The MRR Club I belonged to started about 2000 and was modular in style . When I got there in about '03 , the 2' X 4' modules featured 3 main line tracks which didn't offer much room for scenery and was , frankly , pretty boring . There was talk about going to Free-Mo style but the head honchos ended up with plans for a permanent layout . The area we rented was the large furnace room of an industrial building ( first pharmaceuticals and then it was a market ). Rent was cheap because there was much cleanup to be done as well as painting the walls . It became livable .
A large permanent layout design was made ...about 500 running feet , single main line with several branches . Committees were established , basic construction , track laying , scenery and structures etc. The first two tasks were done over about 2 years , hand laid track , hand made turnouts etc......all nicely done . I was out of town with work at this point but came back in time for the scenery and structures part of it . Little had been done about that so I dove into it with the help of about 4 or 5 others and away we went . Within about 18 months we had much of it looking good . I had to leave again for a couple of years and nobody carried on with the rest of the scenery but that's how it can go in a club ...32 guys and maybe 10 do any of the necessary work .
I was just notified the other day that the building has been sold and the new owner wants the furnace room cleared out by Dec 31 . So I went down to snap a few pics for memories . The clean out will be huge and all scenery will be destroyed because nothing was designed to come apart . I guess the head honchos of the club thought it would be there forever . Pretty sad !
Looks like I'll have to reduce the size of all the pics I wanted to post ...may take a while !
To err is human, to blame it on somebody else shows management potential.
I dunno much about computer stuff, but there's a Windows Powertoy for re-sizing photos. My good friend Charlie B. told me about it and it works great, even for a computer dummy like me. Googling the name should bring up something useful. It's free and very easy to use. I've used it to re-size an entire album of about 500 images in only seconds, and it gives you an option of sizes to choose and you can also keep the larger originals, if you wish, too.
I generally use the "large" option, which allows the picture to appear pretty much as large as the original, but the file size is much smaller, and therefore more likely to be acceptable to the Forum. It's probably best to try various size options to see which are acceptable and still look good.
Send you pictures to the local newspapers and television stations as a human interest/community interest item and do interviews. Stress the loss to the hobby and to the community, and the monetary loss as well.
You might be surprised at the response. Besides, you have nothing to lose.
I'm truly sorry for your loss of a such prized layout into which you put so much time, energy and dedication. I hope your group can move on to another, better layout.
Will you get a longterm fixed contract for the theater with a renew option and a unilateral cancellation option? I am afraid they will kick you out when a high profit tenant asks to open a shop or office with a very attractive rent.
I agree , and because of that I can see modular or free-mo as the next layout . I might join back up but there are other issues to consider ....selling our house , wifes continuing health issues etc . The modular concept will atleast keep any of my work confined to a small area and it will be portable .
To err is human, to blame it on somebody else shows management potential.
2) It was an old theater so the stage and seats will have to be taken out .....of course , the OWNER won't do it , so guess who ?
3) The walls are painted pink !
....other than that , it's a " cream puff "
T
Well...if the owner wants you to do all the renovation work, charge him standard contractor rates. Your time and labor isn't free anymore than anyone else's is.