A Beginner Starting to Brainstorm

[LIRR]

If this is your very first layout, keep it simple. As your skills advance, your own work of a year ago won't be up to your own standards. B sure the structures are removeable as you will start over in less than a year. Good luck.

[jpec]

I'm hoping that if they are easily seen from metro that the Metropolitan Branch Trail gives you a good sightline as well.. Hopefully I can check it out in the next couple of weeks.

Be careful along the trail...I'm glad to see Uline being used for something other than an indoor landfill...

Jeff

[lordscarlet]

If this is your very first layout, keep it simple. As your skills advance, your own work of a year ago won't be up to your own standards. B sure the structures are removeable as you will start over in less than a year. Good luck.

Yeah, I keep scaling things back as I think about it and get feedback and learn more. I think (hope?) this current plan is fairly simple. Its still large -- but I'm afraid if I go to small I will never have the guts to pull away from that one and do a larger layout. My current (could change in 30 minutes, who knows) plan is an 18" shelf layout that wraps in an L where the long side is ~9.5 feet and the short side is ~5.5 feet. Your layout thread is bookmarked for inspiration, btw.

Be careful along the trail...I'm glad to see Uline being used for something other than an indoor landfill...

Jeff

Yeah, there have been some incidents there. However, they have largely been in the hours after school lets out, I believe. But I will keep my eyes open.

Currently it isn't much more than that, although they're doing a Beatles tribute show (50th anniversary of their show there) in.. February? Not sure how they're going to pull it off. Have you seen the plans for the renovation? http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/19491/historic-uline-arena-will-become-offices-retail-and-parking/

I haven't even mentioned the Union Station project: http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/919/171/Washington-Union-Station-Master-Plan-201207.pdf

[jpec]

After reading your thread last night, I got to thinking what a great "if I had a million" layout the Eckington/Ivy City/Trinidad area could be. What newcomers see as FedEx and new housing on theNorth side of NY & FL now were once expansive freight yards with many large warehouses. Eckington probably dispatched at least 5 locals a day to work D.C., up the Met, and over to Georgetown. I don't think there's a single freight customer served by CSX any more. Then move down to Ivy City where you had the roundhouse taking care of all the locomotives from different railroads serving the city. Now throw in Washington Terminal and all the work they did at Union Station as well as everything the Pennsylvania/Penn Central did...a lot of action for a small area back then but unless it's Amtrak or the commuter lines, trains hardly tap the brakes going through D.C. these days...
For a good historical perspective, check out Bruce Elliott's B & O photo CD's, he's usually at Timonium with the B & O Historical Society guys; if not www.rrslidesbybruce.webs.com one of his CD's has a number of shots of the area.