Now I have this...

This is what I have now:

I thought about trying to sell it, everything worked, but decided it wouldn't be worth the hassle.  So down it comes.  

What's next?

I enjoy the process of building a layout and, at some point, other influences jump in and take over my mind until the old layout isn't the right direction. This current version has captured my attention for a couple years - in part. The live steam bug now is biting again. At least the two work spaces are very different and the great outdoors is still pretty easy to enjoy. Once the rain begins ...

Good luck with your new direction!

Neil Erickson, Umauma Plantation Railway and Navigation (is back!)

I did it too!

After a 2 years's work I got my layout to an operable point, roadbed and tracks laid out, when I realized the trackplan suck. This time I took 6 months to elaborate a new plan and 2 years later the roadbed is 70% done, I'm starting to do some wiring so I can run some trains while I finish the rest.

Even though there was no scenery yet, it was a tough decision but it was worth it. Also, so far I've been able to recycle all the wood from the previous layout for the new one, I just had to buy some wood and more tracks.

Guido

Been There, Done That

Sometimes starting over is the best course of action.  Seven years ago I came to the same conclusion and haven't regretted is once.  The hard part was making the decision to start over, once that was made tearing it out was easy. Now I have an operating layout that I'm happy with. 

Layout distruction

I to have been thinking about starting over. Making that first cut will be very difficult.

I do like what I have but there are a lot of issues with the current version of my layout.   i would like to eliminate all duckunders / liftouts if possible.

Plans are being tweaked right now in preparation for the coming destruction.

"I would like ...

... to eliminate all duckunders / liftouts if possible."

THAT would be a very good reason to re-think the plan.  Can't tell you how many times I've seen/heard that comment.  Duck-unders (and lift-outs) are mischievous ... they seem to open up so many possibilities and don't look so "bad" on the diagram ... it is only after one has installed them and starts to operate that their true nature appears and one realizes that the "small inconvenience" which was envisioned during the design stage has become a major PITA which is putting a damper on operations.  Not saying they don't have their place ... but I'd work very hard to come up with a track plan that did not require them.

Am curious as to the reason for the OP to remove his layout?  Sharing things that didn't work out quite as planned is good for beginners too ... can't count the number of times folks here have saved me from a potential blunder ... latest one was just today!  

Reason for removal

There is a very interesting story behind this layout.  I began working on my layout when I was about 13 or 14 years old. I took an Atlas plan, and expanded it to 10x9, instead of 8x8. I also added a third controller and set of blocks, this was back in DC days over thirty years ago. I wanted that third set of blocks so I could work the yard while two through freights circled the layout, even back then I was into operations before I knew what to call it. I got as far as starting scenery, all the track was in and working, started ballasting, and then I had to leave for college. So, my dad wanted the layout down. It was a sad, sad day dismantling that layout, but life moves on.  

Fast forward about ten years. I am at my future father-in-law's house, he knows I am into model railroading and shows me his layout. It is the exact same plan that I had built. It was great seeing it again, and running trains on it. A few more years in the future, he is now my father-in-law, and he wants his layout gone. His kids are all out of the house, and he wants the room back. I know he is kind of sad to see it go, but life moves on. 

  I moved the layout to my current house, replaced the sectional track with flex, built new bridges, ballasted most of the track, and eventually converted to DCC. I ran trains with my kids on the layout my father-in-law built, which looked a lot like the layout I built as a kid, pretty neat. Now, about ten years later, my kids are all out of the house and it is time for me to start my final layout. So, this layout has to come down. I hate to see it go, but live moves on.   

My father-in-law now has Alzheimer's and is in a home. The saddest part of tearing this layout down was seeing his handwriting on the bottom where he had labeled each wire, numbered each post, and all the other detail-oriented things he always did, which are so far beyond him now. This layout was a connection between us, we each decided to build the same plan before we ever met, and it had elements that each of us had constructed. He ran trains on it, his kids ran trains on it, I ran trains on it, and my kids ran trains on it. It was sad to take it down, but life moves on.  

Randy 

@Randy

Thanks for sharing this story - very touching!

Very interesting story ...

... even if it was a little bit sad.  Yes, life moves on ....  Thanks for sharing.

Great story!

That is really a wonderful story! I'm happy you were able to have such a great relationship and great times with your father in law but of course sorry to hear about his illness. My father also suffered from Alzheimers and it's completely horrible. 

Was that the Rancocas Harbor Belt layout? I have great memories of my father building me the table for the Atlas Up and Over Dogbone layout when I was a kid. Really loved that! 

Very interesting &

Very interesting & heartwarming story Randy.

Thanks for posting it!

Sad and heartwarming

Sad to see you loose the

Sad to see you loose the layout. I still have one I built for my kids stored away. They are all grown now. I will be reusing as much of the stuff as I can on my next layout when ever I get to start it. Save some of the buildings or what ever you can and incorporate them into the next layout they will remain special. While I was taking care of my mother till she died from cancer I would build freight car kits from Branchline and Accurail. While in the room with her she asked if I would think of her when running my trains or working on my models, I always do.

I built many car kits while sitting with her and tending to what she needed and every time see one I think of her and the things she did for me all of my life. Taking care of terminally ill family is a very difficult thing to do but being able to grant their wish to pass away at home is really special. On the trip back east I will be taking her ashes to the grave site she purchased next to my father. My wife and I will be seeing her mother who is in a nursing home as well.

Swing bridge

The swing bridge was probably my first kit-bash/scratch build project.  The upper portion is fairly obviously some atlas bridges cobbled together.  The bottom I scratch built using wood.  I was pretty proud of it at the time, and it still doesn't look half bad.  It was non-operational. I did mount the bridge on a round piece so that you can actually turn it by hand if you want, but I never used it that way.  I had a piece of flat styrene on the top and a small operator's shack, but that fell off somewhere along the line, had a long ladder down the side too.  

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments on the layout history, it is a little emotional. 

Randy