I have a 9x16 floor layout. While it does present some challenges. I'm restricted to the floor because the room I have available is on the 2nd floor and the pitch of the roof creates very short knee walls. That being said about every 3 to 5 years I take things up and redesign the layout. Each time I do this I find myself relearning lessons from the last rebuild. Below are some of the lessons I find I continually relearn. What are yours? 1-No matter how good or right the plan looks on paper or on the computer something will not fit and you have to redesign on the fly. 2-Check track continuity as you build. Nothing more frustrating than finding a dead spot after you're done. 3-The dead spot will always be in the most hard to reach area of the layout. 4-Triple check your track inventory. Since I use Fastrack and each time I rebuild I first inventory my track. Inevitably I'm short of some special piece. However once I've purchased it I usually find I already had it. 5-No matter how long you think it will take multiply your project time by a factor of 4 when your wife asks how much longer those buildings will be on the dining room table.
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