Layout too big?

It's nice to see someone that enjoys what they have. Congrats!

Personally, I found that I am not willing to commit the amount of space, time, or resources that O scale requires to get the layout I want. My basement space is 34x18 but that won't allow me to build what I want in O. I wish I could be happy with a small O layout, but I'm not.

Its' never big enough. 185' X 40' and we're still adding more tracks.............

"Too big is like saying you have to much horse power in your car"

    It's a lot like that. Layouts and horsepower are not free so having more than you need is a waste of time and/or money. My Honda get 35 MPG on the road and can cruise at 90 with 189 HP so any more would be a waste. My layout space was built many years ago and  is 1152 square feet but I'm building a 400 sq ft layout in there because after working on it a while I decided I don't want to spend any more time and money on a larger layout. If I move to a new place a 400 sq.ft. space will be fine....DaveB

It is a balancing act.  At some point, your hobby, be it trains, cars, guns, etc, can take over your life.  One can get to the point of spending every free minute working on their hobby of choice.  You have to ask yourself "Do I own the _________, or does it own me?"  I am guilty of getting tunnel vision when working on my projects.  If I am really into a project, or want to get to a certain point before I take a break, I can spend every free minute working on it for day or even weeks.   I try to make sure that I make time for my wife and kids and all of the other necessities around the house.  We have to remember that these are only hobbies, not necessities.

If you can walk away from your layout for a week or two, then it is not too big.  If you have to continually perform maintenance, repairs, construction or what ever else, the layout owns you and it is too big.

Tom