Nope. I can rip something apart in a New York second if I get motivated to rebuild better. Right now I'm planning an attic layout in HO using my modules as organ donors. I won't have a problem tearing them apart for materials. You gotta break eggs if you expect to make omelets!
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
Yes- but it helps me to get a little bit of liquid courage first.
Had to go in and replace all the cheap track on my 4X8 layout, change transition angles, which included taking up the cork bed, changing the elevation on the bridges, then putting it all back together with new tracks. Double oval loops.
Of course this all didn't happen without new mistakes being included. But, it is close enough that all of my locos and rolling stock can now go unattended without derailing. This makes me very happy!
Now, if you are going to be wiping out scenery, houses, and turf- well- that is a whole different story.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
No. I've torn down several layouts before.
Just look at it and think about why it no longer satisfies you. Then start ripping!
Salvage absolutely everything you can. Track, trees, details, structures, everything! All that should go to the dumpster is the scenic base and any track that couldn't come up intact.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Jerry SP FOREVER http://photobucket.com/albums/f317/GAPPLEG/
It seems to me that for most of us, certainly for those who ever bother to construct a working layout, there is a lot invested in the enterprise and in the outcome. Money and emotion are what fuel our hobby. So, if things don't turn out quite like we'd like them to, whether in raising kids, running a business, learning so that we can earn a living, or trying to get good at a sport or craft, we have to alter something. When we have spent so much to get a dream underway, and part of it is not quite right, we should have no compunction about taking the steps necessary to rectify the problem.
I have taken the same approach to this hobby as I have begun to take with my other new hobby...gardening. Every spring I raise tomatos and squash from seeds, usually ones that I save from the previous year's yield. Just like toy trains, these represent an emotional investment for me. When they are several cm high, I transplant them and nurture them. But I can only handle so many or I'll simply water what I will eventually discard...a waste of time and money. Therefore, I have to scrag about half of my carefully nutured seedlings. I hate to do it, but what is the alternative?
You know what you want out of this. Set about to doing it. Don't look back.
Ah yes, you have my sympathies. For some strange reason I ended up with a section of 3.5% descending grade on my Yuba River sub. All on a large, long reverse curve. All of which made long trains decide to bunch up and head for the scenery. I decided that this wouldn't do, however a lot of the scenery was already put in. Let me tell you, ripping out that first hill to turn my 3.5% into a longer, more gradual 2.0% was the hardest thing I've ever done. The scenery and the grade risers kept making a sort of death-rattle screeching sound while I did it, I almost went for earplugs.
But, gritting my teeth, I did it. Glad I did, now. I also found out something you'd think I'd have LEARNED by now--scenery goes right back up in record time. Better to redo the scenery and the track than have your trains sprawled all over both.
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!
I have been working on my N scale layout on and off since Nov 05, I never started with clear plan.. Im not done laying all the track yet and I can already see that its just gonna be a waste of money to complete as it is the most boring track plan... If I had designed it better so I coud run at least a switcher in the yard while running a mainline freight it would be a little better. I am now going to pull up some of the track, a sections just sitting, some of it was hacked in the first place so it is pretty rough anyway... I am going to design and plan out better so I have a sure plan from day one no more Making up track plan ideas as I go... Ill cut ties with this layout with no regrets mostly because its been rather aggravating and I havent really gotten to a point were I could do any real running of trains. The little I could kept derailing anyway since I stink at laying roadbed so I plan to just us foam on top of the benchwork. and no cork. Good luck with your RR
Tim
Actually knowing that I have to tear something out can spur me to finish it before I do! Sounds strange, I know.
This is kind of off on a tangent, but my job used to be somewhat mobile, meaning I'd be a few years here, then a few years there, then...
At each place I'd start a layout - garage-sized empires. I'd build and build, then have to tear it all down and move. Seems that happened every time I'd get to the scenery phase. One time, when I was in Lompoc, CA, I was building a layout where I had a lower level staging loop and an upper level mainline that wasn't yet connected, when I got the word that it was time to move on. So early in the morning on the last Saturday of that layout's life I went into the garage and got to work. I spent all morning building the track that was to run between the staging loop and the upper level mainline. When I had the connection made, I ran trains across it and around the layout for half an hour or so, then got out the demolition tools and took the whole thing down.
Weird, huh?
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
It's funny I should come across THIS thread THIS morning, because I tore up a section last night. For me, redoing a scene is about consistancy.
The section I tore out was one of the first areas I built. It has always been acceptable to my eye, but compared to my more recent work the area was lacking. I think that, as we improve as modellers there comes a point when the earlier work is no longer consistant with the new and improved structures, landscapes, etc.
Let's say on a scale of one to ten the area I tore up is a 4 and is three years old. Next to some scenes that are 2 years old and rate a 6, the area that scores a 4 still looks ok. But, let's say my most recent work is an 8. Now the 4 no longer cuts it and has to go.
On a side note, I don't mind pulling up buildings and clipping down trees for a fresh start. I find that the "razed" and vacuumed area often looks better than when it had the incosistant stuff on it anyways.
The 4's gotta go
Ideas on how to fill this space welcome.
More like an 8.5
CHEERS!
DEMO it.
Either repair what you already have or DEMO and do it over better.
dwhitetop2 wrote:Good morning all. I want to redo a 4 by 6 ft. section of my layout, but the hard part is actually tearing down something you worked so hard on. I know it will improve the layout in appearance and operation. Getting up the nerve to rip up that first piece of scenery is the problem. Has anyone else had the same feeling before their remodel? Thanks Dave
I hand built a bunch of double slip switches for a modular layout, guess what, today, I cant use it, it doesnt fit what I am working on. I will tear it out but save the track pieces for future use.
Dwhite --
Please examine the photo of a corner of the layout I'm building for my children (obviously, they don't care about a coordinated theme; they just want stuff that looks "cool"). It also gives me a chance to try things before I put them on my CT Valley layout. My inspiration for this particular scene comes from the old houses and landscaping around the railroad station in Helensburgh, Scotland.
Try as I might, I can't get those steps and that sloping path down to the tracks to come out right. What you're looking at is the 4th attempt. #'s 1 & 3 interfered with some of my engines / rolling stock (despite meeting NMRA clearances -- the white spots you see on the hill above the lumber load are damage to the painted sculptamold caused by a derailment ), #'s 2 & 4 just didn't / don't look right. I have ordered a pedestrian overpass, which will be my next attempt to make this vignette come out right. If that doesn't work, I'll try something else.
Happy Rebuilding!
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
CTValleyRR wrote: Dwhite -- Please examine the photo of a corner of the layout I'm building for my children (obviously, they don't care about a coordinated theme; they just want stuff that looks "cool"). It also gives me a chance to try things before I put them on my CT Valley layout. My inspiration for this particular scene comes from the old houses and landscaping around the railroad station in Helensburgh, Scotland. Try as I might, I can't get those steps and that sloping path down to the tracks to come out right. What you're looking at is the 4th attempt. #'s 1 & 3 interfered with some of my engines / rolling stock (despite meeting NMRA clearances -- the white spots you see on the hill above the lumber load are damage to the painted sculptamold caused by a derailment ), #'s 2 & 4 just didn't / don't look right. I have ordered a pedestrian overpass, which will be my next attempt to make this vignette come out right. If that doesn't work, I'll try something else. Happy Rebuilding!
Thanks for the compliment! Maybe I'm my own worst critic, but I think it's the size of the picture that hides all the blemishes. My father brought those houses back from England in 1969, and they've been on one layout or another ever since (remember the comment about reusing everything you can?). As they are made of printed card stock, they're really rather dinged up. Once I get the scenery in, I'll break out the paint, glue and index cards and start making repairs. Or I'll redo the river, which REALLY looks like crud. (Maybe I'll post a picture of that so you can see how NOT to model water).