Layouts

[rogruth]

This may have been asked in the distant past and I may be asking in the wrong place. I have read everything that has been posted on MTJ over the years since I found it. I realize that not many read all of the various posts so that is why I say this may not be in the right place.

How many have layouts on which trains can be run? Murph, 2Rail Jon and I do for sure. Rufus has a layout in construction, I think. I think there are more.
How many have trains that do get run now and then?
How many collect trains?
How many do not have anything but like to talk about trains.

I ask because it seems that there is little discussion about trains in the 3 rail forum.
The 2 rail forum usually has more than the 3 Rail and I think are fewer 2 R people on this forum.
Of course I could be wrong.

I have a layout @ 12' X 20'. It is sceniced and I usually run two trains on upper and lower connected loops.
I am not an operator, I just like to see trains run through the scenery.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

My layout (smaller than Roger's space) is effectively complete, albeit there are additional details that will get added. And, I have two extra lift-outs that I will eventually complete.

Collect, no. Accumulate; used to. Selling and clearing off a lot of the excess now other than those details I need to complete construction projects.

[rogruth]

Thanks Rufus.
I remember seeing some of your layout but don't know how much.
I remember that it is much more detailed than mine.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

For the most part, the folks I have met via model trains have been a pretty convivial group, somebody I have usually enjoyed keeping-company with or, at least, enjoyed conversing with. There is, IMO, something intrinsically sentimental about deciding to have, and then actually having, trains, resulting in something being satisfied from our youth, perhaps, for a significant number of us.

Then, there is the hugely significant, creative adventure of making a layout. Forums afford us the opportunity, as do the magazines, of seeing the creativity and emotional investment of others who are part of our group, and we, sort of, "compare notes" and experiences, and find that stimulating.

For example, the patience and skills I perceive as necessary for the creation of such works as Rufus has accomplished amaze me, and something I find refreshing and awesome.

Now that my layout has long been completed and redone numerous times (a relative concept, of course,) I have had it always at the ready to operate and welcome guests, people who had been close to my wife and me. We always enjoyed seeing them having fun at immersing themselves in the layout. They seemed to allow the release of something personally satisfying in themselves, and I have found those moments very enjoyable, indeed. The trains and the layout became far more than mere possessions. They became a way to reach out to people and to connect with them, which is something I find the absolutely essential ingredient to a happy life - connecting with others.

At the present time, the layout and all the trains sit still and wait. I don't know, as yet, what is next, but the treasure of them remains in my heart.

1/2Murph
I salute all of you.

[J. S. Bach]

...snip... I remember that it is much more detailed than mine.

I have not seen much of Rufus' layout but yours I have and it can stand up to anyone else's!

[rogruth]

...snip... I remember that it is much more detailed than mine.

I have not seen much of Rufus' layout but yours I have and it can stand up to anyone else's!

Wow! How much do I owe you< Dave?

[chuck]

Still clearing tables in the basement for "permanent" build. There was an n-scale "scale" prototype to work out track alignment issues. It kind of got crushed but I was able to verify the main elements before hand.

There is also a flat pack box of FastTrack with paired O72 curves for quick set up of deck/floor temp layouts when I want to play. I have a set of bearing blocks for working on loco's that need to "move" without moving.

There are three "projects" involving reworking cars or engines, one PW to TMCC conversion, one 18" passenger car rebuild, and the HE express interiors.

[v8vega]

My original plans were two separate layouts O an HO. Open grid O has been operational for years and I run trains occasionally. two meandering loops Gargraves flex Ross switches. Then I decided to forget HO although I have a lot of stuff and expand my O where HO was intended for a good sized layout. So now one loop of the expanded is operational and one loop of the original smaller layout is still operational but I will soon expand it into the larger space.
I started this 30 years ago, stopped for about 15 years for my first love, hot rods, then when that got to be too much work as old age crept up went back to my trains.
If I was starting open grid takes too much time I would go tabletop. Still no scenery. I am single, it's in my living room.
I took a year off and built a slot car track in a rear bedroom, I run slot cars occasionally.

[webenda]

P.S. And, oh hey, Wayne, it sure would be nice to see photos of that very nice layout you had in your yard. I haven't seen it for quite some time now. How 'bout it?

Yes, some more photos.

The outdoor layouts were temporary for photographic purposes.
This one lasted 2 hours.

[webenda]

This one was set up as needed for testing engines.

[webenda]

I got up close and personal with a BL2 while I was in Kentucky last month.

[up148]

Retirement a week old, moved to new house/ city/ state yesterday. Finding I have renewed interest in trains and I'm quite happy about that. Murph is right.....intrinsically sentimental.....and it grounds me. Way too much history/fun to ever give it up and maybe time now to build that layout I've talked about for 40+ years, that became a family joke. Repacked by original AF set from 1954 to survive the move....hasn't run in maybe 3 decades, but I just can't let it go.............sentimental value only.

[chuck]

Clean and lube it up. Might be surprised at how well it still runs. A lot more S stuff out there now and the scale is a pretty nice compromise between O and HO. The Lansing based club had a very nice portable layout they trucked around to shows. It showcased how much you could do with relatively small amount of space.

[rogruth]

I always liked the 3/16th scale O of AF because most proportions looked right.
The S stuff was even better but S was difficult to find around here so I went with 3 R O.

[up148]

I dabbled for a few years in "S", back in the early 2000's. Became a dealer for River Raisin (brass importers) after pushing them for a UP 8500 HP Turbine. It was built by the same people who built the 1993 "O" scale version for OMI and it was a beauty. I enjoy "S" (I like the hunt), and it was a challenge being much more limited on offerings, but I found the camaraderie lacking for what I had in O scale, so I returned. "O" scale guys are a pretty great group of people.