I think "spot" myself.

You should work on what you want to work on when the mood strikes and not feel as if you are forced to complete one thing before moving on to another. That's the way I like to work anyway.  I do make myself " punch list"  of various task I want to get done but I bounce around on the list. I don't necessarily do them in order.

MIchael

l'm sure there will be a range of opinions . . .

I tend to agree with you - I get more satisfaction from more rapid progress on a given scene, even if it is perhaps less efficient than, say, ballasting all the track at once. I make better psychological progress in small achievements!

Be careful with boxes and

Be careful with boxes and soup cans, you'll be hungry when your done operating 

Continuous or "Spot" layout completion?

  In the old days of L-girder open frame layouts I'd go thru and screen wire or hard shell everything to  keep derailed trains from falling on the floor then add a basic coat of paint of zip texture then work on finishing scenes or areas as the mood struck. With the modern method of foam or solid top benchwork protecting the trains  I'd just add the base coat of paint of texture then proceed at the desired pace and order..DaveB

Running trains or making beautiful dioramas

Mostly spot...

I have found myself in different moods at different times. At times I will focus on a particular "spot" - a structure like my Wildcat Milling or Golden Belt Lumber. Other times the fairly mindless task of putting in a layer of basic scenery suits me better. So, I would say when your modeling energy is high, work on a spot, If not so high, work on the basic scenery in between the spots. I think that will also add to operating enjoyment.

Also, I have used card stock stand-ins for some of my structures while I was working on the rest of the layout. It helps me get a feel of what the scene can look like and is much better than cereal boxes and soup cans for operating. They can be simple things in the general shape of the planned structure or have detailed representation of the final structure. An added bonus is you don't feel bad when you decide to change or replace the structure and this bit goes in the recycle bin.

While I'm here I want to thank you, Rick, again for sharing pictures of your "Merchants Row I" from your Richlawn Railroad v1. It helped me a lot.

Joe - LOL!

Good input guys!

Both

I sometimes see an area to completion before moving on but other times I'll spread the progress around.  Whichever I'm in the mood for.

Not all of us have Michael

 What is it with me and the Elves? Will this never go away? 

@ Michael

Nope

Continuous & Spot method...

Onward

I will use a combination when I start on my next layout (moving) similar to what I did on my previous layout.  I tend to build a large part of the benchwork, then build the end terminals and connect the ends with temporary track to get things running.  Then I go back and build the tracks in the various intermediate locations.  I tend to complete things in waves.  All the benchwork, all the track, then the sub scenery, then the finals scenery.  Buildings are interspersed in there since I have to modify the buildings to fit in the spaces available.  It is very rare that I use a building as it comes out of the box.

6 of one...half dozen of the other...

I have a good friend who has a fairly sizable, single level basement layout depicting Wisconsin and the CNW of the 50's.  He completed all of the roadbed sans track and then all of the fascia and terrain landforms, covering every square inch with a diluted plaster'ish paint tinted green.  This gave the entire layout a pseudo finished look with no sharp foam edges, resulting in the rolling terrain he was looking to model.  It also allowed the sloppy work to be completed without having to worry about track maintenance.   He then began laying track, all the while working on specific vignettes that included many craftsman kits he had built and stored away over the years.  He is about 4 feet from finishing his main line, but this length includes 2 decks and a thru truss bridge that are part of an area he is currently concentrating on.  

7 odd years into his layout build and he has yet to have a train circumnavigate the layout in it's entirety, yet there are areas he has completed scenery wise that are "Yes it's a model" worthy, connected by grass less rolling hills of green.  So I guess the moral here is to each his own and whatever makes you happy and keeps your interest in the worlds greatest hobby!  Keep at it Rick...

Jeff in Indiana

Finished scene is a motivator

Finishing by the spot

I think finishing by the spot is better. Because each scene would be some what unique. If you make the scenery at  each spot a little different it will seem more like different towns, if you scenic your layout from point "A" to point "B" it might just blend too good  loose the town to town feel.

That's just my 2 cents.

I tend tward the lakadaisical aproach

I do what moves me at the moment with what I have at hand. I just removed all the "weights" off of the 2' X 6' strip of pink foam that I glued down a few days ago. I then penciled in my tentative track plan sans the crossovers. While I wait for the postman to deliver some goodies, I'll cut and glue some pink foam for the backdrop.Then lacking Michaels' elves I'll work on some scenery when I find a round toit or two. meanwhile the remote weather stations need fresh batteries. There's some grass that needs mowing,hedges that need trimming. When will it all end. Oh! There's the guy that's going to install my drapes. Later.

Maybe a little of both...

Scenery is just there to enhance operations. I think a layout looks a lot better with just a base coat of paint over everything though, so I'd probably at least put an earth-tone base layer of paint on everything first, then do the rest in spots and wherever the mood takes you. I was really surprised at how much better my old layout looked with just a coat of mud-brown over all the plywood and styrofoam. 

Randy

Earth tone paint.

Randy's mention of earth tone paint reminded me that is exactly what I did. I does make a big difference in tying things together.

As a general rule changes in vegetation and land forms happen slowly as you travel through them so making each "spot" scenically unique might turn out to be too much change to be comfortable to the viewer.

I think most of us are more

I think most of us are more spot than wave, or more wave than spot, rather than one or the other.  I know one person who is totally spot and the problem is that when work is done, it doesn't seem to advance the layout looking more complete: to many the layout seems to be in the same state it was 10 years ago, but it isn't, much has been done but visually its difficult to see "movement" in the layout's completion.  But he wouldn't have it any other way! The wave guy's layouts usually look more complete faster as its easier to grasp visually what's going on.  First of all the bench work, then the roadbed, then track, then basic landscape, then basic painted backdrop, then structures going in at this end working to that end, then on to more completed and detailed landscape, then better backdrop completion, then more detail in the structured areas.

I'm mostly a wave guy as its easier to think - there's that's taken care of - and move on.  But with some tasks like wiring and the electronics that go with it, this task seems to go on eternally, its nice to take a break and work on some other critical aspect of the layout. This short vacation from the wiring which begins to feel like an outer limits episode, the project on an eternal loop leading to a trapped hobbyist, is refreshing. 

I'm not sure which is better Rick.....

But I know I could never stick to one of those choices. I have some projects that have been in their current, partially complete state now for years. While other things will go from start to finish in a matter of a few days!

I do what I must

Hidden yard went in first. Now I need to complete the http://www.comstockcarshops.com/1915x2.JPGbecause its so big I need to know where the track can go before I start my spline roadbed. Then more track and a bridge  in my future. I used to get into a funk but now that I have 30 feet of wired track I just run my K27 and my only car back and forth to chill. Blayne

Well Rick

Since you asked I would say the work depends on what needs to happen to allow one to get to the fun stuff. In my case I actually enjoy all aspects of building a model railroad. Having a club allows one to find that out as there is so much to do. With regard to starting with an empty space I would get all the bench work and the helix or helixes built as well as the areas for staging. After that I would go to the road bed and track work on the main line to staging and yards. Once those things are in the industrial areas could be cut in as time allows. Then I would begin wiring again the main staging and yard so that if I wanted to I could run a train on the plywood Pacific. I would do the backdrop prior to any work on the track or other items as any mess would then be covered up.

Once I was able to get to that point I could then be building to certain levels of completeness around the layout as I wanted. Since in many instances one needs the foot print of a structure prior to laying track there would then be many occasions where one would need to take a break from some things to build structures. I hope to complete my rolling stock collection before building the layout even if I do not get them all built and painted.

What to do?

NEVER underestimate the power of a completed project.

I find that often when I'm working on a project (piece of equipment, industry , structure etc) I am very disappointed with the way it's moving long - In the rare cases when i actually complete something I realize that, what i thought was a poorly done "crap" project, suddenly (and as if by magic) turns into an amazing success after the last 1% of the project is completed.

Maybe I'm alone in this. But my point is that unless you finish a project now and then, your confidence as a modeler can wither away. On my Nelson Brothers Logging railroad, North Oregon railway, I only have small areas that are completed. But those areas remind me just how good a modeler i can be.

I have literally a 100 models, subjects that are in various stages of completion. It's very annoying. But of the project that ARE completed (including areas of scenery) I at least understand in my feeble brain that I am capable of finishing something. If I didn't have those - I would probably give up on modeling, which i have been doing for 50 years.

Try to keep it as fun as possible - There's nothing wrong with only completing sections of your layout as you can - and it might even end up being more valuable than you realize.

Lon Wall