Rob's Layout

[ocalicreek]

As far as a track plan, I have some rough sketches, but I am starting on the "ends" because I know exactly what I want there (as a matter of fact I got about 40% of the sub-roadbed attached last night on the one end and hope to finish that side today. What I really am not sure on yet is the long 20' run along the back wall, I am thinking a yard, some industry, maybe a small town... just not sure yet... the one thing, while I think they look awesome on a layout, is that I will not build a large city, because the theme is "New England in Autumn TIme", and based on my trips to Vermont in the past, a big city, well that just doesn't exist... farms, mountains, small towns with a general store, dirt roads leading to the hidden covered bridge, but yet I will probably take some freedom with a yard or smaller industrial area... in short, not totally sure yet other than the "ends" of the layout.

I may be guilty of overplanning, or getting that 'analysis paralysis', but I still recommend you step away from the benchwork and do some dreaming and sketching and planning. Otherwise you may be in for yet another rebuild. If you enjoy tearing it out and rebuilding, that's fine. But spending a little time with pencil and paper can save hours of work down the road and heighten the enjoyment of building and operating the railroad.

I've just hit a point in my own layout construction where I realized I hadn't spent much time with the scenery planning. I'm not going to go so far as to build a mini-mock-up of the layout, but I do want to spend a little more time deciding a few of the more concrete details in the scenes. I've had a general idea what I'd like each scene to represent, but it's time to think about the specifics like roads, elevations & major structures like bridges & such.

Anyway, I don't mean to be a killjoy or break your stride, especially when you do such good work on scenery and want desperately to get to that point ASAP. But which would you prefer, an ounce of prevention or a pound of cure?

Whatever you decide, I'm looking forward to seeing the progress!

Galen