07-25-2009, 11:24 AM
Josh, when Andrew speaks of the 8", 10" or 12" spacing between modules, he is talking about bolting the modules together with the scenery sides facing each other for transport. Those of us in modular clubs where our modules are set up only at shows have found that module scenery gets damaged if the module is not "boxed" for protection in transit. Also, if you don't install some sort of protection for the rails at each end of the module, you will need to have some sort of set back from the ends with joiner tracks. If you run your rails right to the end of the modules, the rails will tend to snag on things and be damaged. This brings up the point that even if you don't have switches and complicated track work at the module ends, if you have a lot of tracks coming to the end of a module, you will need a lot of joiner tracks that will take a lot of time to install every time you want to operate the module. Our club used to have a set of yard modules that made up 20 feet on one side of any set up. The yard was made up of 30" x 4 foot modules with 8-10 tracks per module. That meant that we needed to install 40 joiner tracks at every set up! The yard tied up 2 people an hour to an hour and a half at every set up! We now have a new yard the has rails going right to the end of the modules with aluminum or wood protector plates installed at each end for transit.
I think you are also still living at your parent's home. I would suggest building a couple or three modules that you can enjoy, and leave the construction of the yard and other modules for when you leave home and move into your own place. I know the temptation is to want everything now, but it just won't work as long as you share your parent's home.
A couple of years ago before he moved to Washington, Galen brought a 2 x 4 "time saver" module to one of our club meetings. He had a Bachmann 44 toner and 4 or 5 40 foot cars with a caboose and a couple of us played with it for a half hour or so after the meeting. It was a lot of fun to switch and it was surprising how long it took to switch out a train on it. The scenery was outstanding. It was not prototypical. It would not accommodate even a Gp9, and sw or a 70 toner was probably as big a locomotive as would fit on that diorama, but Galen is still finding space for it and I'm sure he enjoys playing with it when he feels like operating a train while planning his new layout.
I think you are also still living at your parent's home. I would suggest building a couple or three modules that you can enjoy, and leave the construction of the yard and other modules for when you leave home and move into your own place. I know the temptation is to want everything now, but it just won't work as long as you share your parent's home.
A couple of years ago before he moved to Washington, Galen brought a 2 x 4 "time saver" module to one of our club meetings. He had a Bachmann 44 toner and 4 or 5 40 foot cars with a caboose and a couple of us played with it for a half hour or so after the meeting. It was a lot of fun to switch and it was surprising how long it took to switch out a train on it. The scenery was outstanding. It was not prototypical. It would not accommodate even a Gp9, and sw or a 70 toner was probably as big a locomotive as would fit on that diorama, but Galen is still finding space for it and I'm sure he enjoys playing with it when he feels like operating a train while planning his new layout.