Hi everybody, it's been a long time since I've posted here with any regularity. I had just had it with the hobby, and I'm still not sure what the problem was. Upon reflection, I think it is that I bit off too much to chew. Abd that I tried to force myself to work on the layout when I wasn't in the mood. It became a bit of an obligation, not a source of relaxation and enjoymrnt. I had set too high a bar for myself quality wise, too. I've found I'm not capable of the kind of results I had pictured in my minds eye. And, over the last several years, my eyesight has deteriorated, so the finer details I had hped for will never happen. My last work on the layout was done for the scratchbuilding contest which ended back in September (I think) And it seemed like the straw that broke my back was the tree I built for that scene. I need a lot of trees, and I can't possibly put as much time into them as I did with that one. Between the choices of good looking trees and mediocre looking trees that can be made in a reasonable amount of time, I choose to do nothing! The layout became a shelf for all kinds of misc. stuff, the basement it is in became cluttered, and then a leak from the bathroom above (no, it did no damage to the layout, it missed it by about a foot!) required taking down some flourescent fixtures, then the ceiling, and I spent a month fixing things that turned out not to be the problem, (repacked faucets, caulked along the shower walls, etc) It tuned out I needed to regrout everything, as even the grout which looked ok was porous. In the meantime, when I went downstairs I was greeted by a hanging 4x8 of paneling, lack of lighting, and clutter. I would see it and just go back upstairs. I have gotten a lot done on my home, however!
So, once the bathroom was done and proven to be leakfree, I reinstalled the ceiling and lighting, and embarked aon a campaign to straighten out the basement. I threw away all kinds of "stuff I can use someday" organized the rest, and most importantly, cleaned and painted the concrete floor, and walls. Yes, I had read that room preperation should be done before layout construction, but I didn't listen. The unpainted floor was a never ending source of dust. The walls which did not have the railroad up against them had never been touched by me, and were dirty dark blue. The basement now i much more attractive, and as I cleared and organized the layout, I found myself wanting to finish this, and that, etc.
I have made some repairs to items which needed attention on the layout, I have a lot more to do. I've worked on equipment that was running well, and that in itself has rekindled my desire to operate. I had a friend over and we ran trains with virtyally no problems, which made me happy. I have a bunch of projects to do, and at least at the moment I feel no pressure to do any of them, I will just pick and choose whatever makes me happy, and if I never finish, that's ok.
I'm going to start a thread in the photo section, Touring the JGL. Please take a look, it may be helpful to those who, like I, plan and start a layout much too large to complete on their own. In my case, I thought I would have two otheres helping, but that never worked out as one moved away early on and the other had other requirements come up for his time. So it has been a solo effort for the most part.
So, once the bathroom was done and proven to be leakfree, I reinstalled the ceiling and lighting, and embarked aon a campaign to straighten out the basement. I threw away all kinds of "stuff I can use someday" organized the rest, and most importantly, cleaned and painted the concrete floor, and walls. Yes, I had read that room preperation should be done before layout construction, but I didn't listen. The unpainted floor was a never ending source of dust. The walls which did not have the railroad up against them had never been touched by me, and were dirty dark blue. The basement now i much more attractive, and as I cleared and organized the layout, I found myself wanting to finish this, and that, etc.
I have made some repairs to items which needed attention on the layout, I have a lot more to do. I've worked on equipment that was running well, and that in itself has rekindled my desire to operate. I had a friend over and we ran trains with virtyally no problems, which made me happy. I have a bunch of projects to do, and at least at the moment I feel no pressure to do any of them, I will just pick and choose whatever makes me happy, and if I never finish, that's ok.
I'm going to start a thread in the photo section, Touring the JGL. Please take a look, it may be helpful to those who, like I, plan and start a layout much too large to complete on their own. In my case, I thought I would have two otheres helping, but that never worked out as one moved away early on and the other had other requirements come up for his time. So it has been a solo effort for the most part.
, GLAD to have you back modeling again!:thumb: i REALLY LOOK FORWARD to seeing your new thread!