July 14th Update: "One small step..."

I've been making a little progress, but work has been madness of late.

I managed to get some elevations dialed in. I need to plan next steps.

VIDEO UPDATE

N•RAIL Layout - Rev 03 Overview

I had a request for seeing what the whole layout plan was. Since I didn't actually design it on the computer, I just ended up freehand drawing up the overall layout so people could have an idea of what it looks like.

The main layout setup is very similar to my old layout.

Click for larger view

The bottom corner of the layout space (where the station is) will be another mountain / hill area. The elevated areas will be the cool, hillside track I wanted to get in.

Images of the layout space

 

STATION - middle right side of layout drawing

STATION - middle right side of layout drawing

 Lots of fun switching!

FACTORY - top of photo

The tram track loop will be street running. I'll have to research how to make that happen. :)

The tram loop back through Soyokaze

The elevated track area

Track leading to bridge area

BRIDGE - Left side of layout drawing

SOYOKAZE HARBOR - top area of photo

So, after playing around with this setup some more, I'm really thinking I'm set on the layout overall.  I have many of the things I've watched on my new rev. The play-ability of the layout makes this layout so much more fun than what I had. I have some challenges coming up, but they will be a lot of fun to work through.

I plan to pin and tack all my raised areas, get he track steady and working properly, then I'm going to play with it a while to make sure I'm still digging the setup before doing anything else. That way I can change things if needed. 

Comments welcome! Let me know if I may have missed an opportunity or if I've created something that might be an issue in the future!  

CHEERS! 
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Slowing down. Breathing. Taking my time.

 I've been making a real effort to slow....slow...SLOW down in this remodel process. There are many times where I get excited and want to keep pushing forward on completing something, but then I take a step back and think, "Wait - you're not doing that. That's not the plan. You're taking your time and making sure things are working like you want them to BEFORE moving forward." 

It's been working.






Yesterday, I was working and when lunch came around I thought, "I'm going to run to Berkeley Ace Hardware and snag that Woodland Scenics grade kit!" Then I thought a moment and reminded myself of the plan and forced myself not to go. Later that day after work, I played around with some options and found out that I actually changed the plan to something I liked more which opened up a whole other set of things I got to check off my WANTS list! I was really happy about that.

So....I'm moving slowly and thinking things through as I go. Whew.

My progress thus far.....

VIDEO

The new SHIZUKA area will allow for the same number of buildings, I believe. It's also at an angle, so it will not have the same blocky fel as the other setup had. 

I went with a raised track idea instead of trying to bring the track down again and I'm loving the idea. It gets me my raised track, auto tunnels, and another hillside - and on my WANTS list. So basically, the track heads up higher in the harbor area, then stays up high around the back of the layout, then comes back down into the yard and station areas.

A new hillside area will be in the bare plywood area

New tunnel areas for roadways will be a ton of fun...and another WANT taken care of.  The road will go under the tracks, then up into the new hillside area.

A new, functional yard area. I have spots for three yard area tasks - the shipping area, Factory area, and another area TBD where another industry can go. And best yet, the freight and high speed trains will share the same track, so I'll be able to run my freight around finally!

Shipping spur - the black area in the photo below - will be like it was last time for the most part. I may tweak this a bit more to get a loading ramp in the space as well. I'll play with it.

Again, a big shout out to Tom Barbalet from the MODEL RAIL RADIO PODCAST. He chatted to me about what I might gain from changing up my layout and it was a huge help in making the decision. I'm VERY happy with what I've gained from starting over here. It's made me really happy.

It's fantastic having a community of model railroaders to talk to about these sorts of things. There were many people on the Model Rail Radio and N Scale Model Trains Facebook groups that gave great input after I made the choice.