Sixty years of MR'ing and still going.

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R

romanof

New Member
Long time layout builder, starting with a genuine Lionel set on a 4x8 sheet of plywood back in the 50's. Except for college and military service, I have had a railroad ever since. First with HO, then a change to O gauge sometime in the 80's.

Alas, all things must end. I was (am) blessed with a huge basement and it held an equally huge layout. Unfortunately, my cohorts in hobby moved on one by one, with Covid being the last straw of doom for our get-togethers and the maintenance on such a span of track became far too much of a chore for one man.

So now I enjoy pictures of the efforts of others and am building a virtual RR - not as a graphic on a computer, but rather an actual CTC board that allows me to run a layout full of trains, but without the need to clean track and adjust switches. (Or bend and stoop.)

So, from Ken in East Texas, hello.
 
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Welcome to the group Ken.

Sorry to hear about your group breaking up. I know all too well how that happens. Before I went all in on model railroads I was into RC planes and helicopters. We had a great group that would meet at the field on weekends and summer nights. We would fly together and help each other with build projects, things like that. Slowly the group became less and less (age, moving, etc.) till I was the only one. Then it was no fun to do it by myself, so I started losing interest in it.

Could you go back to a small 4X8 layout in your basement? Keeping it small, would let you still enjoy the hobby and not be a burden to maintain

Anyway, its a great knowledgeable group here, so jump on the pile and enjoy!
 
A sheet of plywood would be a tight fit for O scale, but I am contemplating a narrow switching layout along one wall. The scenery would be simple, and trackwork would be virtually just straight sections with little need of fancy carpentry. And, the workings would fit a one man operation. It wouldn't have to be the entire 70 feet initally, but could be expanded at will - stopping at the point of getting too big again.

Could be. Time will tell.
 
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Welcome to the forums Ken, we are glad to have you with us!

Sixty years... that makes you eligible for a lifetime achievement award.
 
Welcome to the group Ken. Sorry to hear you're dismantling your layout but a 50 year run is darn good. Your CTC board idea sounds like an interesting way to go forward. Love to hear more details.


Gary B.
 
romanof said:
Long time layout builder, starting with a genuine Lionel set on a 4x8 sheet of plywood back in the 50's. Except for college and military service, I have had a railroad ever since. First with HO, then a change to O gauge sometime in the 80's.

Alas, all things must end. I was (am) blessed with a huge basement and it held an equally huge layout. Unfortunately, my cohorts in hobby moved on one by one, with Covid being the last straw of doom for our get-togethers and the maintenance on such a span of track became far too much of a chore for one man.

So now I enjoy pictures of the efforts of others and am building a virtual RR - not as a graphic on a computer, but rather an actual CTC board that allows me to run a layout full of trains, but without the need to clean track and adjust switches. (Or bend and stoop.)
Click to expand...
That is an interesting idea. Perhaps a new trend would be for people to set up their model railroads so folks could remotely run the trains?

I understand what you mean about maintenance. I had purchased a large building for a "someday" layout. Then I joined the museum with a building about the same size as mine. I soon realized even if I could get it all built, I would end up spending all my time just maintaining the thing.
 
Iron Horseman said:
I soon realized even if I could get it all built, I would end up spending all my time just maintaining the thing.
Click to expand...
The proper size for a layout is in direct proportion to the number of operators who help with the maintenance. Unfortunately, while a MRR can often be expanded, shrinking it is another matter.

I never had much (or any) luck with MRR clubs - they were either too bound up in politics or clashing personalities or such problems. A much better solution for my hobby friends was just being part of a workgroup, so to speak. Each week to meet at another layout, if that person had one of any size (not a requirement for inclusion), and with no problems as listed above. The owner is boss and says what goes. Worked great for years.
 
I have posted a picture of my virtual layout in the digital forum. Keeps me railroading while deciding on any new physical layout.

Ken in East Texas.
 
migalyto said:
Welcome to the group Ken.

Sorry to hear about your group breaking up. I know all too well how that happens. Before I went all in on model railroads I was into RC planes and helicopters. We had a great group that would meet at the field on weekends and summer nights. We would fly together and help each other with build projects, things like that. Slowly the group became less and less (age, moving, etc.) till I was the only one. Then it was no fun to do it by myself, so I started losing interest in it.

Could you go back to a small 4X8 layout in your basement? Keeping it small, would let you still enjoy the hobby and not be a burden to maintain

Anyway, its a great knowledgeable group here, so jump on the pile and enjoy!
Click to expand...
god reading that made me sad ............
 


Iron Horseman said:
That is an interesting idea. Perhaps a new trend would be for people to set up their model railroads so folks could remotely run the trains?
Click to expand...
I know this thread is a little old, but saw this comment and wanted to reply to the concept of remote ops.

This has happened at least in the HO world with camera cars and cameras that live stream the layout over the internet. And using google meet or zoom video conference to access the live streams. Here is a video overview of how the Silicon Valley Lines did this:

If you want to start a discussion on remote ops, we can start a new thread.
 
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