Am I the only one....


Night Train

Night Train

Member
Am I the only one who is happy with the bare-bones layout...no scenery, no nothing except a fully functional layout where everything works? Trains run smoothly, DCC system works great, etc. etc., but it's just the benchwork, trackwork, DCC, and not much more.

It's the Philadelphia Reading Layout from the 101 Track Plans. It's quite complicated: 3 reversing loops, tons of switches, a nice big yard area, (my next project) and 4 levels of track in one area. Anyway, I'm enjoying just watching my 2 trains running simultaneously controlled by my wireless handheld controller.

I guess you could say my enjoyment comes from watching the trains run and for me, at least for now, that's enough. Am I the only one here like this?
 
No, you are not alone:), I too just like running the trains and watching them go by.

Just completed the single track 'main line' on my around the room HO scale shelf layout on which I run short local Norfolk Southern trains. I do plan to have one siding and maybe two or three spurs.

It has no scenery whatsoever, and the track is just placed on 1/4" Styrofoam and the shelf is no more than 1" planks placed on metal L brackets. Oh, and it is Standard DC.

It also doubles as a storage shelf for small items.

I should put up some pictures of it soon or later.


Regards,
 
Ahhhhh, another plywood world modeler. You are at the stage of just not being sure of how to do scenery. Usually the best approach to that is just set your goal to try a small section. If it turns out not what you like, you can tear it out in a year or so and try again.
 
I designed a layout to showcase my N&W stuff, and the track is all down, DCC works, and tortoise machines installed under mainline turnouts. Trees are stuck into floral foam, buildings are just sitting on the homosote while I decide where they will end up. My 'town has moved a few times, the number and arrangement has changed many times, and I still haven't made up my mind where things will end up. Been doing this for several years now. I have a set of brick style buildings as the main town, a station and associated vehicles and details, and some houses, AND a group of businesses (gas station, diner, construction company, and general hardware, oil distributor, roadside chicken joint) that sit along the roadside. I have a bunch of trees made from Sedums(?) that make up most of the scene blocking. At this point, all the structures but the coal tipple can move anywhere.
 
Night Train said:
Am I the only one who is happy with the bare-bones layout...no scenery, no nothing except a fully functional layout where everything works? Trains run smoothly, DCC system works great, etc. etc., but it's just the benchwork, trackwork, DCC, and not much more.

It's the Philadelphia Reading Layout from the 101 Track Plans. It's quite complicated: 3 reversing loops, tons of switches, a nice big yard area, (my next project) and 4 levels of track in one area. Anyway, I'm enjoying just watching my 2 trains running simultaneously controlled by my wireless handheld controller.

I guess you could say my enjoyment comes from watching the trains run and for me, at least for now, that's enough. Am I the only one here like this?
Click to expand...

No, there's quite a lot of people who get to about this stage, become happy, and never really move any 'farther' along the stereotypical path towards a 'complete' layout. Perfectly fine in my book.

I do honestly think that, eventually, you'll grow a bit tired of just plain plywood and will dive into, oh, say, structures and lighting perhaps. Could be wrong though :) I think it's great to run your layout without scenery for a good long time, it helps ensure trackwork issues are worked out to the max extent possible.

All this is neither here nor there, though... where's the pictures?! :)
 
claymore1977 said:
No, there's quite a lot of people who get to about this stage, become happy, and never really move any 'farther' along the stereotypical path towards a 'complete' layout. Perfectly fine in my book.

I do honestly think that, eventually, you'll grow a bit tired of just plain plywood and will dive into, oh, say, structures and lighting perhaps. Could be wrong though :) I think it's great to run your layout without scenery for a good long time, it helps ensure trackwork issues are worked out to the max extent possible.

All this is neither here nor there, though... where's the pictures?! :)
Click to expand...
It's on You Tube.... Jorupa9999
 
I ran my Plywood and Homasote RR for years. I had an idea of what I wanted to do for towns, industries and scenery, but being that I was hand laying my code 70 track, I wanted to make sure that everything was running properly. We have long, cold winters up here and a nice warm railroad room was a good place to be during those months. I finally came up with a plan on what I wanted to do, and now, 30 some years after I started the layout, The last track has been put down, but there is still plywood showing. Progress has been slow, but now the plan has been finalized. All I need now is the available time to finish the last town. Of course, no model railroad will ever be completed, because as one moves along in the hobby, their skills get better and there's always something that can be improved. Nothing like a little procrastinating. There's still plywood showing, but not for long I hope. IMAG0382.jpg
 
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Always always remember--it's your railroad. :cool:
But...
It's in your wife's house (if you have one). :p

Brad
 
My wife told me that I can't put my layout in the finished part of the basement until it is ready for display.

With all that is going on in life I've resigned myself to the fact that my layout won't be in that status for several years. I did build up a few more tables to add to the layout and built up my main line to approximately 60 feet in length.

So, you're not alone. However, that's not the goal for me.
 
I have seen the suggestion more than once that, as a stop gap measure, just giving everything that might be scenery one day a coat of paint of the appropriate color can make a big difference.
 
I guess I'm the odd fellow around these parts. My track work is awful, I seldom run the trains, I'm not that much of a railfan. That said, I work on structures and scenery almost every night, and I don't mean those over priced craftsmen kits. To me the trains are an animated prop. My focus is creating my minature world. It's not prototypical or even time specific. I never finish a project and usually come back to them to add more from time to time. I'm having fun, and if I may say so it's not looking bad at all. The great thing is it's a big hobby and there is room for all of us to do what we enjoy about it.
 
Hey, clayguthrie,


I'll be glad to show you, but give me some time as I don't really have a good camera at the moment.

When I do post some pictures of my layout I'll let You know,


Regards,
 
This wouldn't satisfy me. I'd accept (do accept!) a fair amount of plywood visible, but that's encouragement to extend the railroad, and a sign that there's expansion in the future. I like to have a section that's got most of its scenery, where I can feel as if this is a modeled part of the world, and if the train heads off into the wasteland, it can come back again.

One thing that would really help these plywood prairies would be to add fascia panels. It might not seem like much, but when I've gone from plywood alone to plywood+fascia, I've really felt that it made a difference in how that part of the railroad feels. But still, "Model railroading is fun", or it's meant to be. And not everyone has the same idea of what fun is.
 
I have a one scale mile loop (33 feet) of N scale single track with a two locomotive fifty-some car train. The loop consists of 96 pieces of atlas code 80 sectional track. The train runs a few laps about twice or more a day. Have a pile of new atlas and peco turnouts.....which will someday soon (I hope) be added to the layout. Three bags of woodland scenics fine ballast in three colors. A couple different colors/types of scenery grass. Want some buildings too. In no particular hurry though. At the moment having much fun collecting atlas 90 ton coal hoppers. They come in dozens of different liveries. Want to build a display with one of every type.
 
I have seen "minimalist" approaches before. One even made it into one of the modeling magazines. The layout had basic well done benchwork, good trackwork, but no scenery and no structures. The owner had operating sessions and industries were simply cards in a designated area such as "Coal Tipple" or "Grain Elevator" etc. It's been said that the layout is the stage, the trains are the actors, and the operation plan is the script. If it satisfies you, that's all it has to do!
 
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Espeefan said:
I have seen "minimalist" approaches before. One even made it into one of the modeling magazines. The layout had basic well done benchwork, good trackwork, but no scenery and no structures. The owner had operating sessions and industries were simply cards in a designeted area such as "Coal Tipple" or "Grain Elevator" etc. It's been said that the layout is the stage, the trains are the actors, and the operation plan is the script. If it satisfies you, that's all it has to do!
Click to expand...
I like that idea! Thanks for sharing it.
 
Hey People,


Just to let you know I posted some pictures of my 'bare-bones layout'.

See in Virtual layout tour 'My bare-bones around the room shelf layout'.


Regards,


DE
 
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