Scrapping and staring over?


K

kylewoody

Member
Hey guys,

Ok, I have always loved trains and had a couple HO and an N scale trainset as a kid. Now that I finally have a good job and some free time, I've really been getting into model railroading. I started out so far with a slightly cut down 4x7 piece of plywood with 2" foamboard over it. I made a stretched and curved like oval, along with a couple spurs coming off it.

I was going to model a shortline in Mississippi/Alabama/Florida, called the Alabama Gulf Caost Railroad. However, I am becoming interested in doing more than what I have. I am thinking about building something different, maybe Southern Railway during the steam/diesel transition era, so I can have both those lovely F unit electrics, along with classic old steam power.

I am not new to a lot of the things involved in this hobby (have been building plastic models from 1/700 scale ships, 1/72 aircraft, and 1/24 automobiles) and have also been an R/C aircraft enthusiast too, from building my own balsa kit and wiring everything up, mounting radio gear, servos, engines, etc.

Anywho, am I crazy to want to start over? I have invested a little money that will not be recoverable, some that will be. Honestly, the financial part doesn't bother me much. I can still use a lot of my track, scenery stuff, building, powerpack, etc. However, I would still have some useless modern stuff like a paper mill, rolling stock (about a dozen pieces) and two GP's. I am hoping I can sell that back to the hobby shop though.

I want to build all new benchwork, and it would 3 modular pieces - a 2 1/2 x 6, a 1 x 4, and a 2 1/2 x 5 all combined to make a wall layout - looking like below.

I can justify it in my head I believe like this - the first "layout" was a test bed, that's it and that's all. I was able to cut wood, wire a bit up, lay cork, lay track, turnouts, and some minor scenery (grass, shrubs, and ballasting track).

What do ya'll think?

Kyle
 
I say go for it. Make sure that you right down everything that you really want or need in a layout, use what you can that you already have, amd sell off anything that you don't need. Many of the members have or have had multiple layouts so you really are not alone. Number one rule is to always have fun with your hobby. :)
 
Cool, thanks for the input Carl! My interest definitely hasn't demished after starting this layout and running some trains - if anything, I realise I want to do more with it! :D

I still need to do a lot of research about the trackplan, and even more so (though I am really thinking Southern), consider what would be cool railroads to model in the transition era. I am thinking late 40's to early 50's and it's also a lot easier to model that timeframe. I realised that after trying to do 2008 with my first layout here...

I know for sure though, I want it to be in the great state of Alabama. Possibly it's neighbour Georgia, Mississippi, or even Tennessee. 90% of my family is from Alabama, and I spent a lot of growing up there (from Atmore, all the way up Clanton).

Thanks!
Kyle

EDIT: As well, anyone know of some good books, or maps that would give me an idea of the area for the time? I plan to head to the Railroad Museum this weekend and grab a couple books on the Southern. Here's a pic of my current layout - I have more done, this is just a small section near my yard. Don't worry - that's about five feet compressed in the zoom feature!
 
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You will not get a lot through the hobby shop, but you will get market value if you put it on eBay.

If you can see that you will grow in your enjoyment of the hobby, you have to go for it.
 
I think almost all of us had a "starter" layout that seemed fine for a while and then we realized it really wasn't what we wanted and we could do better. I think my first layout lasted about six months before I ripped it up and started over and worked from a decent track plan. I suspect that, if you don't do another layout that's better built and has more interesting operations, you'll rapidly loose interest in the hobby.

This is also a good time to look at your current layout and make a list of what you like, what you don't like, and things you wish you would have different. For example, are you happy with that yard in the picture you posted? It looks like it combines a passing siding with a runaround track and it only serves two short stub tracks. Switching even this small yard would be almost impossible without fouling the passing track and the runaround connects back to the passing track rather than the yard so you'll foul the passing track and the runaround with anything other than a few cars. Look at things like this and try to decide what made you use this type of design to begin with and how you can improve things on the new layout.

Since you're interested in Alabama and the Southern, http://www.sourwy.railfan.net/ is a good place to start. You can get some good ideas for transitional era engines at http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/sout/sout.html. OTOH, don't rule out the GM&O or the L&N, both of which were big players in Alabama railroad history. There were (and are) numerous shortlines down here that would merit some thought as well. Even if it takes you six months before you cut your first piece of wood, it will be worth it to do all the research you can and develop a vision and a trackplan for a layout you can stick with for years and still have fun running.
 
Hey, thanks Jim - I'm still learning a lot though. When you refer to the passing lane, runaround, and stubs, what exactly is that? I'd assume (from right, to left in the picture) the far right is the mainline, the next one over is the passing lane, then the runaround, then the two stubs?

What would you recommend for a yard that would serve a freight under 10 cars, along with (MAYBE) a passenger service? I have realised that with the yard I have, I have to utilize the mainline as a runaround I guess, as I store rolling stock on all the track except the shortest runaround. I use the far left, the next left, leave the left runaround empty, and use the right runaround for storing cars.

Also, should I insulate the yard on a seperate block?

Thanks,
Kyle

EDIT: Should my yard look something more like this? The first picture, is the current setup. The righthand picture, is with the second runaround going onto the yard spur, instead of the first runaround.
 
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Kyle, yes, you've got the concept right. The passing lane is more correctly called the passing track. A runaround track is on used for enginees to get around from one end of a cut of cars to another. Stub end tracks are just tracks that end with no connection to any other track.

The second plan is much better than the first but still needs some improvement. Real railroads tried to never run a yard lead track off a passing track since a switching move could foul the passing track and screw up the mainline schedule. You could shorten the passing track and have the switch up a foot or so (I'm guessing at dimensions since your drawings aren't to scale). Your yard track could then take off from a switch just below the bottom end of the passing track. This would give you a longer yard lead to spot trains for sorting or making up a new train and also allow you to add one extra track to the yard. If you have the room, extend the stub end track that connects to the runaround track by three or four car lengths. This allows and engine to pull some cars from one end of the yard and run them down to the other end of the yard. It also gives you more room if a multiple unit train drops off a cut of cars in the yard. The longer stub end track will allow all the locomotives to clear the switch and then run back out of the yard. The runaround track should always be kept clear of cars for movements like this but you can cheat some and use the runaround track to extend the yard lead if you are pulling the cars all from one end of the yard tracks.

Are you using DC or DCC? If it's DC and you want to run mainline trains and switch the yard at the same time, you'll need to insulate the rails beyond the first switch off the main and then wire it as a separate block. If you're using DCC, none of this is necessary since the engines are controlled by a digital signal sent through the tracks rather than every engine being powered as it they would be on a DC layout wth no blocks. If you haven't looked into DCC yet, I recommend you do so before you proceed any further. It's way easier if you are wiring a new layout, with no need for blocks and it's the wave of the future.
 
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