Dreaming Away.....


HaggisKennedy

Coal Shoveler
Not sure where to put this, but decided that it probably fits here...

The big news here in SE Michigan is the sole winner of last weekend's $208M lottery. Ticket was bought in Port Huron (no, it wasn't me). Of course, the media is all over it, and they interview folks who play, and ask the usual "what would you do with all that money?" type questions.

Of course, I'm thinking "Dream layout!" And that starts the dreaming again.

I actually have 3 dream layouts. The "$208 million Mega Lotto" layout would be the "Inside Gateway" from Keddie, CA to Wishram, WA. It'd be in a 70' x 45' train room, 3-4 decks, selectively compressed. One level would be Keddie to just north of Klamath Falls. The second level would be from there to north of Bend (like maybe Madras). The last level would be from there to Wishram.

Each end would have a wye, the one at Keddie, and the one at Celilo Falls, which crosses the Columbia. If done correctly, you can hook the staging together in a back room. There may be a helix or two involved.

If I won a smaller lottery, my second dream layout would be the SP from the Suisun Bay Bridge to the Oakland Mole. Haven't really thought too much about this layout or sketched it out, but I like that part of the Bay area.

The third and most likely dream layout is the one that I can physically fit in the basement of my current house. It's a 11x22' space, and represents a pass in the Cascades; I model the GN, so it's based on the Cascade tunnel. I had a trackplan at one time, it's around the wall with peninsulas. One end represents Wenatchee?Seattle. the other end represents the tunnel portal.

The 22' length is fixed, but the 11' dimension is nominal, I can expand out a bit if need be. There is a wall for the laundry room, which has space for a shelf Fiddle yard.

This is all do-able, once I get around to cleaning up the basement!

:D

Kennedy
 
I like the way you think! Dream big or don't bother.

If i won all that money, I would want a layout so big that required me to run it from my 1:1 private varnish Observation car....
 
Kennedy,
If you get a chance, check out the North Central Washington Museum in Wenatchee, WA. They have a very realistic HO layout of Stevens Pass there.

When you win the lottery, why not build a correctly scaled version of whatever you want, mile by mile with no compression. It's only money!!
 
When you win the lottery, why not build a correctly scaled version of whatever you want, mile by mile with no compression. It's only money!!

True, but the last quote I read about (by Rail America) in the cost of building a railway was $1,000,000.00 per mile, you probably plan a short line eH! :D

Cheers Willis
 
Willis,
If he is modelling in HO, that $1,000,000.00 price tag drops to 1/87th of the price!!:D
 
mushroom2 said:
Hmmm. I think I have to dream a little harder.

Looks like you were dreaming of a snow scene. Definitely a way to stretch those hard earned lottery dollars!
 
I haven't figured out the scale mileage yet, and how much track I need to do the "$208M Mega-Lotto" Layout.

Hmmm. Doing a SWAG on Mapquest from Keddie to Wishram, deleting the 200miles to and from I-5 to each location, we'd be looking at about 450miles or so of trackwork. That's about 5.1 scale miles of run, or 27K feet....

I'll need an arena....

Kennedy
 
I've always had a dream of building a large HO layout, and including 'real' rivers and streams and waterfalls and stuff, using small fountain pumps. Not sure why...guess I just thought it would be unique. Then again, water and electricity don't always get along nicely...
 



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