| Volume 40 Issue 9 | May 2001 |
| Volume 40 Issue 9 | May 2001 |
The only constant is change.
I’m discovering that first-hand myself. After getting all geared up to get my layout finished (at least, more finished!) for the MCR regional next year, I ended up spending last weekend crating it up and putting it into storage.
The about-face was started by a chance walk-by of a house for sale here in Tipp City. The property was enticing enough that we immediately put a bid in on it - how many of us could resist a property that offers not one but two 1000-plus square foot areas that could house a layout?
Unfortunately, inspection revealed a number of problems that forced us to nullify the contract. However, since we had already started the process of getting our house ready to put on the market (including disassembling the layout), getting financing in place, and otherwise mentally gearing up to move, we’ve decided that we may as well go ahead and get the bigger place we’ve been talking about sometime this summer.
The weekend I spent disassembling the layout proved out the wisdom of building it to move. The layout was built in seven sections, ranging in size from 4’ x 6’ to 16’’ x 36’’. The effort in doubling up the gridwork at the joints during construction was minimal, and I simply laid the subroadbed and track across the joints. The end result was that Sam Swanson and I were able to completely disassemble it, crate it, and store it in about one full working day. (This doesn’t count the eight hours we spent clearing out the under-layout ‘storage’ space!)
When I reassemble it, I figure it will take me between one and four hours at each joint to repair the track and fill gaps in the scenery. All told, I could probably have it up into its previous state within a weekend.
At one point, Sam lamented that we were causing some significant levels of destruction at the joints. My point to him was, however much time I spend rebuilding the layout joints, it’s much less time than would be required to reconstruct the entire section.
The other thing that I did with the layout design was to include a mainline that ran off the end of the layout at each end. This will allow me to incorporate the layout into a larger version, should I end up with the space to do that.
So, if you are in the process of building a new layout, or just thinking about it, please give some consideration to getting it out of the layout room and into a new space. Even if you don’t think that it will happen, it’s better to be safe than sorry. A few additional hours in benchwork could save you immeasurable time and anguish down the road!
April Meeting Recap
We had a great turnout at our April meeting at the Greene County Historical Society. Thanks to Dick Strous and crew for hosting us and allowing us to peruse their collection! Dick has also offered to host us until we get the arrangements at the Wright Library straightened out again!
Looking Forward
In May, we’ll be back at the Greene County Historical Society, with the program to be announced. If you have any program ideas, please contact Mark Stiver at the number listed in the masthead.
I won’t be at the May meeting, since also in May is the MCR regional convention in Louisville. We had about a half-dozen at the meeting indicate they were going - I’d love to see more representation from Division 3 - there’s a special reason for us to be in attendance, although I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. If you have never been to a regional convention, or if you want to see what we’ve gotten ourselves into for next year, get yourself to Louisville!
Happy Modeling!
Ray
© 2001 Division 3, MCR, NMRA