"How many layouts have you built and what did you learn from them?"

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MisterBeasley

....That old brass track - dumpster bound.....

Mr.B, don't scrap that brass! Use it to model abandoned tracks or paint it a rust color and make a scrap pile on the layout somewhere near the railroad shops.

[DigitalGriffin]

I'm going to build my first around the room multi layer layout soon. Heck this will be my first layout period. As I only have room for one layout, I have to get this one right.

Am I worried? Darn right I am! I have tight tolerences and I'm worried the wall won't be straight, or something else will disasterously will go wrong. Or maybe I'll cut a plywood sheet crooked with my circular saw. Or that I may even figure the height needed for my hidden track wrong! I'm also worried about the tortoise installs.

I almost want to hire someone to do the benchwork for me! Even with all the books, I can still think of a million things going wrong.

~Don

[wccobb]

At age 74,I've built a few layouts and I gotta add to what the older guys have said:
!) The ole eyes just ain't the same, and the larger scales are much easier to work with.
2) With stiffening back, etc. every duck-under becomes an increasing challange.
3) Same with reach. The deeper the scenery, the more difficult.

If becoming a Senior Citizen ain't within your sights, ignore this. IF it is, you might give these suggestions some thought.

[MisterBeasley]

I've just started my third, but it's my first as an adult. The trains lived in attics for 30 years, but now they're out.

I've learned that you CAN teach an old dog (me) new tricks. I've built benchwork I'm proud of, and now I'm having fun with foamboard. So, I'm much less apprehensive about learning new techniques for scenery, and painting and weather buildings.

Unfortunately, I've also learned that I may have been carting junk from attic to attic for the last 30 years. That old brass track - dumpster bound. But I'd really like to keep my old engines, even if it means spending more to upgrade them than they're worth. Like old friends, y'know?

And, I've learned that the Internet, and particularly this forum, is a vibrant, living community which is doing a lot for this hobby. Thanks to all who participate.

[betsy662]

Since the 1970's, I have had numerous false starts, a couple of successes, and of course, my current layout is somewhat successful, what you see pictured here is what I refer to as the "Final Extension", final you say? Yes, for the house I'm living in now, which is a rental, we are looking for our own house, and this layout is designed to be taken completely apart, thats why this final extension is just that, final for the moment..........[8D][8D][8D][8]

[Anonymous]

Guys,

This was my response in the original post. Thought I'd repost it here.

Funny you should ask. I have built two layouts and am in the beginning stages of a third. Here is an article I wrote about the last one but never did anything with. The layout discussed here was a Marklin layout. Sorry that it is so long.

Ten things I did wrong and would fix on the next layout

1. Not making a clean electrical connection to every track piece. This error caused me more grief than any other mistake (except spraying the power studs). When the track is new and laying on the cork, it usually functions perfectly. However, after painting, ballasting and gluing of the ballast the track often loses electrical contact Glue seeps in between the press on track connectors and interrupts the electrical flow between pieces. My advice: solder leads to every piece of track. This will take longer in the beginning but not half as long as I have spent trying to make up for not doing it.

2. Spraying the studs. Nothing I did was as bad as this mistake. It dogged the railroad the entire time and was a huge error. When applying glue to the ballast , I soaked the heck out of everything. I sprayed and sprayed matt medium to make sure that things stayed put. The layout looked great but nothing would run at all. For two rail track all one has to do is brite boy the rails and your off and running. Marklin track has studs. Lots of them . They must be individually scraped. There are still dead spots that I have never been able to fix from that fatal spraying. Advice: spray the track sparingly, wipe with a wet cloth to remove the glue. Use a dropper when possible, between the rails (this strategy worked fine on other sections of track)

4. steep grades. Ok, everyone does this at least once and I am sure that those of you bent on doing the steep grade thing are not going to be swayed by seeing the warning in print again. The reasons for having 5 or 6 percent grades are that one can climb (in a short run) high enough to cross over the other track and it is possible to have two levels of track in a small space. For two rail systems, most locos will not pull trains up these grades with out traction tires. Marklin gear has the tires and has no problems in this area. The more insidious problem with steep grades is how they look. One cannot put buildings next to them lest they look out of plumb. Trains look unrealistic climbing them as well. Advice: consider hiding steep grades or using a helix if you must climb.

5. hidden track work that I couldn’t reach. Another one that every one does at least once. There was only a little bit of this on the current layout and it happened to be where a large proportion of my derailments happened as well as a switch failure. Advice: make sure you can reach it!!

6. no switching plan before starting, lack of run-arounds. I had little idea why one needed run-arounds until I tried switching some facing point moves. Without the run around you are in trouble big time. Sure they take up space and appear to be extra track work but they are necessary. Advice: try switching your track plan on paper with cutouts for the cars and the locos before you build. Consult other more experienced train guys for help in this area.

7. Yard lead in a tunnel, down hill, s curved and crossing two power districts. This one is about as dumb as it gets but you would be surprised to hear how many guys tell me that they did the same thing on their layouts. Leads are necessary to switch the yard and they must be in plain sight. Any grades here are undesirable as are s curves. Power blocks must be broken in spots that will not require shuttling back and forth between throttles. Advice: plan the yard throat and leads carefully.

8. Not finishing the train room, atmospheric conditions in the garage. This one falls into the “well duh,” category. I was in such a hurry to build my railroad that I didn’t care about the huge gaps in the garage door that let in lots of moist air every night. Nor did I care about the rafters that dropped crud down on the layout. Later when track started corroding and rusting, I began to care about the gaps in the door. It was then too late to fix the problem. As for the ceiling: You haven’t lived until you have tried to hang drywall and finish a ceiling above a nearly completed layout without damaging it. Advice: Consider that the layout will turn out great and that you want to do it right the first time. Fini***he space as well as you can before construction begins.

9. Track on ¼” ply wood. Another rather obvious one. It can be very annoying to spend $50.00 on a sheet of plywood for sub-road bed and then throw half of it away as waste because the track cutouts left you with odd shaped pieces. I saved a few bucks and used ¼ inch plywood. I was later rewarded for my thriftiness with warping track and humps, dips and runaway cars on “level track”. Advice: Use the stiffest, thickest plywood you can as sub-roadbed. I like master modeler Tony Koester’s response as to why he uses ¾ plywood for his sub-roadbed “Because they don’t make 1” plywood!!”

10. Severe curves. This one slipped by me. I spent a large amount of time plotting elegant flex track curves for the visible sections of the track on my layout. Some how I rationalized using one section of a 15” radius curve on my main line to make a slight bend along the front of the layout. The bend as it turns out is actually quite severe and it will derail a train running at speed. I later (years later) realized that I had let this one slip in unnoticed by me even though I had stared at it every time I was been working on the layout. Advice: check and recheck those curve radii. Have an experienced train guy check as well.

I am now in the process of making a whole bunch of new mistakes...

Have fun,

[ukguy]

Selector, I need to put a new pic on my signature after 'Hurricane Kim' (my wife in a state of extreme PMS) blew through the train room and leveled the hundred or so trees that were planted, so the pic is just a memory of what was. Luckily there was minimal 'real estate' damage, rolling stock and buildings were away in a safe place due to a pre-empting 'Hurricane Warning' earlier that day.
Anyways, its all repaired (two weeks of work that could have been spent elsewhere) and the 150 new trees are made and ready to go in.
Looking forward to seeing the pics when they come in.

Oh and this is my first layout since I was a kid and just played with basically an oval with a few sidings. I've learned wayyyyyy too much to list here, and I'm still learning!!

Thanks for the help on quoting Gary, I guess I couldnt see the wood for the trees in the FAQ.

Have fun & be safe.
Karl.

[douginut]

4 layouts, downward from 4x8 to hollow core door. none very successful but all great fun. 11 Ntrack modules. They were all fun. now out of biggish house w/basement to little apartment so it will be another ntrack or ONETRACK module depending on the mood of the Ophir and Tintic board.

Doug, in Utah

[selector]

Trainluver, thanks for taking the time to answer me. If you haven't already completed your last layout, I sincerely hope you can get it done with a minimum of anxiety and discomfort. Sounds to me like you will persevere, even though it was rough.

UKguy (Karl), I have been looking over your shoulders, too, and if your layout is anything at all like the pic that is below your signature, I haven't much to show ya, Bud. [^]

Seriously, I have wanted to see what you folks would say about my product, but I don't have a digital camera (price = one LL 0-6-0 plus one BLI 4-6-4 over here in maple leaf country). Maybe I'll get my neighbour over to snap a few shots.

Glad to hear that you are experiencing the same thing....from a misery loves company point of view. It was a great big bear on my back, and I'm glad I can finally run trains. Unfortunately, (and don't laugh!), I am now learning the value of flex-track and real turnouts. My EZ-track ones are proving to be iffy, and my trains derail inconsitantly. i finally put a spot of solder on the heel of one particularly troublesome point and it seems to have helped. it now wobbles less and the gob of solder forces the flanges away from the but end of the adjoining track.

This is getting long. I'll work on the pictures.

[Javern]

I've built two and I have learned I can spend a lot of money on a layout and still never quite happy with it

[Anonymous]

I'm on my 6th layout since 1961. Each layout gets bigger than the previous one. This one is 18 by 36 feet. I've learned like many others that a layout is never, ever finished.
I've also learned that you can learn something new every time you start another one.
Always try something new, always accept help from your friends, always try to work on the layout when the mood is right. Don't push it, take your time.
I love to do scenery & doesn't always turn out right the 1st. time. Don't be afraid to take something apart & redo it. I use to always use plaster for mountains & hills. Then I went to foam & now I use ceiling tiles. I had to tare out a major chunk of the scenery
to change most over to the tiles, but what a difference. Everyone of my visitors think the ceiling tiles are real rock & strata. It's not the only material I use. I still use some foam & some patching plaster. I've still got more space to add on & will do just that some day.
I hate wiring & had a good friend to do that in one season, including all the track soldering. I also had a few loco's that weren't running & had a friend repair all of them.
I also took a year of weekends to build a custom layout for someone else. That layout was 8 by 21 ft. You have to love the model railroading hobby to stay in it as long as I have. I hope I never lose the inspiriation to always work as many days & long hours to accomplish a completed train layout.[soapbox]

Larry (G-A-P Gulf-Atlantic-Pacific Railroad)

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ukguy

.. Ummmm how do I do a quote box, I cant find it in the help section.....Karl.

Karl
For the quote box, start with

and end with [\quote] However with a forward slash instead of a backward slash like I've shown.

There is more information about fromating text under FAQ (near the search box above).

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