon the domino style modules that my HO layout was being built on before we moved.
The is probably the simplest track plan I've designed, I wanted something simple to get up and running and to experiment with different techniques on. The mainline track is done and wired, with the exception of a few bridges that need to be installed. Temporary track and supports have been put into those places to allow for running. The 1 passing siding is in but the spurs still need to be laid.
The track plan also allows for expansion in the future.
View Track Plan
Layout Progress Shots
Modeling the fictional B&M Dowe, NH branch in the early 50's.
1980-1984. Three attempts at an N-scale layout (in my teens). Never completed them. I did find an old test diorama photos of a winter scene I did back then:
2001. Married with kids. Oldest son finds packed up MRR items. This inspires me to get back into the hobby.
2002-2003. After some research and planning, I started and pretty much completed an 11x7 N-scale layout.
2008: I decide to tear down and re-do the scenery:
2009. Scenery being redone.
Still a lot more to do....
1 1/2 years...
then:
today:
and 10 years to go!!!
Matt
Which part?
I had been over the last 2 years building a 200 square foot 10 x 20 foot layout in my garage (3rd in that spot) but about 4 months ago I had to face the facts that I just didnt have anywhere enough room for the layout, my cars, my bikes, my tools and all the stuff the boss refuses to toss out, so I had to bite the bullet and pull out the layout and switch to a smaller mobile layout (on wheels) that weighs in at a whooping 32 square feet! Thats right, from 10 x 20 to 4.5 x 6.5 feet, but its 3 levels of track! The upper two levels were part of a portable layout and was begun 2 1/2 years ago. Very early this year I added an upper loop to that layout, then when I downsized the fixed layout I built this one so ...the lowest level is 4 months old, the middle is 2 1/2 years old and the upper level is 6 months old.
Now, is that clear
I thought so....
Oh...Did I mention its G scale?
Oh well, it will work for now till I have the time to think again about a bigger layout
Have fun with your trains
I started my current layout...way back in 1992 or so. Er, actually, that's when I tore down my first (4x8) layout, and built a small 2x6 section instead. Then I got busy with other things...before I took my trains to college. That would have been around 1995. Since then, it grew to a 10x16 L-shaped layout which runs along two basement walls. Still unfinished though. But, at least I can run some trains, and have fun switching cars. In fact, last month was the first time I'd actually operated it in quite awhile. Before then, most of the rolling stock had been packed away...since the layout room was torn up. When I unpacked the freight cars, I soon found myself with the mother of all switching puzzles
The East New York Railroad was constructed 1979, as a two track mainline with a 72" minimum radius. The track plan was actually more of an egg than a circle, and the minimum radius was about 60" in one spot. The objective was to model high speed passenger service with electric locomotives and full length passenger cars as used on the NH and PRR, c. 1944, and 50 car freights. I used live coal loads, which only spilled once due to a derailment.
The benchwork consisted of 9" wide plywood arcs, 4' long, with a 1x4 reinforcing beam screwed to the underside. Each section had one leg, with one diagonal brace. When assembled, it was quite rigid without being braced to the walls of the room. It was intended to be semi-portable, and was assembled with stove bolts. When I moved in 1987, the layout had sprouted engine storage tracks and a few sidings and spurs.
Due to other interests (1/35 WWII armor research, modeling, and war games outdoors), the layout was not reconstructed (beyond the benchwork being reassembled) from 1988-2000. I did build plenty of passenger and freight cars during that time. In 2000, we moved into a new house we built with a basement designed to house a new, enlarged version of the layout, now with an entire lower deck on L-girder, which was to serve as staging, and a 6x10 peninsula for a freight yard, float bridge, and plenty of open water for the freighter and tugs I had built. The L-girder and roadbeds for both levels were completed around 2004, the staging track (code 100) in 2008, and the upper level "viewing" track (code 83) is still under construction. I have no idea when anything will get done. I'm also active in slot car racing (1/32 no-mag) and restoring old plastic models.
Sweethome Chicago 2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
(edit) I've just noticed the man in front of Nelson's has been reading that same newspaper for 4 years - must be a good read.
Jon
Sweethome Chicago is now on Facebook
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Just a few days ! I've just started building the first 2 shelves of a railroad that should end up going around 2 walls of my bedroom, with 2 removable/storable tables extending into the middle of the room.
To read about it, and see the track plan visit my blog - Gil's Mutterings ...
Where ever you go, there you are !
Since I am currently without a layout I suppose it would be fair to say that my current layout is ageless!
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
MABruce, I like your water, Dude!
I started my current layout in 2000, but there was also a layout move in 2004. Along with the move came a major redesign; it went from 10x12 to 27x18. I lost 10 months of working on it due to health reasons. But the desire for model railroading started in the late 50s, when as a child, my father built a modest layout on a sheet of plywood with an old Marklïn trainset. This was followed by a Lionel set. I built my first permanent layout in the mid 80s when my son was a child.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Started this layout 9 years ago in another location but never got beyond wiring because of job pressures and travel. I retired in 2002 and when I moved to a condo I disassembled the layout and moved it as well, Not a good idea. It sat in sections in the garage until last October when I brought it downstairs and reassembled it to a 8X20 G shapped configuration. Track and wiring are 95% done, DCC conversion is complete, scenery is 5%. I just work on things as I want and it keeps me interested.
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
I came to model railroading late in life, after retiring... so my current layout is my first and might very well be my only. Not having a clue what I was doing when I started approximately 4 years ago it's been a learning experience at every step. I fully agree with those who say you 'probably' need to build 2 or 3 in your life to get it right.
I was fortunate to have a room roughly 15x21 feet at my disposal and here's a picture of my first attempt(s) at running trains..
and later on building a backdrop from instructions received on the layout forum..
the learning curve was pretty steep.. , and it's still climbing.
though the basic track plan hasn't changed much, there have been quite a few minor and one major adjustment..
Gradually, one step at the time, everything started to come together..
and what seemed like acres of blue foam slowly began to disappear under scenery..
painting the roughly 45 feet of backdrop was a challenge, one I don't want to undertake again any time soon..
and so it continues. I'm about 1/3rd complete or less, many more years ahead of me..... I hope!
Jarrell
jacon12 I came to model railroading late in life, after retiring... so my current layout is my first and might very well be my only. Not having a clue what I was doing when I started approximately 4 years ago it's been a learning experience at every step. I fully agree with those who say you 'probably' need to build 2 or 3 in your life to get it right. (snip......) Jarrell
I came to model railroading late in life, after retiring... so my current layout is my first and might very well be my only. Not having a clue what I was doing when I started approximately 4 years ago it's been a learning experience at every step. I fully agree with those who say you 'probably' need to build 2 or 3 in your life to get it right. (snip......)
Jarrell,
I would say you are getting it right the first time based on your last picture!
I obviously spend too much time on dese here forum things and not enough time on the railroad, based on the progress everyone else seems to be making....
Thanks George. I do the same as you though. I see all the great layouts here and I kick myself for not being out in the trainroom working on the layout. A couple of years ago I did learn that you CAN start to burn out if you go at it too much. I backed of for a while and now I enjoy it much better. Don't want it to get to be a job!