Throwing in the Towel...

[MVW]

No sense bowing out, Kiz. If the railroad bug bit you hard enough that you bought 3,400 cars, I doubt if it's done with you yet.

Go small. Sell off some surplus, or trade for an engine or two. You don't need 100 of 'em. But once you have even a simple loop running, I think you'll discover all kinds of fun things you can do with limited time, space, money.

Hang in there.

Jim

[delamaize]

Then don't build your dream layout. Build your "now" layout. Get a door, get some foam, and get to work.

This.

Go though your cars, and get rid of the stuff you'll never use, use those funds to buy a GOOD locomotive or two, then start working on a door sized layout, using unitrack. There is a ton of plans out there using Unitrack, and it's bullet proof. As for the cat, build yourself a PVC pipe frame, and attach some sheets to it, to cover the layout with when you are not using it.

Of course their is this option also:
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/04/coffee-table-train-set.html
Ikea makes some bigger coffee tables that are fairly inexpensive, that have bigger pull out sections than this one also.

Speaking of the bigger table...
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2008/06/train-in-your-coffee-table.html

[Mark5]

Keep the towel ... you may need it sometime. 

[sd45elect2000]

Hi Kiz,
I feel a lot like you do . I have a vary large collection of equipment and no space for a layout. You actually have more space than I do.

I have three cats, they are mine, I want them because they are good company but I am also sure that they would be on top of any layout I would build. If I had the space I would try to engineer a cover to keep them from damaging the layout and preventing them from swallowing something harmful. I adore my little critters !! .

 
 I get very discouraged too as it doesn't look like I'll be building my dream layout anytime soon unless I win a big Powerball jackpot but in the meantime I still collect equipment that would fit the layout, its depressing sometimes having all this nice equipment in totes. I do however have lots of locomotives.

Dave Vollmer is an excellent modeler and I just had an epiphany realizing that even he is using a small "temporary" layout. I think Dave's example is inspiring and I appreciate his view on the subject. I may just do what he is doing and build it !! Thanks Dave!

I'll bet that with the amount of talent on this forum an engineering solution for the cat issue will be solved easily. I guess the answer is just build the damn thing.

Kindred spirit,

Randy

[OldEastRR]

 Kiz, what was your dream layout supposed to look like? Did you have a plan, or prototype maps, or what? At least let us see the dream that you are quitting.

[Kentuckian]

Kiz,

There are always alternatives if you want them badly enough.  A temporary micro layout that would fit in a box when you are not working on/operating it.  Keep your 100 or so absolute favorite cars, get an engine and some unitrack, and play!

I know lots of us are all or nothing, but sometimes the 80% solution is better than nothing.  My HCD layout provides quite a few challenges for me.  I'm only modeling one little coal camp, but the rails are just as far apart as any huge club layout!

[towl1996]

I know you've been around since the Atlas days and hope you would continue to post, but you gotta do what makes you happy. 

[Kisatchie]

Kiz, what was your dream layout supposed to look like? Did you have a plan, or prototype maps, or what? At least let us see the dream that you are quitting.

The Dream layout was to be 40' x 65'. I was going to freelance my Kisatchie, Gulf & Northern RR, but unless I get my books published and they're big successes, no layout. I've been trying to find an agent for two years, but I went through the hundreds I found online with no success. Rats.


Hmm... no one wants to
read comic science fiction...

[Rossford Yard]

Just out of curiosity, what are your books about?  I have been in the same boat but am now working with a publisher.  Of course, the other option is e-books (which I am told sell quite a bit more than paper books now) and of course, self publishing and publish on demand, which probably cost, not pay.  I wouldn't count on getting substantially rich, unless you got Harry Potter or similar on your hands.....

That said, I agree that it seems extreme to not build a small layout.  If you went a switching layout on one wall, and put fascia above and below, you could probably fashion some kind of plexiglass fold down window, sort of like museums have.  Where there is a will, there is a way, although, the tone of your voice and lack of action over many years seems to brand you as more of a collector type model railroader.  I would at least use that one wall for a display case of the best and favorite rolling stock.

[cjm413]

I have a cat that I can't keep out of the only space I have in which a layout would fit.

Hmm... Kiz is a stubborn
nut...

I have the same problem with my 2 year old daughter 

[MichaelWinicki]

I'd be flipping cars for cash that I could turn into loco's, track, scenery supplies and structure kits.

Move 3K of cars for even $5 each and you've got more than enough for a layout the size you have to work with.

1. Bigger ain't always better when it comes to model RR.
2. See #1.

Every additional square-foot of RR space isn't just more $, but more maintenance.

As far as books go... And I have two myself... Very, very difficult to make any money with books UNLESS they're a lead generator for something else.  For a one-shot book on a particular subject the chances of making any serious money are less than tiny.

I'd work with the space you have and enjoy the heck out of the hobby. 

Cat's can have their behavior modified to an extent-- I've got 3 of 'em.

[conrail98]

I understand your predicament Kiz. I'm kinda in the same boat. I've sold off some of my excess and have been contemplating going even smaller then I was planning. I agree with Michael, you could flip your collection and get started on something smaller pretty easily, from a financial standpoint,

Phil

[gbcaboose]

I wouldn't throw the whole towel in just yet. The train bug could bite again in the future so you may want to hold on to some of your favorites.

Mike

[randgust]

Some of the unhappiest people I've ever met have great big layouts.   Of all scales.

1)  They usually don't run all that well and require way too much maintenance after track is down
2)  The territorial and financial battles usually come at tremendous personal cost (d-I-v-o-r-c-e)
3)  They rarely, if ever, reach the finished level where you can do justice in photography and exist mostly in the imagination of the builder
4)  God help you if you have to move or relocate, it's chain saw time.
5)  They only really thrive in an area large enough to have a crew to operate them.  If you're a lone wolf, it's rather pointless.

So I've been pretty happy with a semi-modular (movable) 8' x 5'6" since the 1980s'.   And some micro-layouts to go along with it, just keep building more of those.

I honestly have to say, if I had a big empty basement, I'd expand a bit, maybe, but I'd never fill one. 

I'm a firm believer that smaller is better, not just in the scale chosen, but in the role the layout fills in both the house and in life.

[amato1969]

Totally agree with randgust.  With a full-time job and two busy teenagers, my modest 12x16 layout is semi-finished at best.

Throw in other (non-train) modeling interests, and I am leaning strongly toward downsizing and becoming an HCD cult member...

  Frank