Hi Trainzman. First may I say 'my way is not the best'. Far from it. Other layouts 'blow my mind'.
My layout is in a room 11ft by 8ft. The first plan was a terminus station with local and long distance diesel trains running. That worked really well. It was based in the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland.
I had a collection of small steam locomotives, so I built Leeds Sovereign Street. I now had steam and diesel on the same layout. The problem was having two layouts set in different areas with different timescales, on the same track layout.
I decided to think what I really wanted and came up with a new plan with one track layout set firmly in Leeds with two timescales to run steam or diesel. Trains run from A to B each with a purpose. I then added Clarence Dock as sn extension to give more variety to running trains.
That is me. I made many mistakes and spent more money than I care to mention.
I have read countless stories of people building layouts only to scrap them before they even finish them. (I know they say a layout is never finished, but.)
The UK layouts that are successful all have a common thread to be so.
They have a reason for the railroad to be there in the first place.
The traffic carried is typical to the area modeled
Every train being run have to have a starting point and destination.
Most important. The trains running are all set in the same timeframe.
Only have stock running that is typical to the timeframe and area modeled.
Get that right and a layout will last a long time, believe me.
Now I am not saying if you are building a layout set on the east coast in a timeframe of 1990s you cannot run a west coast train of 1930s. Off course you can. Rule 1 always applies, but (A) do not let it interfere with the main plan and (B) that west coast train is correct in style and livery.
Start mixing things up and the plan becomes lost and the layout becomes a burden.
Keep to the main plan and the dollars spent do not hurt.
Happy modeling
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Dave, thank you sir for the words of encouragement, they do help. I went out and took some pictures of what i had done so far as opposed to what i had not....unfortunately the NOT outweighed the done lol....But i will keep on chugging and see what happens. My biggest dilema is: Am i really happy with the design of the main line or should or could i redesign it in some way to better serve the space i have avaliable.......here are a few pictures. As you can see i have plenty of projects but not sure what to do first......Thanks again!
I always jump around. Which is probably why I have not been making much progress - I'm not yet to a point whare I can jump around, I'm stuck on the basic benchwork. Almost have the first section done, and then I cna start skipping around a bit and do what I feel like doing at any given time instead of the same old, same old.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I am the last person who should be preaching on this subject since I have had long periods of paralysis/burnout since starting my layout. For a long time I blamed my wavering on the decision to stay with DC/cab control or go with DCC. I held back on certain complex portions because I dreaded all the wiring that was going to go with it.
Then I had paralysis/burnout as I came to realize that some of my fondest hopes for really great scenes were not going to work in HO. But I had too much invested in time/money but also model railroading experience in HO to just toss it all and go to N scale as perhaps an objective observer would say I should have done.
True, having had that mid-build delay did enable me to rethink certain parts of the track plan before laying the track. That was good. The plan is not sacred text.
But maybe the worst decision was to feel I needed to be much nearer completion before even thinking about running trains. Everyone I have talked to with a large layout agrees that it is important, even at a fairly early stage of track laying, to begin running some trains. We don't do all this work just to build benchwork and lay track and wire the layout. The ultimate point is to run trains.
One other purely psychological thing I did helped a little in remotivating me when I hit a dead spot. I was looking at plywood, endless feet of plywood and pine. Remembering an old old article in MR titled something like "double your layout for a dollar" I painted all the upward facing plywood a deep rich brown, an earth color. Once the layout is done nobody will see that brown. But it did give me a sense, a feel, of what the FINAL goal will be. I also (contrary to some expert advice) did some ballasting of track and scenery along the track at an early stage, again not just to give me something fresh to do but to give that glimpse of the final prize.
So .. "keep your eyes on the prize" is about the only useful thing I have to contribute. I am a fellow sufferer.
Dave Nelson
Hello to all of you out there in model railroad land.....I am just looking for some input here. How do you guys with medium to larger layouts keep from getting burnt out? Maybe not burnt out per say but how do you keep it exciting enough to where you dont feel overwhelmed everytime you go to your layout? Me personally am begenning to feel like i am making zero progress. My layout is in N scale and roughly 12' x 20' around the room with a penninsula. I began with a rough track plan that seems to not be working out as planned but regardless i feel like i am getting no where. Do you guys jump around to different locations on your layouts or do you stick to one location until its complete? I personally just keep going to my layout with a plan in mind to work on one certain task only to get overwhelmed by looking at all the stuff i need to do and then after 20 or 30 minutes walking away without acompolishing anything at all and feeling like its hopeless. How do you guys do it? Maybe i am overthinking the process or maybe im OCD....either way i am wasting more time looking at what needs to be done as opposed to actually getting anything actually finished. I have been out of work due to this virus for the last 6 months as many of you are probably also. Instead of actually getting anything done on my layout i have wasted time by looking but never acting. Now i find that i should be returning to work around the 16th of this month. My plan when i first learned of my furlough was to at least have my track work complete so that i could run trains while working on various projects. Instead i have roughly the outer main line laid and only half the way wired for DCC. Maybe im overwhelmed???? I know it is much more enjoyable when you have someone to share the hobby with at least to me personally but its just me. I just need a plan or some insight as to how you guys keep the excitement alive while still making progress. Actually as far back as i can remember i have had this same problem.....I begin a layout with tons of excitement and enthusiasm only to loose steam half way through and eventually just give up. I am determined this time i am not going to give up. I have wasted uncertain thousands and thousands of dollars over the years on model railroading. Most of the time in the past i would find someone that wanted what i had and basically give what i had to them just to get rid of it. Maybe im not cut out to be a model railroader even though i consider it my passion, idk.....But anyways, if some of you more acompolished modelers wouldnt mind sharing how you get things done i would greatly appreciate it....Thanks guys and sorry for the rambling on!.......:(
Here is what im working on.....