# Parting is such sweet sorrow...



## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

When I decided to get back into trains again I immediately picked up an idea that stuck with me since I was a kid and poured all of my creative energy into it. I've been working on that plan since 2014 and have quite a number of concepts worked into it, spent many hours working out possible train routes to move cargo around, and expanded the industries around a couple of main suppliers. It could be beautiful, allowing lots of switching, endless-loop running and variations in between.

As I've been working on my small shelf layout, reality has come crashing down. The reach was always going to be an issue, requiring at least a three-foot stretch at best, but I had some ideas to work around that. It's just the sheer volume of everything, there's no way I would ever complete it. Yeah it would keep me busy for the rest of my life, but I think it's just too much. I need to scale back and not make things so hard on myself.

Unfortunately expectations have been set. There are some things I really liked about the plan. I've tried working on other concepts, and the one that has the most promise right now is basically a pair of reverse-loops wrapped around a large square with the loops overlapping and taking two full turns to go from one level to the other. It's a nice easy 1% grade allowing for a good sized trestle bridge (5" separation between the tracks), plenty of room for some narrow gauge logging, and a reach of closer to 24" in all directions. But it's just so... _square_. It makes me long for the aimless meandering of the previous design. Maybe I can work some of that back into this new plan. Maybe I can find a better way to scale back the old plan. I dunno. I'm just feeling really lost now.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

It may help to alter your mind's position on what is most important to you at this point. A substantial flaw in a plan is often a substantial impediment to the zip needed to get at it and to realize it. If you have been demurring, and have bled some speed over time because of new realizations, maybe you need to have a serious talk with yourself about what you really need out of the hobby and about running trains for fun.

We have a saying in the Canadian Army, "Time spent on recce is seldom wasted." * If all this time is what it took to get you to abandon a bad plan, and maybe a horrible time of it once it was all built, where's the problem? Give yourself a shake and get on with plan B...just like we do in the Army when Plan A doesn't work.

*Recce is short for reconnaissance, and we pronounce it 'WRECK-ee".


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

I think the hardest part of giving it up is that I _don't_ think it's a bad plan. In fact it's a pretty decent plan that incorporates a little bit of everything (trying to make sure I wouldn't get bored in the future). There's only about 70 turnouts which I planned to build, I could whip them out in a couple years or less, I just don't know how long it would take to lay all that track and get everything working. I really want to get some trains rolling but I haven't even had time to finish laying track on my shelf (I've been working on that for a full year now).

So despite really wanting to build what could my dream layout, I think I need to scale back and make everything a lot simpler. Worst problem is finding a new idea to start from.


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## Booly15 (Aug 16, 2017)

Shdwdrgn said:


> I think the hardest part of giving it up is that I _don't_ think it's a bad plan. In fact it's a pretty decent plan that incorporates a little bit of everything (trying to make sure I wouldn't get bored in the future). There's only about 70 turnouts which I planned to build, I could whip them out in a couple years or less, I just don't know how long it would take to lay all that track and get everything working. I really want to get some trains rolling but I haven't even had time to finish laying track on my shelf (I've been working on that for a full year now).
> 
> So despite really wanting to build what could my dream layout, I think I need to scale back and make everything a lot simpler. Worst problem is finding a new idea to start from.


I can identify, I just scaled back, big time, but at the same time, I am getting started, so I am excited about that, maybe I will build the dream, maybe not, but getting up and running in the next few months as opposed to 5 years, well that was enough for me. Good luck to you


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## breckheart (Mar 29, 2021)

Those blast doors close really slow. Geordi would have made it Showbox out.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Have you considered building it as a series of modules, completing one module at a time? Eat the elephant in several smaller bites.


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