Discussions and Decisions
21/11/23 09:36 Filed in: Plan/Design
The route forward
A few years had passed since I removed the Winwood and Piedmont sections of my layout. That simplified the project and made it all fit in one room. Construction on the three room layout had stalled for years, and I found the one room version of the layout much more approachable and easier to work on. But over time progess began to lag on the one room layout as well.My friend Brian Bond was in town and dropped by. We discussed my predicament. Brian was familiar with my layout when it ran in three rooms and had attended numerous operating sessions. From the standpoint of a visitor, the three room layout had a lot going for it. My shop is configured to accommodate a three room layout. Being in three rooms made the layout seem larger to an amazing degree. The flow of raw materials and finished products was more linear and obvious. The prospect of operating the three room version of the layout was far more appealing.
I had decided to reduce the size of the layout from three rooms to one immediately after turning over construction of the Railroad Display at The Quarry Gardens to Rail Tales of Charlottesville. While I was working on the Railroad Display, my personal layout sat dormant and was in my way. Years went by without ever hosting an operating session. I wondered why the layout needed to extend into three rooms when there was plenty of space in the layout room alone. Upon removal of the layout from my office and shop, those spaces immediately benefitted from the layout's absense.
By the time of Brian's visit, I had fond memories of when the layout ran in three rooms. The problem had been that the layout "intruded" on the office and shop spaces, which were never planned adequately to have a section of the layout in them. Brian's suggestion for my route forward was to plan to extend the layout into three rooms again. An excellent idea that is reflected in the Project post titled "Redirection Along the Wall."
Initial plans to extend the layout into three rooms again