Howdy-- The Rock Island Inver Grove division is no more. The layout never had any scenery to speak of but it did host dozens of happy operators at numerous operating sessions. The layout represented Rock Island and Milwaukee Road operations south of St. Paul, MN. The attached pics are a little different than most on here. The layout's not pretty but you can see the people are having fun! We moved to a smaller place and the new layout is just starting. It will be an urban switching layout tentatively called the Minneapolis Transfer. More information as things take shape. Happy Holidays!
At least there were some happy moments before the layout was dismantled... better than not having the layout at all. It's too bad that some thing get started and end-up being dismantled before reaching a point where one could say its finished. Hopefully the new layout will reach completion and those happy model railroaders seen in the pictures will continue to N-Joy!
Modules. I can't see any other way for me. Even if I don't move, there is always the chance that I won't like the railroad I am building half way through. At least with modules I can rearrange or bring in new ones every so often...
Having fun is rule one. Fun, with any operating layout is the key to it's success. In my not so humble opinion scenery is an option. I remember a gentleman I was talking to asking about a Lionel / 027 4-4-0 train engine and I was sounding off on the negative as ... it isn't realistic or prototypical, three track rail blah, blah, blah. He responded with a twinkle in his eye saying, ""Haven't you ever set beside some track you put together on the front room rug and dream about where the train might be going? Filling in the scenery with your imagination?"". Yes, I have was my response and all the prototypical or...realistic thinking momentarily slipped away, causing me to remember, why I love trains in the first place. We talked some more and he purchased the older Lionel 4-4-0 (that hardly ran) with a grin as big as all outdoors he asked, "Do you know how much fun I am going to have fixing this and seeing it run?" Although, I tend to be somewhat hardcore about realistic and prototypical operations. This also serves memories of watching the train crews in Barstow, CA. I watched as they switched run through sleepers and head end equipment on the passenger trains. Watched as they classified and made-up trains, hostlers move locomotives to the head end, seeing the crews board, hearing the whistles call the crews in and finally the two blasts that said we are under way. Dreaming and wondering where were they going. Wishing I could be the engineer handling the train. Today, on my homemade layout, I do my best to bring those memories back to life, at least in scale, as I operate my model railroad. And, until I get the scenery in, the trains will operate through imaginary canyons and deserts. Ahh...the love of it all... so many memories and dreams! Wishing the crews of the Inver Grove Division many happy memories and a future railroad pike.
Welcome to Trainboard, Rick (Rrodrick)! As Rick (BarstowRick) indicated...having fun with our model railroading is the critical factor. Your pictures of the Rock Island Inver Grove Division show exactly where hundreds of Trainboard members' layouts are...past benchwork, onto running some trains, but still not much scenery, yet. In the Layout Design Discussion forum, many of the threads are started by members who are in the early planning stages...nothing to show but constantly evolving track plans. You'll also see some threads with pics showing mighty rough benchwork, too--definitely "not pretty", unless you're imagining the scene as it will ultimately turn out. The pics you posted look a lot like major sections on my layout: just bare bones to get things running, then (when time, finances, interests, inspiration, etc are right) add some scenery. Please post in the various forums as your work on the Minneapolis Transfer progresses...from the planning stages through benchwork and trackwork to operations (and on to scenery, if that's where "fun" leads you).
I operated the Rock Island layout a couple of times. To be honest, I never missed the scenery. The layout operated very well and was well laid out. I miss the layout a lot. Thanks to Rick for his generosity in offering his layout and home! Joe Fehr
