Considering Dismantling My Large Layout


Brakeman Hal

Well-Known Member
Hello,

After carefully building the heavy 2x4 benchwork for my 130-foot O-Scale 2-Rail Folded Dogbone layout and laying all that flex track and simulating the Mountain/Desert terrain where I live, I find that after 2 years, I'm the only one who appreciates it.

Others who have visited my Train Building complimented me on my achievement, but then left and went back into the main house for a more sociable visit.

My O-scale 2-Rail is the only layout of that scale among the over 30 members of our local Train club, all of whom run only HO, N, or Lionel 3-Rail equipment, so I have nobody who shares my modeling preference.

A few years ago, before I built my first layout, (which was HO), I built a 70-foot Slot Car layout with roadway sections designed for 2 cars in competition.

THIS WAS A LOT OF FUN, and friends and relatives kept returning to race Sports Cars, Muscle Cars, or just casually drive the route in a VW minivan!

If I do take down the Railroad, I'll certainly build another Auto Sports Track!

Shown are my nephew and his son, about 4 years ago, in my 20' x 24' train building, which was an addition to the house.
Hal
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Thank you, twforeman; I built it with the same care and creativity as I later did with my railroad layout.

Hal
 
I hope you don't take this the wrong way: I am in my pastimes because I want to BE in them. I don't do them for others to appreciate, for them to join me, or for any other extrinsic motivations. The hobby, at this late stage of my life, is all about...moi. Me. When I begin to dislike what I have created, when it no longer meets my needs, it disappears right quick. Jig time. I suspect you're in the same boat...well...slot, really.

Go get 'em!!
 
Like Crandell, I'm into model railroading only for me. Less than a dozen people have actually seen my layout in person, Sherrel and his wife Kate are two of them. Hell, they drove all of the way from California to see it while it was still under construction. My wife hasn't even seen it in over five years. OK, though as I like it.
 
I don't see how I could do that, Rico, but dismantling my heavy benchwork, which will now be harder than building it, as I now have Arthritis in several joints which would make it a heavy and painful task.

Instead, I have tentatively thought about leaving the benchwork as is, and just replacing the O-Scale 2-Rail track with slot car roadbed in curved sections of 22.5 and 45 degree turns of different lengths, along with straight sections, to approximately equal my present 130-foot railroad.

So there goes over 130 feet of Atlas flex track, soldered at every joint, as well as four O-Scale, 2-Rail locomotives, 8 pieces of rolling stock, and 2 Digital Controllers I will have no further use for, as my old MRC DC controller will easily handle a pair of 1/32 scale slot cars over my model railroad course.

This is now an impending decision, and I hope I won't have to count the votes!

Hal
 
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I know my kids enjoyed it when I had the slot track set up and my nephew wants to get into it as well, but more people up here that I know are into model railroading
 
Brakeman, build for yourself. That sounds great as we all want the compliments for our modeling skills. Some folks just dont nderstand or care how much we put ourselves into our models. IMO, their lose not mine.

Slot cars, loved them as a kid, love them more now. I have built 7 tracks from scratch in the last 6 years, all 3 lanes and usually 60-80’. 1 track for the grandkids at their house, 2 tracks (sold 1) at our place for the g/k’s and the rest built for the grandkids neighbors. I can tell you after you get some routing skills and owning good routers building a track from scratch is not that hard. If you built your layout framework, you have the skills. Everything I buy is digital, very similar to our DCC. It is just great fun to have 5 cars on a track and being able to switch lanes makes it real racing. The grandkids at 9 and has DS and a 7 year old tomorrow, while they love “poppas” trains, they love the slot cars. There is also pre-made digital track from both Carrera and Scaleletric. Have fun whatever you do.

TomO
 
No, but I would like to read a few posts on layout building...:p!

Here's my present O-Scale layout, 127.5 feet long. I would be using Scalextric's straight and curved roadway sections, as I did in my pictured slot car track I built 5 years ago, when I was only 79.

Hal
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Yes, pretty narrow to fit the 1/43 scale carrera track in there.....my cars are just too large for my HO scale railroad, my plan was even to just have a couple streets in my layout where the cars could be spun around.....I could do it as it’s my railroad, but I do prefer more realism.
 
Hal, so what are your goals? Are you happy with slot car or O-scale 2 Rail? I think this should be about what YOU want to do. If you enjoy the slot cars and the environment they bring, do that! Same with the 2Rail.
Maybe combine the two. It's your house!
My point is, at this stage of your life, do what you enjoy doing, who could blame you for doing that?
When I decided to redo my layout, I went from a single level with incline to upper half of peninsula, to a triple level layout, with helix's, both layouts around the walls with peninsula, in a 12x20 room. It took me a few years to get to the bare minimum of, "run the first train" stage on layout one. I'm 65. So why would I want to build a triple level layout now? Because that's how much I enjoy Model Railroading, it makes me happy, and for me, it gives me a goal to achieve from now to......well, you know..... Doesn't matter if I get it done.
If you do decide to de-struct one of your layouts...power tools are your freind!🙂
Just my 2cents....
 
A buddy of mine here in Indiana used to be into the competitive slot car circuit (the larger ones, not the toy-under-the-tree sets we all got as kids). He and his boys spent a ton of money on those cars. Even had a few local businesses (hobby shops) that specialized in them with tracks set up for Weekends of Races.

Now in covid times might be the time to spend re creating that. Can you match scales well enough to add some training in around the race track?
 
Here's what was left after taking down my first slot car track, which was about 70 feet long.

I wish I had those stacks of roadway and all the other components now!

Does Scalextric sell those roadway sections, railings, and roadway elevations seperately?

Brakeman Hal
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Yes, they do sell track separately, your local hobby store should be able to get it for you from Hornby. i believe that Hornby has a minimum buy though for the companies so sometimes it is faster and easier to buy online. If you only need. Piece or two I could mail it to you.
 



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