This is my first post on this forum. I had a model railroad that was 8' by 12' when I was a teenager, but haven't had one since then (nearly 40 years). What does it cost now to make one on average per square foot?
Welcome aboard.
It's a very open ended question to try to calculate an average cost per square foot. It depends on the level of detail you desire.
Unlike 40 years ago, there is a mammoth amount of scenery components available from dozens of vendors. Our hosts here have published many books and videos to help enhance your skills. A search of Youtube.com will reveal many other amateur instructional videos.
You can spend as much or as little as you like.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Mark ,
you may want to repost this in the model RR forum - however maybe you're wise to post it here where all kinds of tests can be carried out - also , if you wish : how it feels to skyrocket a question out into the forum .
I guess it all depends on 'density of equipment' or 'details in landscaping' . For me , if so , it might easily score up when following my favorite idea of freelancing a large steam shed facility , something like two 3/4 roundhouses , rectangular repair shop , paint shop , reserve parts and lubrication stores , heating plant , coaling dock with large crane , several water columns , fire handling places , an old smaller diameter external turn table , maybe an old closed roof rotunda , now used for spares , facility shunting engine , maybe some reserve tenders filled with some odd fluids such as cleansings or what have you .. not everything must be readily perceivable or fully logical in a large steam shed , some of it may well remain pretty obscure to a potential visitor - and even to part of the staff , actually - *g* - after all , steam locomotives as it seems were but partly results of technical engineering and construction processes - with daily work and miles accumulating , they seemed to also acquire a secret life and character of their own ; and accordingly they were understood by at least some of the human counterparts running them .
My steam shed would be a tolerably wide spread facility , with areas stemming from earlier times and with later modifications and latest acquisitions ; a venerable old little park in front of the lodging house with large canteen on the ground floor , the Art Deco style office structure overlooking in-coming and out-going tracks .. at night activity undiminished , lights are shining through from the roundhouses and all the working facilities have lamps and light on , signals and switches indicate track path for engines leaving to head trains through the night bound for ..
It would be a dream and so I can as well keep it my head that way - that even has an imponderable advantage with me slipping into the scenery until I can hear the turntable grumbling , the locomotives hissing and whistling , I can wander around on the site and see the large steam locomotives coming in , waiting to leave - and all steamed up , dark , sinister , warm and huge - as it all has long since grown to 1 : 1 scale in my mind ...
Regards
Juniatha