The time has come

Sorry to hear you will be dismantling the layout. Good luck!!

Sad news, Eliot. Thanks for sharing the Munoz Lines, it will be missed.

It's a shame to pull down such a lovely layout, but I look forward to what you do next.

Eliot,

I love your layout and will miss watching your youtube videos.

Are you continuing in model RR or selling off the great collection?

Eliot, I don't mean to be nosy, but why the heck are you dismantling your RR??? It's a beautiful layout, seems a shame to take it down.

Eliot,

It is somewhat sad to hear your news of the end of your current layout.  Your layout progress and generosity towards all provided much entertainment and also served many with creative inspiration.  In retrospect, I find that sometimes the creating/building part of the layout to be more rewarding than the final operating aspect.  Best wishes in all future endeavors and I hope that you continue to participate in the OGR Forum.

Eliot,

It is an incredible layout, I have been following it for years on the forum and in OGR. I will never forget it.

Brad

Hows about some pictures before you tear it down?

Thanks to all of you.

We will definitely post more photos and, before the layout comes down, a comprehensive video. As far as the plan, it's time to do new things and, hopefully, some things that have been dreams and hopes for many years. The next layout, as I conceive it, will be very much different. It's a long way off though.

It is wonderful to read all of your kid words. Scrappy and his wonderful wife have lots of adventures up their sleeves.

Eliot

Eliot, I am with you and in the process of a total layout rebuild.  It is going from a rural to an urban theme and who knows how long it will take.  But who cares, in a way, it is the designing and creating that is much of the enjoyment of a train layout.

Here is this area of the layout "before" 

And how it looks today.  This level will become a subway in the new layout so I am testing the location of the track for it.

And here is some of the old scenery waiting for its trip to the dumpster

Good luck.....I don't know if I could do it!

A sad day in Carmel, NY!  Looking forward to pictures of your new creation.

My plan is to remove structures from the layout that are quite valuable and offer those for sale first. Following that, track, vehicles, figures, etc.

Wow, Eliot......I'm going to miss the pictures!

Good luck in your new endeavor......

Peter

Roger, actually yes, two people did.  I gave the 12 foot long mountain (cut into two six foot sections!) to one friend and most of the other scenery sections on the first table to another friend who totally filled his pickup with a camper shell with them.  In return, he spent a day with me helping to cut it off.  One nice thing about pink foam scenery is that you can literally cut it off without having to destroy it.

The pieces you see are some of the remaining sections. It made me feel much better that some of the scenery will have new homes.

So, Elliot:  What's the plan?  Are you planning on rebuilding?  Starting from scratch all over again?  Gosh, I wish that I could see your wonderful layout before the final axe.  Just where is Carmel, NY?  I've been following your adventures and accomplishments through the auspices of OGR for a long time.  We don't want to see you just "go away".

By the bye:  have you had another chance to "handle" a steam locomotive, again?  Better results this time?

Paul Fischer

I'm sure the decision to dismantle such an elaborate and beautiful layout did not come lightly.  It was great to enjoy the all the beautiful scenes and pictures while it lasted.  Good luck with the new venture.

- Mike

A few pictures of a great layout. Thanks Eliot

It's near Danbury, CT...  very close to where I-84 and  I-684 intersect in NY state.

All the best, Eliot.  Thanks for sharing so much of your wonderful creation with us here on the OGR forum!

David

I have seen Eliot's layout twice and it surely is (was ) fantastic.  Unfortunately I have not seen the finished product.

Eliot thanks for all the invites, my son and I look forward to the next project.  I hope you stay in ogauge space.  Maybe 2 rail is in your future?????? 

So Elliot I hear your next layout is going to be all Postwar Scout engines, Plasticville buildings and conventional control. 

Wow! This is big news.... I am going to do my best to make it on November 15th. Need to see this layout in person. All the best Elliot. You are truly what is right about this wonderful hobby of ours.

Steve

Hey, Scrappy! Just be sure to incorporate some On30 in that next creation of yours. And don't forget that there's a magazine out there that is interested in following the development of your new endeavor. 

Many thanks, once again, for all of the kind words. The OGR Forum and all of the amazing friends we have met and enjoy are like family to us. Trains will always be around.

i have always followed a different drummer and I will be off climbing mountains, virtual and real. I have been invited to join several National Geographic photographers to visit Yosemite in winter to do a photo shoot. I cannot miss that. I have to trundle off to the Taj Mahal and I have some other mountains to climb in a literal and virtual sense. My immediate project will be something difficult that I have always wanted to do. It has nothing whatsoever to do with trains.

Who knows where the wind will blow . . . 

Or I will land.

It might just be a hand laid two rail dual gauge layout in O/On3 

In the meantime, November 15 is Fil Munoz Day in the Town of Munoz.

The Town, and the US Army, have a full day of activities planned.

Eliot

i don't understand, if you are not planning to replace it anytime soon, why are you taking it down?

Eliot, I'm curious. Do you find yourself, have you found yourself, running trains by yourself, without company? Or not?

Frank

Hi Eliot, sorry to hear you are tearing down your beautiful layout.  Your photo's and video's have been an inspiration to me over the years.  I wish you well and hope you find your dreams come true.  You deserve it.

Steve, Tex and Lady

Good luck with your pursuit of new adventures. Sad to see such a layout dismantled. But you gotta do what you gotta do...that's most important.

Eliot,

It's a shame to see such an amazing layout go, but life is (of course) about more than just trains.  Sounds like you have some fantastic adventures planned!  We wish you the best of luck, and look forward to hearing about your exploits (both on and off the rails).

-Dustin

Best of luck on your adventures, Eliot. They sound great.

I've always told people that you never know how far a Bronx kid can go!

Jim

Eliot,

I have always enjoyed the photos of your layout.

That said, I am glad that layout is coming down, if it offers you and your wife the opportunity to travel and do new things!

I know that when I retire in seven years, we will have sold our house and put our most valuable belongings in storage (I'm trying to right size my train collection in anticipation of doing so).  We hope to live in Europe for a year or so, followed by extensive travel in the U.S. when we return. Then we will buy a new house, somewhere (no idea where) and settle down again.

Retirement should be about enjoying life.  I have down a fair amount of travel over the years for work, but I'm really looking forward to travelling with my wife.

Hope that you next stage in life, is everything you dream of!

Jim

Eliott, You are an amazing Individual. I have passed you in the isles at several of the YORK meets, but we have never really shared a conversation together. I have thoroughly enjoyed my purchases from you and You are truly a man of your word. Although you are ending an Era in Scale Model Trains, Your pictures will last in our Memories for Years to come. Your Feature Article in OGR Magazine, in my Opinion, is an Honor so few have ever been able to Obtain. The Munoz Lines was a great Tribute to Your Entire Family. Congratulations on a Job Well Done. I sincerely hope your Able to Enjoy a great life of Travel and Adventure. Thanks for Sharing Your wisdom and Time With the OGR FORUM.

Happy Trails to You.

I'm sorry to have missed your posts concerning the dismantling of your wonderful layout Eliot.

Good luck in all of your future adventures. Sounds like you have a lot of interesting things to keep you busy.

You're right about one thing though, it's the people we've met in this hobby whether its on the OGR Forum or in person at York or through open house visits to our layouts. It's the people that make this hobby so enjoyable for many of us.

My best to you and Ginny,

Steve Tapper

Y'all done good, Eliot, and were kind enough to share with us via this forum.  Thanks to you and to your wife, Ginny, for your enthusiastic and gracious participation.