Designing My HO-Scale Room Layout

[steinjr]

Thanks Andrew!

I agree that the track-plans aren't whats bothering me, its just that the Beer-line track-plan gives me that feeling that I get whenever I am around trains, I don't know why only this track-plan appeals to me, I think it is the excitement about the layout, most switching layout boring since they usually focus only on operation.

Just curious - what do you mean by "focus only on operation". Do you mean switching? A shelf layout with a small yard in addition to a handful of industries will also be focused mainly on switching.

But you should pick some subject that appeals to you. If you no longer wants mostly rural, and instead wants to go to the opposite extreme and go all urban, then by all means switch subjects.

For some possible inspiration for an urban switching layout, here are some pictures of Johnny Martin's Penn Central Westside Branch:
http://rides.webshots.com/album/105793940lxDGOf

Grin,
Stein

[Justinmiller171]

Just curious - what do you mean by "focus only on operation". Do you mean switching? A shelf layout with a small yard in addition to a handful of industries will also be focused mainly on switching.

I mean they focus almost only on train operations rather than the scenery, I want to have a layout that will be interesting to look at even when there is no trains running.

[ocalicreek]

I've wasted several months now trying to come up with the "perfect" plan and all it's done is keep me from actually working on a layout.

Ed - I've been there done that a few times in the past few years. Moving seven times in as many years has taught me to think portable or at least re-workable.

Justin - I hate to say it but I'm not surprised you changed direction again. Sounds like you've received some good advice though, as far as taking a break away from track planning. Let me suggest another break - put down the modeling mags and spend less time looking at other people's modeling here on the gauge (and any other forums). Don't be a stranger, but as much as possible focus on what YOU want, not what Mindheim is doing or MR is publishing or anyone else for that matter.

Then pick up an issue of Trains or Railfan & Railroad, and spend some time trackside or looking at images of prototype places that interest you. And when I say interest I don't mean passing fancy but something closer to passion or deep longing.

I could make an interesting model of just about any train because they're all neat. But I love steam locomotives and steam-era railroading. I could faithfully recreate urban SoCal - I lived there and it's a neat place with plenty of character. But my heart is in the Blue Ridge mountains. I love old B&W photos of life in Appalachia - the architecture and topography and the people.


Just my 2 cents...

Galen

[Justinmiller171]

Thanks Galen, It looks like its time for me to take a break from Xtrkcad

[ocalicreek]

It's analysis paralysis. It stops us from building anything and consequently having much fun beyond a virtual interaction. It's armchair railroading to the extreme. Once you start building something that really taps into your passion, that in itself has the power to compel you to keep building and see it through to completion. If what you're building isn't tapping into that source then you'll know and it just won't get very far. Don't confuse life changes and circumstances/outside forces with lack of passion, however. There are times in life when the rest of what we must do (school, family, work, etc.) gets in the way of modeling, but even then every time you walk past the layout or workbench it beckons you to come and build.

Galen

[Gary S]

I think Andrew's advice was spot on. Take some time building a few structures and see what grabs you.

Now, as for the layout choices, The Beer Line just seems really complex and expensive, tons of turn-outs, tracks crammed everywhere, I just like the simplicity of the other Miami related layout. Sometimes simpler is better - especially with the possibility of eventually incorporating it into a bigger layout someday.

[ocalicreek]

Galen

[Justinmiller171]

I was rereading this entire thread and I can't believe I missed this part of one of Galen's posts:

Bruce Chubb built the original Sunset Valley in sections in his father-in-law's garage for six or seven years before he and his wife found a suitable basement with a home attached. They collected what they liked from train shows and hobby shops and built models on the kitchen table. But even in those early days he had a vision for what he wanted his layout to be. Then when he had the space it was a matter of connecting the components. That layout lasted a few decades, was the inspiration for countless articles and technological developments, and was satisfying until the last op session. Now he's taken the concept into a new home and is at it again. The best stories are timeless just like the best layout ideas carry on from place to place through all stages of our lives.

The layouts I built before I went off to college did not carry over through my post-grad work or into my career and family life. But the concepts I developed after college have carried through and every layout I have worked on since then has been a variation on a theme. Not every modeler thinks this way, but many do and it's worth paying attention to.

Galen

That got me thinking, If I could build a small layout in my room using 2x8 and 2x4 sections I could reuse them for my dream layout when I am older, If I build one 2x8 now I think that should hold me over for awhile, then when I finish that I can slowly expand upon it with other sections, then I would have a great starting point for a dream layout.

[steinjr]

That got me thinking, If I could build a small layout in my room using 2x8 and 2x4 sections I could reuse them for my dream layout when I am older, If I build one 2x8 now I think that should hold me over for awhile, then when I finish that I can slowly expand upon it with other sections, then I would have a great starting point for a dream layout.

Justin --

I am very likely the wrong person to say this, considering how extremely slowly I am working on my own layout, but perhaps it is time for you to stop thinking about having a huge and picture perfect dream layout built by a master model railroader to last for decades, and just get going on building a small "for now" layout ?

Galen was not saying that his first layout was incorporated as a section in his later layouts. He was saying that what he learned from building his first layout followed him to later layouts.

You have in the course of the last few weeks changed your mind quite a few times about what you want to model. Odds is that you will not want to model the same in 5 years, or 15 years or 30 years or more down the line. Could even be that you want to try something very different in six months or a year. That is perfectly normal - everybody changes their minds about lots of things between the ages of 15 and 30, and the direction in which we are steaming at 30 (or later) very often is very different from the direction we were heading at 15.

Your life will change directions so many times between now and the time you have a home with room for a dream layout, time enough to build a dream layout and money enough to build a dream layout that there is no way you can predict at this time where and how you will be living, or what you will be intersted in in 15 years, let alone 30 years or 60 years.

There is no need to give yourself the tough target of making something at age 15 or 16 or whatever it is that will later be part of a dream layout at age 30, or 50 or 60.

So give yourself the freedom to try things out. Pick one of the things you want to try. Any one of them. Try it. If you don't like the result, it is not a failure. It is information for a later layout - that next time you will try something else. And if you by chance should happen to pick a subject you will stay with for years - no problem. But you very likely still will not want to incorporate that first real layout in a later layout directly. You will take the ideas that work and reimplement them in a new layout, along with some other new things you will want to try out.

Smile,
Stein

[BR60103]

Justin:
I have a friend who has a basement-sized layout but has parts of it that have been in other layouts (2 others since I met him; more before that). Most of these are 2-foot deep modules or at least sections. While one part is a very long yard, other bits are mostly-scenic sections. So build! if you like it enough when it's done, you can move it to your next railway.

[P5se Camelback]

Justin ...

Go back up two posts and read Stein's post again ... go ahead ... do it now ... I'll wait.

Read it slowly ... let it sink in!

You've gotten a lot of advice from the members of this forum over the past few months. 99.44% good advice. But I'm not so sure that much of it had a chance to sink in. I think you read it and moved on to the next post in your zeal and excitement for this hobby that you have adopted and wish to master.

Mastery comes with time. Notice that none of the guys whose work you admire are 17 or 18. I'll be 66 in two days, have been building models of one sort or another (including operating prototypes from scratch from engineering drawings, where dimensions are measured in +/- 0.005") since I was about seven and I'm still learning.) None of us have ever built the "end-all-be-all" layout right out of the box at 16 years old. There have been many attempts ... many failures. Failures are learning experiences ... did Tom Edison put together the incandescent bulb on the first or second try? No ... there were thousands of failures first.

I think Stein's point (as well as many of us who have endeavored to give you some direction) is to JUST BUILD SOMETHING ... then use it for a while ... figure out (for yourself - because in the end, it's you who must be pleased) what works and what doesn't. Only you will know by operating what you've built. To relate this process to what I did as my life's work as a product designer, it is called "development." It doesn't all of a sudden all come together at once ... it happens in stages, small bits at a time ... it "develops."

In baseball, no one hits a homerun the first time they step up to the plate. First you must learn to make contact with the ball, then learn to keep it in fair territory, then hit it in the air, then get it out of the infield ... developing a hitting style. Well, you must develop your model railroading style. Don't try to pattern yourself after someone else - - you are not them! Do your own thing! You won't know what it is in the beginning ... but do it anyway! Your own style will develop. And with the apparent passion that you have for the hobby at your young age, it will proabbly be a great style. But you must be patient and let it develop ... over time.

Now ... go back and read Stein's post again!

[Justinmiller171]

Reading this has made me really miss my 4x8 I used to have, Even though it was poorly designed and it had lots of mistakes at least I had something. I remember every little improvement I made upon it felt like a major accomplishment. Even though it only got to the basic scenery stage it was still lots of fun, another thing I miss about it was that it was "my world". If I wanted to run a steam engine carrying a CSX boxcar I could without feeling like I was committing a crime. I loved just sitting back and watching trains run around in circles after working on the layout .

So maybe I should just build a 4x8 just so I could have something to run trains on, it could be built in a reasonable amount of time and I could practice building scenery and if I mess up it would be not big deal. Would this be a good plan or should I do something different ?

[scubadude]

Justin ...

In baseball, no one hits a homerun the first time they step up to the plate. First you must learn to make contact with the ball, then learn to keep it in fair territory, then hit it in the air, then get it out of the infield ... developing a hitting style.

with everyone's advice....however, uh ...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pla...gue_at-bat

[Ralph]

Richard you smart alec!

[scubadude]

Not trying to be....I played for a team that was sponsored by the Army when I was 16 (youngest player selected on the team, most were 18-20). One of the players on the list above (John Montefusco - SF Giants) visited our team as a one-time pitching coach. We also had other Major Leaguers such as Joe Torre and Ron Swoboda (The Catch, 1969 Amazing Mets World Series winners).......Joe Torre was originally a catcher, as was I, and he spent quite a bit of time with me teaching me how to keep my throwing hand out of the way while receiving a pitch. I had many injuries trying to catch with both hands eventually resulting in 3 surgeries, but that was a whole lifetime ago.....quite a time, many fond memories.........Sorry Justin, back to your thread.....