Over the last year or so I have been researching and
thinking about different themes for my next layout. Sketching track plans, collecting
some rolling stock, misc. building kits, reading forums and websites, etc. But
very little actual modeling. My goal was
to have the next layout come out at least as good as the finished portion of
the last one. The down side is that in the same amount of time I could of built
two or three bad layouts and learned more and at least had a layout while I did
it. So with that said, I think it is
time to build something, anything, while I contain to work on the bigger plan.
Something simple, something small, but something that gets built and runs and I
can experiment with different construction techniques. I spent Sunday along the Michigan Southern, a
short line in south central Michigan. It seems to be a little line just begging
to be modeled. I think it is time to start building.
This sounds like the type of thing I've been telling myself a lot lately and I think it's generally true. I've actually started finding that sometimes in my analysis I'll consider an option not possible, but if I try it out on a small scale or with cheap components it is possible. A great example of this is that I always thought Sn3 was the best size for narrow gauge modelling but that it wasn't an option because only $1100 brass locomotives were available. This weekend however I, on a whim, re-gauged a cheapo $25 HO engine to Sn3 and found that not only was it easier than I thought but Sn3 is completely accessible to me. Planning and doing are one of those things that have go to hand in hand, even if it means part of planning is done by doing research projects that feed back into better planning.
ReplyDelete