I like Lance Mindheim's thoughtful considerations on time:

https://shelflayouts.com/2018/04/time/

How do you want to use your hobby time? Let that question guide any layout design. This has influenced my current plans for a layout I'll be beginning in a few months. Knowing when I'll have the time to begin gave me a wide window to plan and plan again. I drew what I thought was the ideal plan, then drew the opposite of that plan. One was track heavy with a great deal of compression, while the other was far simpler with more space for scenery. Surprisingly, the second plan has won out as the one I want to build because once I start building, I don't want to spend a ton of time on benchwork, trackwork and wiring. I will spend a bit more to make these parts simpler and quicker so that I can get to scenery, rolling stock and structures sooner.

Galen

Hi fellas. Thanks for some more positive replies. And those 2 links were very informative.

It's also nice to hear your personal stories of what has worked and not worked for yourselves.

When I stared my first version of the layout, I made a lot of mistakes. Grades too steep, too much hidden track, not allowing space for the type of scenery I envisaged. This was my first "serious"layout, so mistakes were bound to happen.

I have learnt a lot since then, which is why I made major changes 5 years ago, but still not quite what I want. And maybe just too familiar with the current track arrangement.

I've spent the last couple of days down the shed, measuring, thinking, and already have more enthusiasm than I have had for a long time. And am coming up with very fresh ideas of what I can do in the space.

Rob back in 2006 I did a total tear down and rebuild. For me it was the best thing I ever did. It was painful at first but after modifying the old layout 3 times and still not being happy I knew it was my only choice. That said if your only real problem is the track work in some places I would just fix the track. Whatever you decide you know you can count on plenty of support from here!

Hi Mike. thanks for your reply. Nice to here from a fellow N Scaler, who's gone through something similar.

I think it's a lot more than just some poor track work. I've already made up some plans of the room to see what I can fit in, and looks promising.

It's also a shared hobby space, as my wife and I also do lead-lighting there as well, but haven't for a long time, as it's also become a bit of a store room. Will be cleaning it all out, repainting the whole room and then start afresh, for both our hobbies.

Looking forward to it. And yes, will be getting lots of advice from my Forum buddies.

I think any time you ask that question the answer is yes.

I have maintained a high level of enthusiasm for the hobby by heading in any direction that appeals to me.

Having built and destroyed numerous layouts, I don’t really miss any of them.

But I do remember lessons learned and what I did like and what I did not like about each one.

Ditto to what Darryl said about heading in the direction that appeals to you.

Here's my personal story; right now we're renting and in an area where our limited income plus ridiculous real estate prices make owning a home nearly impossible. In our last place I was able to get some benchwork on the walls, but never a complete circuit - an element of design I've come to realize is high on my priority list. While it is likely we'll be in this rental for a few more years, we want to be able to move quickly when the right home comes along to purchase. SO these factors all come together to give me two goals; declutter/downsize our possessions (including my trains) and get trains running sooner than later. I set a goal last May to liberate 1/3 of our stuff by this May and we're pretty much on target. So the next goal is to begin building my layout this summer. For that I have additional goals and an aggressive timetable.

The other thing I thought of reading through this thread was that of a constant theme or running thread throughout each layout. Once I decided on my private road name and the general story of the railroad, I have pretty much stuck with that each place we've lived. I already have rolling stock lettered for the Ocali Creek, structures in an official RR paint scheme, vehicles, figures, etc. appropriate for the era (late 1920s). The only major change I made was very recently, and it came about while going through childhood memorabilia. I moved the whole RR from Appalachia to Florida. Now I'm even more excited to get the layout going, as this change will create some interesting opportunities for unique scenes and story telling.

Galen

Hi Darryl. Thanks for your reply. Yep, I guess I had pretty much decided, but wanted to put the question out there, to see what others had gone through, in making their decisions.

Some interesting stories.

Thanks for your encouragement to go ahead.

Hello Galen. Good to hear your story. What you're doing is just the same as me. It's now the time in life to de-clutter, not just the hobby room, but the whole house. We all keep too much stuff.

Good luck with getting the layout started. I look forward to seeing your progress.

I had considered maybe a different scale, but have too much invested in my B&M N scale. And it suits the relatively small space, that I have to work with. If I had to start building structures, etc all over again, I still wouldn't have a layout for years.

I just need a new, better designed layout, to correct things I'm not happy with, but happy to have a similar theme, to my current one.

Well the big clean up at home has been going great. Feels wonderful to be getting rid of all the old stuff I haven't looked at in years.

The family's a bit concerned, I'll empty the whole House.

Anyhow, I now have a drawing of the room layout to show, with 3 options of how I can use the space.

Which Forum would you suggest I post this in ?

Rob,

My wife and I have been working on a clearing out for a year now. Feels great. I’ve also moved some unused rr equipment out the door.

Sounds like you could start a thread in the Layout Design forum. Design includes the space in which the layout will reside.

I think you’ll get some good discussion going.

Mike

Good to see you post again Rob!...I concur with Michael on the Layout Design Forum.

But we'd find you anywhere you put it!

Thanks Mike & Carl.

At your suggestion, new thread is now here,

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/t...TOPIC_ID=50876

where I've listed my Givens & Druthers.