I think I'll be directing worrywart over-analyzers to this article for years to come.

People like me Rob?!?!? 

Though I would say my reasons for researching and designing "too much" (in the view of most modelers) is so that I have the most prototype information to make the best decisions, especially since I am proto-freelancing.  Those who totally freelance or are focusing on a specific prototype to model have it so much easier when it comes to creating a concept and desiging for it. 

I would say there are different kinds of "analysis paralysis"  One kind, where someone has issues with making decisions for fear of making the wrong one, which it would seem this article is showing how to overcome it.  Then there is another kind, the one I "suffer" from, which is looking into as much detail in research and design as possible, but then MAKING a decision, and moving on.  Case in point, I researched, asked for feedback, and made a decision as to whether or not to use the lift bridge in the Pittsburgh area on the P&A.  I have decided to use it there, and I have developed an adequate backstory that satisfies me, and hopefully, it will satisfy most others.  Now there are other areas of the Ultimate P&A plan I continue to work on that I have to unfortunately revist because I had to redesign the footprint for the benchwork to accomodate some other changes made, but this is new issue that I am focusing on though the information gathers when solving the issue will be used asI deliberate and come up with a final deicison for that area. 

So there is a difference between studying and designing something to an extreme level of detail before construction vs not beginning construction because one is concernred about making a mistake in the design itself. 

Ken L

Ken L. sez:

"People like me Rob?!?!?"

Well maybe.  HA!

 

>>>Well maybe.  HA!<<<

LOL! Well, if all goes as now planned, by this summer Construction on the Interim P&A will begin to disprove those conclusions! Hehehehehe.  But that doesn't mean I will stop researching and designing for the Ultimate P&A though! ;-)

Ken L.

I have built 4 or 5 railroads larger than the adverage room size 10 X 12  around the walls type.

Each one has been in a different ERA and different parts of the U.S.A. and Most have been pre 1910 except for the last SP/Santa-Fe RR which was also the largest at 25 X 26 1960-1990 Coastal Railroad and was closest to present day at the time.

I have Boxes of structures made for 1880's Old West Towns and Mining buildings with head frames from the 1890's to 1920's Nevada silver Mines.

All previous Railroads have been Standard Gauge HO and I still have 40 or more 36 inch pieces New Shinohara code 70 Flex Tracks That have never been used and I won't be using as I have switched over to HOn3 Narrow Gauge with a small area of Duel Gauge.

For 5 years I researched Narrow Gauge Railroads with the D&RGW at the head of the list and then the RGS for another 2 years. I finally decided on The Rio Grande Southern with the Durango interchange and possible adding the Durango & Silverton addition in later years.

OK that all started in 1999. Then 2005 I bought the last three books on the market that I didn't have about the Rio Grande Southern RR.

Summer 1996 I walked into a Hobby shop in Maryland that was Just Model Railroading from "Z" and everything in between up to Fn3. I spent 3 hours just looking at everything until----.

On the RTR shelf was "2" HOn3 Blackstone K-27 narrow gauge 2-8-2 engines the #463 and # 454 both DCC equipped with sound and 20% off on sale for $305.00 and $295.00 Those were the Ticket that started me on the RGS road. I bought both.

I also bought the DCC Lenz 100Set with an extra power booster and a computer interface module as well as another $700.00 worth of track and accessories.

I was on my way all I needed to do now was design the Narrow Gauge railroad.

December 2010 after starting 2 times I once again dismantled what I had built and tore out a 15 foot long wall so I could double the room size  to 15 X 26 but it only took me 15.5 years to get to where I'm actually Happy with what I'm Building.

Procrastinator Me No way "analysis - paralysis" Hits me right between the eyes Great article.

 

For those who have built an urban scene and a rural scene, you will find the urban scene takes far longer and costs more. The resources per square inch for an urban scene is far higher than for a rural one.

That Mark R. was able to get off the dime and do a great looking URBAN layout is all the more impressive. That's a lot of work in those few square feet - and it looks (looked) fabulous.

Great article. Means there's hope for me yet. I've had to do the same thing. Scale back on the dream. Check that, the dream is still just as grand as ever, it's the reality that's been scaled back. I've known for years that I'd have to start small. The paralysis came from what I wanted to do with a smaller one. Oddly a move to a new state is what's gotten me out of the armchair. When I moved to SC, I brought a few (3) plastic kits with me. Every once in a while, I'd pull them out, work on them for a couple hours, then put them away. they aren't perfect, but each one was a teaching experience. The last of which is that there are no screw-ups, only modeling opportunities waiting to happen (you can read about it here: http://pbjrr.net/2011/04/its-a-modeling-opportunity/ ).

The next kick in the pants came as recently as last week. I've been hesitant in actually constucting anything as my living situation is temporary (been staying with the in-laws while I searched for a house to rent)... Now that I have the housing issue squared away, (I've already laid claim to a portion of the den for the trains) I was checking out lumber and prices when I came across a piece of 2x2 plywood. Further searchign found the 2x4 pieces. I thought... if you can build an HO4x8, I should be able to do a 2x4N-scale, right? After 10 minutes of hemming and hawing... and second guessing and triple guessing, and another 20 minutes of wandering about, I finally decided that if I didn't get it right then and there, I'd never get it, and I would jsut have one more excuse of why I didn't have a layout. I came home with a few 1x2" and a 2x4' plywood. 

That night I fired RTS up, drew out a 2x4 benchwork, plunked down some track and two hours later, I had this.

 

The next night, I came home, grabbed the saw, screws and nails. I now have a 2x4' table top base to start with. Next up is the foam. Being in a moderate climate zone, 2" foam is impossible to find. But what I can find is 1/2" foam sheets in 4x8' ... which if cut in half then half again comes out to 2x4' .... and when stacked... AH-HA!

Just like Mark, I've found the best cure to paralysis (research-lock) is to just do.Right now I just want to run trains. I'm not interesting in being protoypical. But when I finally do build the full dream PB&J, I will, and I'll be armed with loads of research and photos and a design that will take me what I hope will be many enjoyable hours constructing.

 

OK I might start a small switching layout now... I'd better reread the article again.

I too deal with beginers paralysis, so I read the article, lots of great ideas.  It's also hard to find time to model when we are rebuilding our house, but that's another story.  Anyhow, Tkaczyk machinery caught my eye, my name is Tkaczyk, in Dodge City KS right now, orignally from Michigan.  Who is your inpiration, maybe I know them!

Now, this is some inspiring article.  Thanks, MRH.  Thanks, Mark, for writing of your processing through to completion.  As I read the article, I was aware of your change in thinking.  The analysis changed from one of piling on the big projects (and then never starting the overwhelming heap) to starting small, with the analysis, then, consisting of looking at steps taken and determining where to back up and redo.  The mock-ups, especially, are something I am only now really learning to employ.  I've always wanted to do things once, get it done, and move on.  But with new skills, or with methods not tried before, I simply cannot get away with that, and expect good results.

Again, thanks so much for a great article.

P.S.  Mark, have you ever lived in Ventura?

All-thanks for the feedback.  I'm most pleased to hear this article has been helpful for some of you.

JP-I've had a list of names saved from various sources to use on buildings and industries for several years.  I just save them as I see them.  I don't know where this one came from.  I don't know anyone with this name but I think it's a happy coincidence it's your name!!

Don--Ventura High School 1964, Anacapa Junior High School, Loma Vista Elementary School.  I definately remember you and recall you taught me how to play chess.  I would enjoy talking with you more.

Mark

Huh, we're going to become the Facebook of model railroading if more people discover old friends here....

I was also aflicted by analysis paralysis and did something similar; just starting to building a layout in the space I have now made a huge difference in the way I think about model railroading. Great article!

 

Karl 

I can remember my first foray in the model railroad community was in a modular HO group, where I took possession of about 30 square feet of modules, (2 48" x 30" & 1 48" corner). My grand empire turned out to be about 1/4 of what I envisioned it to be. You can really cut your teeth on such a small chunk of real estate, you will learn what works, and more importantly what DOESN'T work. And if you screw up you haven't done too much damage!!

 

2slim

I desire to build a large railroad but don't know where to start. I will take these ideas for my future starting point.

How about at the beginning!

In all seriousness, it is a hobby so by definition there is no wrong way to do anything. Planning, researching, and noodlin' on different ideas is all well and good but eventually you have to actually do something. Thinking about railroading is not nearly as much fun as thinking about, building, and operating a railroad.

You start with space.  Once you have that, the dreams start flowing free!

I usually start with silly things like vehicles or scenary or buildings.  And then I plan my scenes around that, and my layout around those scenes.  When I have enough scenes in my head, I sit down with XtrakCAD and put together a trackplan - usualy from a paper sketch I drew up first.  As things progress, new scenes come in, old scene go out, and it all comes together, eventually.  I also make pretty good use of "temporary" scenary, stuff that fills the space until I get more time to devote specifically towards the area.  All sorts of things happen then.

Best of luck!

Agree with Benny you have to have space, at least a little. And you must have the time to devote to it. Fortunately, it is a hobby not a business so no timetable or deadline but still it takes time. For me my railroad also needed to be more than just a modeled place and time. The place and time had to have special meaning otherwise the railroad would be nothing more to me than a fanciful animated diorama. That's why the LK&O is called "A Railroad With Relevance". It is relevant to my real railroad experiences. The three namesake locations, Lapeer, Kitzmiller, and Ohio, are the three places on this planet where I have experienced trains more than just watching them run by.

Once I had my space, the time to devote to the hobby, and the reason my railroad exists the rest was merely an engineering exercise. Albeit a somewhat complicated engineering exercise but a fun one nonetheless!

Great article.  I went through the same problem and solved it in a similar manner by accepting space limits and using my interest in traction to transform the available space into a more operationally friendly layout.

Nice article. In addition to a small layout I think building a module, such as a Free-mo module in HO, would be a good way to go. It can be expandable or part of a future layout layout, plus can be integrated into a modular setup. Even though I have a layout under construction, it was fun building a module. It also represents something you can 'finish' sooner than a layout and allows you to try out some techniques before doing them on a larger layout. Mike McNamara Delran, NJ nekrailroad.com njfreemo.org

A great article that should be required reading for newcomers.  Lets them know they do not need to plan the perfect layout but can have fun and learn at the same time by building something small and achievable rather than trying to fill a basement.

Now that does provide me with a much needed booster there is hope for a running layout yet!, Thank you for taking the time to share!