Is your hobby model railroad layout dreaming?

In spite of the fact that I have hundreds of unopened cars and engines, I don't think I qualify as a dreamer. The layout is being built and is very functional, but with rail painting, ballasting and scenery left to do, I just can't see adding to the 250+ cars and engines already on the layout, they'll just get in the way. I've learned to be very patient. I'm getting there.

Alas, I'm guilty. I have enough N, O, HO, and G stuff to set up a nice RR in any of those gauges. Just not the room, so I set up stuff at Chritmas and even that is slipping.

You are right, my friend.

Scott, I agree, just do it. Get something running and enjoy yourself and see where it leads.

Ron

Sometimes dreaming comes in the form of what to do NEXT

Just do it! 

Peter

The common term used to be "armchair railroading".

If accumulating stuff, and dreaming about a future layout makes some folks happy, what is it to you?
There are more armchair railroaders than you might think. Their purchases may have made the difference between the train companies being in business or gone.

I had an 8'x8' layout in our old house but I've been without a permanent layout for 15 years and have continued acquiring trains, structures and vehicles for that dream layout.  When we moved I planned a new layout but as more stuff got crammed into the basement what I had planned didn't work with the space.  I should have taken one of the 4'x8' tables from the original, stripped it and like Scott said laid that 42"x70" loop and played trains.  I do lay down a loop about once a month and run whatever is easiest to pull out of the boxes downstairs.  We'll be moving within the next two years and once moved I will have some type of a layout although at this time I don't know how big it will be.  I'm contemplating selling off some of my stuff before the move because I don't think I'll ever have the room for all of it.

Thankfully, the advent of ready-to-go track systems makes it much easier for us dreamers to get our fix in a relatively quick & inexpensive manner.  Heck, even non-loop-runners can make a rudimentary point-to-point or switching layout.  Any available floor can become a layout for at least a couple hours, & easy to break down and stash when not in use. 

Progress to a "real" layout is slow & steady, but I am getting there...I think. 

L.I.TRAIN posted:

Sometimes dreaming comes in the form of what to do NEXT

I still do a fair amount of that, even at this stage of the game.

Best of both worlds - I have a layout and am a "dreamer" at the same time.....

Count me in! We moved into this house 18 years ago and have had dreams of a lay-out all the while. The thing holding me back is the prep work that has to be done first; things in the general living space, then cleaning the basement and prep work there, etc. I just don't seam to have the drive when I come home from work and on weekends other things seam to get in the way. Cost is another facture. I have resently dreamed of a new lay-out and have bought stuff for it but the cost of the bench work alone is.... I am trying to get our finances to a point that we can move into a retirement cottage that we have picked out with a basement for a future dream lay-out.

Model RR Dreamer here.  I have a section of my basement that is 23 x 25 but I want the other part 52 x 30 that my wife says I CAN'T HAVE.  So, I'm just going to wait her out till she gives in or passes away.  And, at 65 years old, I might kick the bucket before she does.  I do have a loop of track up on a fairly good sized platform, in my part of basement, but there is sooooooo much stuff on it I can hardly see the tracks.  Sooo, wait I will!!!  Or is it a case of PROCRASTINATION?  Or, just lazy?

Rick

I am a dreamer! I used to have a great layout that was torn down when I moved. Divorce happens! I sold off more than half of my train collection but kept the choice stuff ( event the Premier Amtrak California set my Ex wife bought me ). Some day I will have a layout again but it will be smaller but just as much fun. For now I am in a local HO club with a close friend of mine and have a nice small train (pun intended) to stay in the hobby a little (pun intended again).  It is hard to get used to DCC when I had DCS for so long. But I am determined to have a O layout someday again.

I am a dreamer too. I have a small Lionel 32X60 027 layout but like to have a bigger layout but no place to build one and i do set up lionel fastrack on the carpet in my room so i can run my trains. I do have alot of trains and trees and buildings and signals etc. to get a good one started.    

For 25 years it was like that.  And, like others confessing herein, I accumulated....multiple scales...but had no empire for any of it.

Then life brought a change...   The first marriage crumbled suddenly....in retrospect, inevitable.

And then I found a new life...my new wife.  I knew on our first date things would be different.  We shared our interests/hobbies.  I mentioned trains.  Her eyes grew big as saucers....and that's all we talked about for the rest of the evening.  Seems her sibling brothers got neat trains for Christmas....all she got was dolls.  (Well, that's her essential rationale, anyway.)

So, there would be no mere dreaming for the last nearly 19 years.  Life has been about the hobby...searching, buying, travelling, building, selling, collecting, trading,....'Yorking'....repeat.  

WAY too much accumulated.  Divestment of excess is ongoing...but slowly.....too, slowly, considering human mortality, I'm afraid.  And, yet, neither of us would trade a day for otherwise.

Dreams do come true, by the way.

KD

I don't "daydream";  I brainstorm and plan and eventually build something.

"Hill Line" connects floor layout and O27 table layout.

I have a layout, took it down, put it up, rebuilt tables, changed track, moved switches, changed track back, put both tracks in different sections and yet still have unopened boxes planned for future dreams.  I am sometimes daunted by magazine photographs of pristine layouts because that's not in my basement.   One of the best things about these forum questions are that the answers are just the beginning of the process.  All too often I think within the box and assume that I will do some cookie cutter plan.  Then there is something from someone else thinking outside the box, like Ace's plan above,  so plans and thoughts change.  Seeing someone else show a work in progress, unfinished with trial and error results, getting better or changing in another direction makes me go and look through the boxes again to resuscitate a stale dream in need of fresh air.

Glad to say, I'm building my dream layout now.  It will cover most of a 16'x16' space and include some wide radius turns.  I was piling it up for a long time waiting to move into another house.  What motivated me was seeing members of my train club getting ill, loosing their eyesight(macular degeneration), and even passing away before they ever got the dream layout built.  Decided to make the move ASAP even if I didn't make a profit after 12 years in the old house.  Best decision I could have made.   Progress has been slow, partly due to family and job issues, partly to being an analytical type planner.  But, I'll be running multiple trains by Christmas, even if some of the loops and scenery are temporary.  As the Nike slogan goes... Just do it!  Get some use and enjoyment out of your equipment while you still have time and the health to get it all put together.   If you're waiting for everything to be perfect, that time may never come.

Just " Get er Done" 

I did. It's not my dream layout at all. But in a two week period I did put together a 4 track set of loops on a Mianne benchwork. Still adding to what's there. Permanent? Probably not. But, I can run... Even what you see below has already changed up some. I've added switches between the loops so all are connected, moved the loops around so I can add more scenery in between them, and the tunnel entrances are now in place. Just no newer pictures as yet.

If you aim for the moon, you might not get there right away, but at least you'll be among the stars.

.

Ow, ow, ow!  The truth hurts.  I build/kitbash rolliing stock (because nobody makes it), and structures, because I like building them, but get little work done on pushing the track toward a golden spike.  Am a dreamer, and....worse, a procrastinator....

I don't question those with no layout... Only those who make fun of my toy-like trains that run on a working layout, while their scale models sit on shelves or in boxes.

Jon  

PhilInAustin posted:

I did. It's not my dream layout at all. But in a two week period I did put together a 4 track set of loops on a Mianne benchwork. Still adding to what's there. Permanent? Probably not. But, I can run... Even what you see below has already changed up some. I've added switches between the loops so all are connected, moved the loops around so I can add more scenery in between them, and the tunnel entrances are now in place. Just no newer pictures as yet.

If you aim for the moon, you might not get there right away, but at least you'll be among the stars.

 

.

Very nice! IMHO that's the best way to start

In time you will change many things, But that is the FUN part. 

Enjoy!

Ace, what is the grade % on your "Hill line". Looks like a steep uphill climb.

Jack

I think its a little sad when one has a dream of building the ultimate dream layout and never comes to pass. I'm kinda in that boat myself, I have new engines in the box upstairs in the closet never ran, and others that haven't seen the track in several years. Unfortunately in my case I just don't have any room to lay anything down, and with many people life always gets in the way with some bills and other things.

Earlier this year I bought some Gargraves track just to see how it would look....it looks great but best suited for a permanent layout which I am not even sure when that will happen....needing land space among other things. All of my freight cars and such are still sitting in their boxes in storage. I have dreamt of a big train room where I can be at the seat of the controls, having parts of the layout controlled via computer among many other things. But alot of this stuff costs lots of money and time to get it all together.

I'll be turning 40 next year....I hope I don't end up being 60 before I have the chance to build something. And yet my latest version of RR-Track software I bought earlier this year is just sitting collecting dust......(for now)

Like Burfle said, armchair model railroaders have been a staple of the hobby since forever. 

Dr. Jack posted:

Ace, what is the grade % on your "Hill line". Looks like a steep uphill climb.

Jack

The single-turn helix part with O40 curves (prewar American Flyer O-gauge track) is 7.5%, then beyond that is 8% with a total climb of 34". My Lionel 2343 is the best hauler for a grade that steep. I did some preliminary tests with grades up to 10%. I like to experiment, not recommended for typical layout construction.

On the original topic: I think the mainstream hobby magazines over-promote the "ultimate perfect mega-layout" idea, which intimidates some folks into never getting started. But it's possible to have fun and interesting layouts in modest spaces on a realistic budget.

Room shmoom. You dont need a large basement to have a layout and lots of fun. My small layout packs lots of goodies all in my spare room of my aprtment. Best of all it is made to be modular and evetualy be a part of a bigger layout if I ever get my dream basement. My layout room is full though under the layout as well. Here is a couple of quick pics.

Ace posted:

Dr. Jack posted:

Ace, what is the grade % on your "Hill line". Looks like a steep uphill climb.

Jack

The single-turn helix part with O40 curves (prewar American Flyer O-gauge track) is 7.5%, then beyond that is 8% with a total climb of 34". My Lionel 2343 is the best hauler for a grade that steep. I did some preliminary tests with grades up to 10%. I like to experiment, not recommended for typical layout construction.

On the original topic: I think the mainstream hobby magazines over-promote the "ultimate perfect mega-layout" idea, which intimidates some folks into never getting started. But it's possible to have fun and interesting layouts in modest spaces on a realistic budget.

How true, magazines always show these large eye candy layouts that we all dream of.

How bout it OGR, how bout some basic fun on a 4x8 or so. That would be fun

Yes, Scott, you are absolutely Correct. So many of my Good Friends have valuable and wonderful Collections....In Boxes, under beds, in closets, on shelves, and etc. I wish I knew the answer on how to motivate my friends to build there layouts, it's just one of those Mysteries of Life. Only God knows.  Great Thread, Happy Railroading.

It's okay to dream of building a layout if you only dream of buying the trains, too.

What, me worry?

I have a friend that I know will never ever build a layout. He has many, many top of the line steam engines just sitting in their boxes. He has track, roundhouse, turntable and dozens and dozens of scale 3 rail freight and passenger cars stored away in his basement. 

Why you may ask? He admires the layouts he sees in magazines and in person and that is what he wants, the perfect layout. He knows he could never replicate what he likes so paralysis has set in. The tens of thousands of dollars of 3 rail scale trains will sit in his basement never to be used. 

When he dies some lucky buyer will get some of the best trains ever made by Lionel, MTH, un run , brand new and never enjoyed by him. SAD!!!!!!!!

The trouble with buying new trains never opening them and then years later unboxing them is that some of them may be broken or doa out of the box. At least test run them and put them back in the box. All these new electronics can be fussy sometimes. That way 10 years from now I can buy your trains and get an even better deal��

The trouble with buying new trains never opening them and then years later unboxing them is that some of them may be broken or doa out of the box. At least test run them and put them back in the box. All these new electronics can be fussy sometimes. That way 10 years from now I can buy your trains and get an even better deal

Not really a problem when you like trains with mechanical reversing units.

As far as the electronic stuff goes: I believe the market still attaches a premium to mint, as in brand new, not even test run.

But who buys for resale anyway? I'll stick to my managed funds.

"Is your hobby model railroad layout dreaming?"

No.  My hobby is model railroading which encompasses just about every aspect of that term.  I spend the majority of my time building models since I derive the most enjoyment from that specific aspect; my layout serves as a test bed for much that I build and I am in no hurry to complete it.  Like the models that I build, once completed the fun for me ceases and I reach the end.  The suspense is killing me.....I hope it lasts.

david1 posted:

I have a friend that I know will never ever build a layout. . . . Why you may ask? He admires the layouts he sees in magazines and in person and that is what he wants, the perfect layout. He knows he could never replicate what he likes so paralysis has set in.

There's the attraction of dreaming. You cannot possibly fail!

Should have listened to you 6 years ago. At this point, I'm down to wiring. Working in an attic when the outside temp is >100 F seriously draws a vacuum. When the weather breaks, I have plans for a weekly work session with one of my club members to finish it up. I can tell you this; it is 100% more motivating if you have just one friend to help. Even if they're just keeping you company and handing you stuff, it makes all the difference.

Gentlemen,

   I don't Dream, I Engineer and build Multi-Level Christmas layouts!

PCRR/Dave

 Most of my dreaming involves having the talent and planning skills to build a nicer layout, but I always have a layout. I can't justify the expense of my trains if I can not run them, so I need something set up all the time. That is the beauty of Fastrack: I can set it up, run my trains, and change my mind. I have had quite a few different layouts over the last 20 years, I have fun breaking them down and starting over. Currently, my layout if 7'x12', with a 7'x40" upper level. The lower level is all Fastrack, and can run two trains at once, with a third parked. The upper level has one loop of 027, and another loop of Bachmann HO EZ Track. I'm pretty happy with the set up, so I will probably just keep adding structures and improving the scenery for a while.

 Until recently, I really only had a small amount of trains, so they all got a lot of exercise, but suddenly that has changed. Seems trains are finding me now, even when I am not looking for them. I may need to find space for a second layout, just to keep everything busy.