A More Long Lasting Layout, Hopefully
While I have been working on a layout of some kind or another over the last few years, I have always had a difficult time staying with a certain layout for any length of time. This should be fairly obvious to anyone who reads this blog, as this is the fourth, I believe, layout idea or beginning that I have described on this blog. As far as I can tell, these projects have always been to big or to small, depending upon the layout, to remain engaging for any amount of time. For this reason, I have never gotten a layout to anything that remotely resembles a finished state. I think that my layout that lasted the longest lived for about four months and was mostly covered by a layer of basic ground foam in most areas. Even there, though, I did not even finish ballasting the track.
I think that a large part of the problem with my previous layouts were that they were all, in their own way, too much. For example, the first layout concept I described here was supposed to include a paper mill, a medium sized engine terminal, and a few small yards. This clearly, was way to much layout. Practically from the time I designed it I started to dread certain parts of what would have to be built. It was never started, but if it had been, it would never have lasted more than an few weeks at most.
In a different, yet at the same time similar, way, the last layout that I tried to construct was to much. The layout was to contain an enginehouse that I was dreading to construct. This is a particularly bad aspect for a layout to have, in my opinion, as scratchbuilding structures is one of my favorite parts of the hobby. This layout had another problem as well: It was actually quite impossible to run, as one end of the runaround track ended at the edge of the layout. This is also a very serious flaw for a layout, as one of the central parts of model railroading is the operation of trains.
On my newest layout, which models the Grand Trunk Railway's New England Lines in the 1950s in the town of Norway, Maine, I think/hope that it strikes a better balance of size and acheivability. On this layout, there are no structures I dread building, but at the same time, the layout is large enough to be able to operate and have good scenery. However, it is not to big, as it is built on three modules in a nine by eight foot space.
I will post more about the layout and why I'm modelling the Grand Trunk New England Lines and Norway later.
I think that a large part of the problem with my previous layouts were that they were all, in their own way, too much. For example, the first layout concept I described here was supposed to include a paper mill, a medium sized engine terminal, and a few small yards. This clearly, was way to much layout. Practically from the time I designed it I started to dread certain parts of what would have to be built. It was never started, but if it had been, it would never have lasted more than an few weeks at most.
In a different, yet at the same time similar, way, the last layout that I tried to construct was to much. The layout was to contain an enginehouse that I was dreading to construct. This is a particularly bad aspect for a layout to have, in my opinion, as scratchbuilding structures is one of my favorite parts of the hobby. This layout had another problem as well: It was actually quite impossible to run, as one end of the runaround track ended at the edge of the layout. This is also a very serious flaw for a layout, as one of the central parts of model railroading is the operation of trains.
On my newest layout, which models the Grand Trunk Railway's New England Lines in the 1950s in the town of Norway, Maine, I think/hope that it strikes a better balance of size and acheivability. On this layout, there are no structures I dread building, but at the same time, the layout is large enough to be able to operate and have good scenery. However, it is not to big, as it is built on three modules in a nine by eight foot space.
I will post more about the layout and why I'm modelling the Grand Trunk New England Lines and Norway later.
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