UPRR Geneva Sub is being dismantled!!

[John]

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[TLOC]

I have been following Daryl on and off for years. I had no clue it’s been 7 years that he has been in Georgia. While the story of any layout takedown sounds or can be read as sad, it’s not always. This is one of those. As a grandparent just 145 miles from the grandkids was tough on us. When I finally retired in 2014 the house was sold within 2 weeks of listing and we made the best move ever. 2 miles from the grandkids, so I totally understand his reasons for the move. Taxes in Illinois though are a huge difference from Georgia but he says in the comments that with the traveling back and forth it still a better deal. Good for him.

TomO

[jereising]

Despite going counter to the flow - most folks want to get OUT of Illinois - this is a shot at a new and larger basement.  Daryl's done it twice before, he knows what he's doing. 
My one regret is not visiting him when he was so close - Marietta is only about three hours from me.
Following with interest.

[John]

I have been following Daryl on and off for years. I had no clue it’s been 7 years that he has been in Georgia. While the story of any layout takedown sounds or can be read as sad, it’s not always. This is one of those. As a grandparent just 145 miles from the grandkids was tough on us. When I finally retired in 2014 the house was sold within 2 weeks of listing and we made the best move ever. 2 miles from the grandkids, so I totally understand his reasons for the move. Taxes in Illinois though are a huge difference from Georgia but he says in the comments that with the traveling back and forth it still a better deal. Good for him.

TomO

I'm thinking of doing the same thing .. (not moving to Illinois), but probably more rural PA to get away from Maryland taxes and other political crap ..  I want a single level (ranch style) house with a basement .. I would completely demolish the layout, and start over .. although not as big ..

[CRL]

We’re moving out of metro San Antonio to rural Bandera County. We’ll avoid most metro Bexar County taxes, but even though we’ll be technically 2 counties away, we’ll still be subject to the same Northside Independent School District taxes since we’re still within that district. Even though our current metro taxes are nowhere close to what you guys in Illinois or the northeast pay, we’ll still have lower taxes, and be in a more responsible political district.

[John]

We’re moving out of metro San Antonio to rural Bandera County. We’ll avoid most metro Bexar County taxes, but even though we’ll be technically 2 counties away, we’ll still be subject to the same Northside Independent School District taxes since we’re still within that district. Even though our current metro taxes are nowhere close to what you guys in Illinois or the northeast pay, we’ll still have lower taxes, and be in a more responsible political district.

I love Texas .. I have work connections there .. lived in New Boston when I was 8 ..  Have traveled to San Antonio many times, and also met Flash Blackman (trainboard member) who showed me his great layout .   Spent a lot of time downtown near the station foaming .. and of course the food is to die for .. I'd move back to Texas (of course I would have to model UP and BNSF) .. but it's too far from the rest of the family ..

[TLOC]

Texas is a great state but I do not want to live there. I grew up in Illinois had family there until June of 2020 and my entire adult life since college has been in Wisconsin. 76 to 2014 in Central Wisconsin and since 2014 the great liberal state of Dane County Wisconsin. The grand kids are in Dane County and the son at 35 has no plans for kids is in Austin, Texas where the taxes are crazy for what they get and the education system is suspect at best. The water bills are crazy and traffic is worst then Chicago expressways, IMO. We usually visit in April and October for at least a couple weeks. It’s too hot for too long a period of time for this Midwestern but the son will never come back to Wisconsin to stay. Covid cancelled the 2020 trips and Christmas for him coming north.

It’s fun to be around the grandkids and family and if you have the means, do it. Again, congrats to Daryl for making a tough decision and may the new be better then the old.

TomO

[CRL]

I love Texas .. I have work connections there .. lived in New Boston when I was 8 ..  Have traveled to San Antonio many times, and also met Flash Blackman (trainboard member) who showed me his great layout .   Spent a lot of time downtown near the station foaming .. and of course the food is to die for .. I'd move back to Texas (of course I would have to model UP and BNSF) .. but it's too far from the rest of the family ..

I haven’t seen anything posted from Flash on TrainBoard in more than a couple of years... I hope he’s ok.

[CRL]

Texas is a great state but I do not want to live there. I grew up in Illinois had family there until June of 2020 and my entire adult life since college has been in Wisconsin. 76 to 2014 in Central Wisconsin and since 2014 the great liberal state of Dane County Wisconsin. The grand kids are in Dane County and the son at 35 has no plans for kids is in Austin, Texas where the taxes are crazy for what they get and the education system is suspect at best. The water bills are crazy and traffic is worst then Chicago expressways, IMO. We usually visit in April and October for at least a couple weeks. It’s too hot for too long a period of time for this Midwestern but the son will never come back to Wisconsin to stay. Covid cancelled the 2020 trips and Christmas for him coming north.

It’s fun to be around the grandkids and family and if you have the means, do it. Again, congrats to Daryl for making a tough decision and may the new be better then the old.

TomO

Ah, yes... The People’s Republic of Austin... that’s a crazy place alright. Yes, it gets hot down here, but I was born in Phoenix, so what we get here is pretty tame in comparison in my opinion. Since I find it easier to tolerate the heat than the cold up north, here we remain.

[Bill H]

Really sad to see Daryl leave Atlanta, his layout was always a joy to operate on, and the scenery updates he has done since his retirement have been simply fabulous!

[John]

Since the layout is made up of sections, and since he's moved it before -- I suspect it will go back together fairly easy .. my layout is a series of "modules", but where I screwed up is the wiring .. it's not set up to move .. so that part would be a tear out  for me

[jereising]

I sympathize, John.
Oakville was never designed to do anything else than be where it is, so (God willing) after the 2022 convention I'll tear it down and likely we'll move to a single level place.  Or to assisted living, whichever works at that point.
Modules are a thought.

[muktown128]

I've enjoyed watching videos of this layout.  I used to visit the park in Rochelle and railfan quite a bit on my way home from business trips to visit the Caterpillar Tech Center in Mossville.  Daryl nailed that scene as I could imagine being there watching the trains go by.

My brother lives in Austin.  He's been there 8-10 years now and says it has changed quite a bit and not for the better.  Lots of traffic and uncontrolled growth. 

[C855B]

... My brother lives in Austin.  He's been there 8-10 years now and says it has changed quite a bit and not for the better.  Lots of traffic and uncontrolled growth.

Pretty much characteristic of Austin in recent decades. We visited a couple of times in the '90s and even then were frustrated by the nonsense levels of traffic and how difficult it was to move around. This wasn't helped a bit by construction absolutely everywhere mucking with traffic flow at (seemingly) every other intersection. I recall one traffic light from one major arterial to another that took five cycles to make the arrow-signaled left turn.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I sympathize, John.
Oakville was never designed to do anything else than be where it is, so (God willing) after the 2022 convention I'll tear it down and likely we'll move to a single level place.  Or to assisted living, whichever works at that point.
Modules are a thought.

TTRAK makes this super easy. You can move them around easily and set them all up on a dining room table. There are some drawbacks, but I'm sure you could mitigate most of them.