A mere 18 months after its birth, the La Veta Pass Route is going to have to be dismantled, hopefully to live again in a new location. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was supposed to be the last house we owned before we retired to the Sunny Isles sometime a dozen or so years down the road. But my wife got a great job in the Raleigh area, really too good to say no to, and off we go. We bought a house, with a decent sized unfinished basement, in Wake Forest, NC, and the LVPR is going to going to be U-Hauled up there in a few weeks. It was not designed to be modular, but it was built in sections, and it will be taken apart in sections and moved in sections. The 18 foot finished yard and engine facilities are going to be split in two pieces and moved with the legs and backdrops on, I should be able to drop that into the new layout. The other 20 feet or so will be cut up in sections with the the legs and backdrops removed and I will try to use them if possible in the new layout. This will suck, but another layout will arise from the pieces of this one It is a prime example of how life can get in the way of model railroading. This will be the fourth layout in my adult life I have not been able to finish due to divorce, disgust or dislocation. Hopefully the fifth will be the charm. Here are a couple of pics of the late and lamented, and I will try to remember to document move and post the experience, if anyone is interested.
Sorry to hear about this, but it does sound as though the end result will be worth while. Can't see any pictures. They must be set up to block hot linking.
I belonged to a train club in the SF bay area for several years its now been 20 years ago...the club is still together but I have moved to another city and nothing that I contributed to the layout still exists. For that matter, the entire club (and the train depot it was in) has moved. One thing I do remember is during an interview for the local newspaper, the question was asked how long before the layout will be done? The response was the layout will probably never be 'done'. Once it is done, the only thing it can be used for is running trains where in building it there is almost an unlimited list of things that can be worked on...carpentry, electrical, painting, scenery, building kits, laying track, lighting, DCC and computer work, etc. etc... Not including wanting to improve something that has already been 'finished' as the members improve their skills. Once a layout is 'done' it can only run trains, until then it is creating an entire scale world. I hope to never finish a layout...
YEP! Like I always said, "There ain't no such thing as a 'permanent' layout." Build them as sectional so they can be easily taken apart and moved. It doesn't matter whether the move is across the country, the next county or just to another room in the house. 'Permanent' layouts don't take any moves kindly.
