Here's the ultimate end of

Here's the ultimate end of one I deconstructed a few years ago:

N scale bites the dust

My TT scale equipment clearing the N scale off the benchwork , for a new TT scale layout....DaveB 

Wondering what to save ...

Mark;

I am torn about tossing all my lumber and track but want a fresh start. A big pile of stuff is stacked near the door and all my track is hand laid so sort of torn about not trying to save some of the rail and switches - even if I’m pieces. 

More progress today though an, besides the mess of stuff that was under the layout, most of the benchwork is down.  Here is a piano of one side of the room. Exhausting. 

Amazing. Why do I keep all this junk?

Brilliant

@Dave: 

That would be fun to model a railroad abandonment. Good for April perhaps. Rails2Trails?

I recently tore down my

I recently tore down my layout to sell my old house:

https://rices-rails.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-great-sawzall-massacre-of-2018.html

It was actually two layouts at that point - started as a single O scale layout but I separated off a peninsula and redid it in N scale.  Since I built it from the walls out (a mistake I will not repeat), I couldn’t get at the screws that fastened it to the wall so I had to sawzall most of it off to get to them.  Chopped the remains into easily carryable chunks, stuffed all the rails and misc bits that popped off into boxes, and paid a removal/recycle service to cart it off, along with a bunch of other stuff I no longer wanted and didn’t have time to try to sell piecemeal.

“Why do I keep all this junk” is an excellent question I asked myself during the process.  The amount of stuff like little relays and toggle switches and whatnot that I’d accumulated over the years was staggering.  I’ve run DCC for years, I don’t lots of switches and relays.  The odd electronics project I build I always end up needing to order parts anyway, so why keep stacks of vintage parts around that just clutter the place up?

Fortunately, I had a friend who drove off with his car stuffed to the gills with a good chunk of it.  Probably unwise on his part but it made me feel a little better about getting rid of it all.

There is a nice balance somewhere between having materials and parts on hand for projects you are likely to do, and cluttering the place up with stuff you’re never going to use that gets in the way of projects you are likely to do.  If I could only find that balance... 

Have a similar photo?

Posted'em before but I took a few of my layout deconstruction last year (below).

I've noticed the cost of lumber has gone up in the last year or so and I bet in Hawaii it's much higher.  I saved ALL my lumber for reuse.  The shorter pieces make good risers and the longer pieces can be reused as well.

I saved all lumber, all track (none was glued down or ballasted), all track nails, ME spikes, drywall screws, rail joiners, etc.

Saved nearly everything except the plaster and subroadbed.

Last section standing:

The bench-work was taken to the new home and is awaiting integration to a new layout after basement is dry-walled etc.

Used lumber

Thanks Jim. 

It took a while but I removed all the screws and nails from what was salvaged as lumber is expensive and much of what I have is “cured” to our humidity. Everything is down now and I am in the process of pulling up the rail and switches. Everything is hand spiked so not too much damage but time consuming. 

I had hoped to have a clean slate for this coming long weekend but my family decided to surprise me with a trip to Oahu and concert tickets for my upcoming birthday. Nice, even a hermit like me has to get out I guess! 

I built the layout above with

I built the layout above with all drywall screws so with the drill driver they all were reversed out quickly.  I even saved smaller pieces of wood in several boxes.

What you save can be re-used and save cost next time.

I imagine most of us mainlanders are envious of you living there in "paradise".  I visited Hawaii twice (once when I was 8 and the second time at age 14).  Second time flew into Hickam on a C141 miliary space A.  Both times just Oahu.  Maybe some day.

I have one shrinking remnant

I have one shrinking remnant of 2x4 that has been used in every train layout I've ever built.  I can identify it by the quality of the lumber (they don't grew 'em like they used to) and the paint splotches.  It's the one piece I saved in my recent dismantling.  If it makes it into the next one it will be more symbolic than structural though, it's getting a bit small and riddled with holes.

No pics . . .

. . . but I tore out a 12x16 layout about a decade ago.  I wasn't sure what my living situation would be, or finances, so I saved EVERYTHING.  I soaked the track, removed it, and cleaned it.  I saved practically every railroad spike.  I saved all my rail joiners, and all the lumber.  All the electronics.  All the switches (Fast Tracks).

In my current layout, I have only just started using new materials.  I think I used up the last of the old stuff about 6 months ago.

Paradise ...

Jim, some of us that love the Rio Grande would say being near real railroading is paradise. 

Shrinking Remnant

Is that what we call it now? LOL!!

Michael & Michael

Always good to hear from you. Seeing your name reminded me of Michael Rose. I do intend to follow his lead with new plywood cookie cutter methods. Scrapping plywood turned out to be way too hard. Out it goes. 

I got some 1/8” ply to try a waffle method of a box frame even though I have quite a few baseboards saved from experiments in TOMA as well as frames from people who have moved off island and I was the only one with room on the farm (I guess). Finding all these and figuring out how to put them to use will be fun. 

Out of curiosity, what is your spacing (maybe Jim can add to this as well) between the staging to framing above? In On30 I’m thinking 6”-8” would be enough. Another thought would be to put the whole staging on drawer guides so I can see, and swap out, those unique cars that give away the repditive nature of my trains. 

On another note: great article on building a herniated helix! I’m inspired to do the same to my branch line. 

Spacing

Hi Neil,

Thanks for the kind words.  I was surprised to see that published!  I had almost forgotten about it.  

The spacing from my staging yard to the bottom of the structural members for the next layer is 6".  I find this acceptable, but reaching to the back is somewhat difficult (with HO stock) and I often knock cars off the track.  As a result, I use the front track to do all my car swapping, and then move the train to a staging track further back.

I think, if I did it over, I'd add one more turn to my helix to get 10" separation.  Thinking mathwise, that would either drop the staging by 4" and make it much more difficult to work under, or it would raise the first level from 42" to 46".  I'd prefer the 46", so that would be great.  But it would also raise the top level from 60" to 64", which would be difficult for individuals not as tall as me (6'1") and also somewhat more challenging for me too.  So overall I'm happy with the balance I achieved.

Jim, some of us that love the

*sigh*  I wouldn't call being 1,900 miles away from the area that am planning to model "near".

Due to family and house financial burdens, I might as well be in Hawaii as far as accessibility goes.  The only thing which remains of my beloved D&RGW is the scenery and track anyway; so I rely a lot of books and other resources.  I can't complain, prior to about 20 years ago, I traveled a lot to many places but not so much anymore, at least until my wife and I get the house under control and get her 24 year old son independent - he has never had a paying job up through the present.

Star Drive Screws !

Use the T25 bit star drive screws.  Far better Than dry wall screws to use and reuse.  Taking them out is easy if needed.

Home Depot and Lowe’s have them is assorted lengths.  Most hardware stores also.

I am getting ready to reuse benchwork module pieces as I have a refinished garage building now to use.

Like others I waited until it was ready before starting the layout.

Like!

@Multilevel - great idea! I think I’ll toss all the old screws and go that route. Right now I’m wondering if the old HO stud should be tossed, eBay, Craigslist, or donated (but to whom?). Shipping from Hawaii will discourage most buyers I’m sure. 

Besides all the engines, cars, buildings and bridges, there are magazines, a violin, a complete drum kit, a stereo with tuner (remember those?), and scale models never started of cars, boats, and airplanes. There must be six desks, and my roll feed plotter (wonder if that still works?), along with at least 5 XT computers that don’t boot along with monitors that is though would be cool for tower operators but now I just want it all to go away! 

Neil, I just went through

Neil, I just went through getting rid of a lot of excess stuff.  Things that might actually be worth something you can try selling, or take to a consignment shop.  If you care more about getting rid of it than the money, Goodwill will take donations of all kinds of stuff, I’ve given them framed pictures, light fixtures, cots, etc.  If the instruments are playable you might donate them to a local school.  For whatever was left, I hired a place called “All Day Junk Removal” (a sort of local business but there may be something similar there) who loaded up everything else and took it away.  They do recycle what they can, and will also give things to goodwill / habbitat for humanity if they’re serviceable.

A cleaned out basement is worth ... the weight in gold of all the stuff that used to be in the way before you got rid of it.  Good luck!