August 2016 Update

It's been over seven months since my last post here. I haven't completely given up on model railroading, its just become a lower priority the last few months. I've been busy with summer household projects and we have another newborn at home to take care of. I've still been thinking about the layout occasionally though and have even reworked the track plan several times in SCARM and done some minor construction. 

Another problem was that because of all the work around the house, my layout room was completely trashed up until recently. Now that I've got it cleaned up a bit, I'm more open to spending some time down there planning and working on the layout. I'd still like to get a track plan nailed down this year and at least be able to start running some trains on it. I just need to find a way to keep myself motivated. Cleaning the room was definitely a good start. 

The reason for redoing the track plan is primarily because I made the table a little too wide. I thought the reach would be comfortable for getting to the middle of the table, but after messing around on there for a while it's just too much. To alleviate that, I've decided to block off a rectangular section at the center of the table. This reduces my available space a bit, but will make for an easier modeling experience. Plus I don't have to dismantle the entire table this way.

I also decided to go back to having a wye, rather than a turntable. This wouldn't fit the way I wanted to at first, so I decided I must add a small 1' x 2' section to one corner of the layout. 

Here is the current iteration of the revised track plan with the center blocked off.

Revised track plan with the center blocked off.

To block off the center of the table, I built a simple structure using some hardboard and 1x4's. Once I have the exact location figured out, the plan is to sink it into the foam down to the same level as the plywood.

A look at the basic structure for the new center of the layout.

As far as the goals I laid out back in January, I don't need to change any of them. I just need to actually work toward them a bit more. I've still got a good chunk of the year to work with, so hopefully I can be writing a post four months from now showing that I've completed at least a few of them. Only time will tell I guess.

Goals for 2016

Goals always help serve as motivation to get things done. Over on my hockey card blog, I used to put together goals each new year and would use that as something to work towards. They weren't anything set in stone, but at least a guideline to help keep my focused throughout the year. It worked pretty well there so I'm hoping it will help with my model railroading hobby moving forward into 2016.

Goals for 2016

• Purchase and install the rest of the track and cork roadbed needed for the basement layout
• Complete wiring and DCC system hookup for the layout
• Be able to run trains and basic operations on the layout
• Purchase and build another structure kit
• Add some locomotives or rolling stock to my Detroit & Mackinac collection

While none of these are earth shattering, they are attainable and will give me a bit of a guideline for the next year. I've learned over the last six months or so that this hobby takes a lot of patience, but is well worth it in the end. I am giving myself the entire calendar year to just get the basement layout up and running, so hopefully I can meet these goals and then some. Just the fact that I am writing this post tells me I am in better shape than I was going into 2015. 

New Workbench in the Train Cave

As I mentioned in my very first post on here, I am working out of my basement in what we are calling the man cave, or as I've been calling it lately, the train cave. In reality, it is just a corner of our basement that I decided to take over as my own when we moved in. This space is home to all of my hockey cards and memorabilia as well as my train stuff. 

Back when I was working on my nursery wall layout project, I built a simple work table with a piece of plywood resting on top of two plastic saw horses. That worked for a while, but just wasn't all that appealing to me. The surface of the plywood was rough and covered in newspaper. Since I happened to have a good amount of pine board sitting around, I decided last weekend to finally cut it up and piece together a quick shelf to put up on top of the saw horses. I may build some legs and storage areas onto the bottom eventually, but plan to keep it as is for now.

A look at my newly built work space in the train cave. 

This new work space has already gotten me more motivated to work on several projects that have been sitting idle for a while. It gives me some more space to work, a nice clean and smooth surface to work on, and more importantly a place to store more supplies and tools. The best part is that I made it myself and didn't just buy it off the shelf and assemble it.