When to start over?

I have been working on my current layout for about 18 mo. now. I have a few sections that I am happy with but for the most part I am not happy woth the overall layout. I made many mistakes in the design and construction. An example is that I have about 2 feet of track that is very difficult for me to get to and clean. I also have some hidden staging that is also difficult to get to. I had no direction when I designed the layout and it seems like it is just a gaggle of track with no real purpose.

My question is, should I scrap this layout and start anew with my newfound knowledge and ideads? Or should I continue to work on this layout and hope thing work out for the best? I'm kind of leaning towards the scrapping idea and starting over. What are some of your experiences in this situation and did you like the end result?

Thanks,
Eric

 

Go with your gut. You have been at it for 18 months, which demonstrates perseverence (spelling??). If your heart tells you to start over, start over.
You probably made the same mistake that I did. Too much layout the first time out and too little knowledge. I have made peace with myself and know that the 8 months of fiddling was a learning experience. I am more fortunate in that I have made accommodations within the layout and have improved it a bit. I am now relaying a goodly portion of the trackwork on the lower level and will stick too it before I blob all over the rest of my 1/2 of basement.

 

If, after 18 months, you are still not happy with what you are creating then now's the time to make the change. Otherwise you will be another 12 months down the track (no pun ) and still unhappy with what you are creating.
Take your newfound knowledge and redesign. I think you will not regret doing so. We've all done it to varying degrees in the past.

And when in doubt - ask. There's plenty of experience here if you need it.

 

Sounds like it's time to go back to the drawing board.... I am sure that there are elements of your current layout you like. So keep them..just rework what you do not like. Might save you some time. But keep one thing in mine....HAVE FUN. I think you will be happy if you can reach your track even if you have to you a stool to reach it.. And if you need help ask. This board is full of information.

MIke

 

I would also have to agree, keep what you like and scrap the rest. Hopefully there will be some parts you can recycle!

 

Over the many years I have had to tear down my share of layouts. One of the things I am doing now is to build along the line of mini modules, or dioramas, that can be inserted into the layout and just as easily be removed, saving a lot of intricate landscaping and detail work to be used again. Thus I tend to not just build the structure now, but the surrounding scene, so that it can be recyled again if it becomes necessary. The sizes of these scenes vary from a one half city block, to the small sawmill module that is barely 18 x 24 inches, to the current structure underway which will be only a rough 8 x 8 inches, and all mounted on 1/8th inch masonite and using lightweight foam insulation board to build up terrain.

Another influence now on my designs is the old AA, age and arthuritis. In that I am borrowing a page from the NTrak folks in keeping the width of each section within those limits except my sections are being designed for home use only and not for interchange. Thus I don't have the constraints of the tracks at each end having to conform to those standards but I reap the other benefits. One of those is to use the electrical connections they use so that I can isolate sections to trouble shoot.

Another item I'm adapting to is layout heigth to stay away from having to do a hands and knees crawl under, and that coupled with the narrower width will get me pretty good access to the underneath portions.

Since my layout will have three levels in a U shape around the room, with the lowest at one end and the highest as the other leg of the U, and then a helix down to staging and hidden trackage from the highest part, re-emerging again from a tunnel at the lowest point, I will have all that track suspended and open, with guard rails of course, to be able to get to. There will be about three feet of height difference between the uppermost and lowest section.

I can get to my hidden return and staging areas which will be open and under the layout with a fair amount of ease.

At any rate I would recommend getting some of the Ntrak pubs for all of the excellent data that they contain even if you are not building by NTrak standards.

[ 31. October 2004, 12:39: Message edited by: John Moore ]

 

Thanks for the advice. I was very insightful and appriciated. Last night, I removed some track to see how well it would come it. Save for a few mishaps, it actually came up fairly well. I was able to salvage 4 left hand turnout and 4 right hand turnouts. (about $50). I was also able to save musch of the flex - albeit they are somewhat shorter now.

BTW I'm in N scale. Due to sme recent remodelling, I have a spare hollow core door from a closet. I'm going to use that as my bench work and start anew. Thanks again guys.

Time to start sketching a new track plan again.

Eric

 

Eric, if there are scenes that you like, you dont HAVE to keep them exactly the same, but reproduce them on the new layout. Each section you do should give you a warm feeling inside..... If you finish a section and dont feel that rush of satisfaction, work out whats wrong with it before you go on to the next section.

I'm going to start on a 23'x20' HO layout, and like John, mine will be modular. Each section will be a seperate entity that can be managed totally on its own, or in conjuction with its surrounding modules or, indeed, with the whole layout. I WILL be using the Ntrak philosophy of thru track positions on each board so I get a seriously long continuous run section. I wont, however, be restricting each module to a specific size. The first one will be 12', the second 10', the third, 20' etc..... Some will be as small as 4'.

Work a section till your happy, then the overall layout should be perfect (till you change your mind again, like we all do!)

 

With your new found "experience, I'm sure you'll be leaps and bounds ahead conceptually on your new layout. You will know the limitations of tight radii and yard track to close together, of track hard to access (though if you keep it simple you can be trouble free, a friend has 12 feet of straight difficult to access track, which has multiple electrical feeders and impeccible joints - he hasn't had any problems in the five years I've been going to his home) and spaghetti track with no room for structures; experience is a wonderful word for Homer Simpson mistakes.