Weekend Update 3/28/21

[Lenny53]

(Attachment Link)

Mmmmm. Swedish Pizza.

[MDW]

I have no idea why this myth that a layout cannot be completed is so popular, but whatever...

Maybe it helps modelers who never finish one feel better about themselves...?

100%
I started building with a clear vision of a completed layout.   Things may change along the way & tweaks may occur once it’s done, but I’ll complete it.  Why else even start?

Michel

[jereising]

The Oakville Sub was essentially complete about 2-1/2 years after I started - and pretty much fully scenicked by December 2010.  So it's been complete for 10 + years now.  BUT.  It survived a disaster in 15 when it got hit with a deluge from a broken pipe in the kitchen above which resulted in a new scenic feature, bridges and part of CA Hwy 58.  Also since "completion" were the addition of the Caliente Post Office scene, the Tehachapi-Woodford Road scene, the Keene Cafe and Post Office scene, and most recently the Villa La Paz scene, not to mention little tweaks too countless to mention.  Finished? Yes, BUT.

It may now be complete however because I'm facing pressure to move - but trying to put that off until after the 2022 Nashville Convention to give some of you a chance to visit in person.  After that, it's chainsaw time.

[wm3798]

I look back at my big layout, and it was tantalizingly close to being "complete", at least from a track plan and operating scheme standpoint, and I was closing in fast on finishing the primary scenic elements.  I finished the Cumberland station in March of 2012 and was beginning the process of laying out the city scape around it when it became apparent that the sands of life were shifting under my feet.  The layout went dormant in June of 2012, and came down in February of 13.

At times the pace of work on my present project is frustrating, but it's an HCD, so it's entirely portable, and eminently completable given its limited size and scope.  It also has a much simpler goal:  JFRTM and have fun doing it.  In that regard, it's been done for months!
Lee

[wazzou]

I've never understood why this is such a thing. 
It's all about rule #1 again, isn't it?
If you, the owner of your railroad, consider it finished, so be it.
If perhaps at some point you change your mind about something or continue to toil over little minutiae details, again see Rule #1.

[C855B]

Mine will never be finished. Never. At least not in my lifetime.

[eric220]

My dad used to joke that the worst tragedy that could befall a model railroader was to finish their layout. I always took it as lighthearted commentary on the paradox that if the fun is in the building, what do you do when there’s nothing left to build? It’s also commentary on our tendency to expand, tear down, rebuild, or otherwise tinker with our layouts.

[SkipGear]

I helped build a fairly large HO layout for/with a gentleman that had a stroke early on in the process and was unable to do a lot of the work himself.

I would have to say it was complete but he kept finding new things to add to keep the construction going.





The last corner of empty real estate was going to get this building before he passed away.

[davefoxx]

Tony,

That layout turned out really nice.  Nice work!  What happened to it after the gentleman died?

DFF

[davefoxx]

I think that a layout can be finished and considered complete, just like a new construction home.  However, there will always be maintenance and room for improvements.

In my case, I have never finished a layout, because I'm lazy, moved, or lost interest.    The Seaboard Central 2.0 (N scale) was probably at 85-90% complete and is the closest that I ever got.  It also was only a HCD layout, so that was achievable.  My current layout, the Carolina Sandhills Lines (HO scale), is getting there slowly, but a lot of scenery work remains (I'd guess that it's at 70-75% complete).

@C855B, I don't know how guys like you, @seusscaboose, and @John do it, building large basement-filling-sized layouts.  No wonder you feel that you'll never finish it in your lifetime.  Layouts that size are just overwhelming for me to ever try to build.  Small bedroom-sized layouts seems to be my limit.  My current layout is probably only 12' x 14'.  Kudos to y'all.

DFF

[SkipGear]

He was planning on moving into a new assisted living community that was building near his house. The plan was to move the layout there and use it as a community project. It took over what was to be a reading room/library. I had met with the architect an construction foreman on the project, planned the room for the layout and they adjusted it to fit, even enlarged doorways to make it easier to move.

Unfortunately the construction ended up about 2 years behind schedule and he never got to move in. They ended up with the layout and called me in to help. I stopped by to check things out, saw that they assembled the layout in the wrong orientation in the room, had opened all the boxes of buildings that had been packed in foam and bubble wrap and broken a majority of them, and broken a 4' long trestle. I texted the project manager what needed to be done and I never heard back from them.

A shot of the centerpiece, 2 city blocks of buildings with interior and full lighting, street lights, traffic lights, sewers and all. The gentleman was an O-scaler at heart so scenery was a big step for him initially. Once we got started, he kept looking for smaller and smaller details to add to keep me busy.

[C855B]

@C855B, I don't know how guys like you, @seusscaboose, and @John do it, building large basement-filling-sized layouts.  No wonder you feel that you'll never finish it in your lifetime.  Layouts that size are just overwhelming for me to ever try to build.  Small bedroom-sized layouts seems to be my limit.  My current layout is probably only 12' x 14'.  Kudos to y'all.

Thanks! Well, in my case it's taking satisfaction in each "It works!" segment. I find it really interesting that after eight years the original vision remains, just minor tweaks as the plan unfolds and something doesn't quite work in the 1:1 world.

Looking forward to another milestone in the next couple of weeks. That bridge + tunnel scene is about to have running track, quite the challenge given the subtle curves within the bridges and installing guard rail and weathering the track before nailing gluing it all down.

[up1950s]

The Oakville Sub was essentially complete about 2-1/2 years after I started - and pretty much fully scenicked by December 2010.  So it's been complete for 10 + years now.  BUT.  It survived a disaster in 15 when it got hit with a deluge from a broken pipe in the kitchen above which resulted in a new scenic feature, bridges and part of CA Hwy 58.  Also since "completion" were the addition of the Caliente Post Office scene, the Tehachapi-Woodford Road scene, the Keene Cafe and Post Office scene, and most recently the Villa La Paz scene, not to mention little tweaks too countless to mention.  Finished? Yes, BUT.

It may now be complete however because I'm facing pressure to move - but trying to put that off until after the 2022 Nashville Convention to give some of you a chance to visit in person.  After that, it's chainsaw time.

That's what we need , a fine tooth diamond coated chainsaw attachment for our motor tools .

[up1950s]

All layouts are finished eventually , once they are dismantled .

[Mark5]

Not gonna even touch this finished/unfinished nonsense! 

Late in the game, didn't do much train stuff last weekend (Covid for me has meant I work even more), but I did try to strip this old Atlas/Rivarossi early ACF tank by soaking it in 91% Isopropyl for 24hrs ...

It emerged intact ... 

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Not sure what I'll try next ...