One of the biggest barriers to entry into this hobby for many
people is the work-to-gratification ratio. This has always been
my biggest frustration.
I'm a model railroader because I like to run trains (both around-
and-around and something like prototypical operations). When my
layouts have been in a state where I can't run trains, I tend to
become disinterested and go do something else.
The two solutions I've come up with are:
1. Build something quickly that works, then go back and improve it
incrementally until it's the way I want it.
2. Build the layout in pieces, whether you call them modules or
dominoes or whatever.
Currently I'm blessed with a space that's 31' x 27'. There is no way I
would ever undertake a Basement Behemoth where it takes 2 years
to build the benchwork, etc. Like you said, who knows how long
you're going to be in your house? (Maybe you don't even HAVE a
house!) [Heck, at my age, who knows if I'm even going to live long
enough to finish a ten-year layout?]
By building in modules (I use Hollow-Core Doors), if I ever move I
will be able to take the whole thing apart in a short time, move
the modules to whatever new location I end up in, and set them up
again (even if I have to reconfigure the layout based on space)
fairly quickly.
My first module was a 24" x 80" (one HCD) switching plan that was
designed to connect at both ends to the "rest of the world"
eventually. As a test to see how quickly I could go from ground
zero to running trains, I used grass & roadway mats & strips, pre-
fab trees, flex track, built-up structures (mainly), manual ground
throws for the turnouts -- any reasonably decent-looking shortcut I
could think of. Faster than I would have thought possible, I was
running trains, and it looked quite passable, thank you. Since then
I've spent a bit more time adding details like ballast for the track
(yes, right over the grass mat!), bushes, industrial litter around
the yard, etc., so now almost nobody even notices the grass mat,
etc.