Red Letter Day

DeckRoid

Member
Hi all

I was working last night on my layout, not really paying attention to the overall picture, just the matter at hand when I realized that I was cutting, fitting and laying my last piece of track. For a while, at least.

I stopped what I was doing and took a look around the layout. I had to take a seat and just marvel at what this meant. "Now I can start my next step: Scenery!"

I was wowed. I came in and told the wife about it and she gave the Blank Stare of Oh, That's Nice Dear. I tried to explain it. That I had been working 5 to 10 hours a week since July on this and that it meant I could now start doing serious scenery.

She didn't get it.

I then gave her a run down of what I had accomplished thus far:

Built benchwork, which was no easy task since I had no power tools when I started.
Found a layout that I wanted to base it on, then tweaked it here and there to suit my garage.
Wired the thing for DCC, even though I am now only running DC. Leave myself some growing room. Xmas is comin', or so the TV tells me.
Hung a masonite sky around 1/2 the layout.
Cut and laid 88 feet of track on foam roadbed.

Then she asked about my abnormal trees that I had been building while watching football on Sunday. I told her those count as scenery, but only in the cursory sense, since they are along way from being planted... you know, Prep Work.

So while I think of last night as a Red Letter Day, my wife says she will join in the happiness when the layout is finished. Which prompted my inner voice to ask, "is a layout ever truly FINISHED?"

Not that I'm telling her that! :thumb:

George
 

Gary S.

Senior Member
Woohoo DR!!! I know the feeling of which you speak. Having the track done is a huge accomplishment, considering everything it takes to get to that point as you mentioned.

Now, post some pics so we can see what you've done!!:thumb:
 

w8jy

Member
Congratulations, George! Now you can move on to the really fun stuff. Every phase of constructing a layout brings different challenges and frustrations, but in my opinion, the toughest part is laying and ballasting the track.
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Congrats on the golden spike moment! My wife has the odd superstition that I'll "complete" the laout and then drop dead! So, I've assured her that I'll always leave a tiny unscenicked portion just for her peace of mind. :)
Of course, as you've noted..."is a layout ever finished?"
Ralph
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Well done. Of course, you want to run the layout for a while to get the bugs out and confirm that it's what you expected.
My experience is that as soon as I finish ballasting, my wife finds a new house to move into.
 

myltlpny

Member
Congratulations! I still have a couple of pieces of track to lay in an area without scenery yet. I just don't know how I want to lay out the town. As you get the terrain in, the layout will really take shape. Let the fun begin.:thumb:
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
My experience is that as soon as I finish ballasting, my wife finds a new house to move into.

The corollary is that once you finally build modules, you'll never move again...! ;)

Andrew
 

DeckRoid

Member
You asked, here they are. My camera skills are still not great, so please bear with me. I am doing some heavy reading today online about my camera and how to do better.

You can see the mountain in the corner. I am putting a crossover under there so folks will be surprised when the train goes in one tunnel and out the other one. You can't see it, but yes, there is a door just in case something happens.
layout1.jpg

Down this area is going to be the cattle yard/loading area. I have started to play with some different ways to make a pen and fence. Thanks to Wayne, Andrew, rlundy90 and others! Also, hanging from the rafters is a blue back drop. It's not quite blue sky-ish, but when it is down, it looks nice.
layout2.jpg

aaand last but not least, is this area. I am thinking of adding some space on the inside for a town. I am putting my station between the spur and the main line and have been toying with how to make a crossing with basswood strips.
layout.jpg

Yes, I have ballasted some. I wanted to see how hard it would be. It took me 2 hours to do 2 feet on the first try. I am getting better, but still not as good as some in the club. Holy cow, those guys just M O V E right along.

George
 

DeckRoid

Member
Many, many times. I had to be sure that this is the layout. You can see where I ripped up parts of the previous layout. I would send a train around the layout while working on other parts. Isolators come in REAL handy for that.

I let my sante fe passengers run around it for an hour last night, just to ensure longer stock can get thru.

Now on to painting and building a mountain!
 
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