# Ever unpacked a layout's worth of structures after years in storage?



## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

So I've got the track plan basically done. The shot is from before I painted the benchwork, and I've changed it a bit, playing with ideas. I ended up eliminating all but one of the spurs coming off the loops, adding an additional spur in the West end, industrial park, and added a passing siding along the East straight stretch. Those Kato turnouts ain't cheap.

So now I've got all my old structures that have been sitting in totes for the last decade and a half out on the table, pretty much moving everything around every day trying to settle on what I want. I know that doing it this way sorta makes the structures more determinative than perhaps one would normally desire, but I don't mind. I love structures, probably my favorite part of the hobby. 

Here's the fun part, though: It's like a combination of reconstructive surgery and mystery solving (which building did that door go to? what's this wall section from?). I managed to keep the structures relatively intact, but the delicate details are definitely needing some attention (fire escapes, overhang roofs), and I've learned my lesson from rookie days about using styrene sheets for roofs that was too flimsy.

Anyway, it's fun, no rush. I get two weeks off for Christmas so I get to piddle around, fix stuff, add a little here and there, and even put together some new stuff. Life is good.

H/t to Art Curren, who was truly an inspiration for me.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Welcome to the forum. This will be an interesting layout build to follow.


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

Blowing the dust off he says, but that engine coming into the downtown looked pretty sharp !


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I spy a spot for a really large double-ended yard.


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## afboundguy (Jan 10, 2021)

I was given a large supply from a co-worker/friend who's father passed and I went to open up a cardboard box worth of old buildings and structures to organize them better in a plastic bin I purchased and there is nothing like that smell of old cardboard, old newspaper and old plastic structures... Brought me right back to my childhood!!!


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## J.Albert1949 (Feb 3, 2018)

Going downstairs in a few minutes to run my own Proto NH RS11.
Is that the 1407 or the 1404... ?


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

I’ve got a dozen or so structures from when I was little more than toddler age, and a handful that pre-date me entirely. I pull parts off of them to use elsewhere.


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## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

BigGRacing said:


> Blowing the dust off he says, but that engine coming into the downtown looked pretty sharp !


Yeah, that's new . Rapido RS-11. Beautiful engine. It amazes me the advances in the engines and control since '06. I have an SW1000 that you can see in the immediate foreground of that shot that's part of my original roster. Funny engine. Has an old N-scale decoder, no sound functions, and the motor is really noisy. Always has been that way. Oiled it and everything. Runs fine though, doesn't get hot or anything.


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## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

Gramps said:


> Welcome to the forum. This will be an interesting layout build to follow.


Thanks! Glad to be here and back in the saddle. The plan will be scenery-driven rather than operationally. I love seeing a long train rolling through a landscape.


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## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

MichaelE said:


> I spy a spot for a really large double-ended yard.


It's in three sections. Might be something for the future if I ever get a bigger space.


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## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

J.Albert1949 said:


> Going downstairs in a few minutes to run my own Proto NH RS11.
> Is that the 1407 or the 1404... ?


1404, built in my hometown, Schenectady ALCO works. Ended up operating in a quarry in Georgia, was purchased and now resides in a museum in CT awaiting restoration.


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## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

afboundguy said:


> I was given a large supply from a co-worker/friend who's father passed and I went to open up a cardboard box worth of old buildings and structures to organize them better in a plastic bin I purchased and there is nothing like that smell of old cardboard, old newspaper and old plastic structures... Brought me right back to my childhood!!!


Even those old Tyco power packs can spark that nostalgia.

Found a mouse nest in one of the cardboard structures. Thankfully no dead mouse.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

yankeejwb said:


> It's in three sections. Might be something for the future if I ever get a bigger space.


Is this only a temporary space, or are you buying?


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## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

MichaelE said:


> Is this only a temporary space, or are you buying?


It's my office, actually. I might be able to get a bit creative and eliminate a base cabinet that's on my left where I was standing taking the pic but otherwise space is pretty much spoken for. Don't plan on changing jobs anytime until retirement, but definitely wanted the layout to stay portable, so I could take it to the annual local train show if nothing else.


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## afboundguy (Jan 10, 2021)

yankeejwb said:


> Even those old Tyco power packs can spark that nostalgia.


Like this one? I can't throw it away no matter how old it is and the fact that I'll never use it!


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## yankeejwb (Nov 30, 2021)

Actually this was the type I had


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Yeah, those el cheapo transformers can really light the place up.


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## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

Chops said:


> Yeah, those el cheapo transformers can really light the place up.


(I love cheap).

Ooops! Did I just type that out loud???


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Well, I have to agree, cheap is good. Actually, there was some marketing study done not so long ago. Basically, it was determined that getting a deal on something for $5 gave the equivalent thrill of getting something for $500. 

But then, as Mae West used to say, "money can't buy happiness...But it can sure rent it."


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

yankeejwb said:


> View attachment 572924
> View attachment 572919
> View attachment 572920
> View attachment 572921
> ...


Very cool buildings! Looks like they stayed in pretty nice shape.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Looks like you pretty much came out with no damage over time. 

I had a lot more warpage in mine than you had in yours, but that might be because the last time I packed and left my layout in a box for a long time was when we moved from Pittsburgh to Norther Carolina, decades ago. I packed things carefully but I don't think the move did any good to anything, and then the stuff stayed in a box in the attic for maybe six years and the heat clearly got to several of the buildings.


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