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I have done all the work on my layout, But its nice when other people join in, Its good to hear different ideas and sometimes they are better than yours.  We start these things without any knowledge of what to do most of us are not carpenters or electricians but we learn as we go so for its nice to have others come over and teach me new tricks I can use  

I do all the work on my layout by myself. However I have had help with laying the plywood and installing the supports and second level sheet of plywood. I do all the track and electrical work on my own as I used to be an auto mechanic and before that I went to 3 years of vo. tech. school for electrical work; half day vo. tech & half day high school.

Lee Fritz

Fantastic thread ! Keep it going ! There is insufficient time and space here for me to describe the original Munoz Lines and the folks who helped me with it. I had built a layout back in 2003 in the basement of my condo that was first "real" layout. Great fun with Gargraves track and Atlas switches. I had barely a clue what to do and the OGR Forum keep me afloat. Literally.

When Ginny and I bought a house here in Carmel, NY, having a great layout was a high priority. I had learned quite a bit after building the first layout but the basement in the new house had to be finished. My friend Joe, a civil engineer, and my friend Henry helped me and we did most of the basement work. Framing, tiling, painting. Plumbing and electric were done by the pros. By the Spring of 2010, we were ready to build the Munoz Lines. More on this later. I just had hip replacement surgery yesterday and this is as much typing as I can do.

Scrappy

I did all of mine myself (rr track plan, bench work, wiring, laying track) with some help on scenery from my wife (foam shaping/painting and ballasting). Lots of do overs and lessons learned.  Early on I did buy some built structures, but in the last couple of years have been building my own buildings and structures (some from scratch).  Latest projects include dabbling with customizing steam engines with paint and hardware modifications as well as attempting to build signals from scratch.  I really like to point to something on the layout and know it is unique and one of kind.

Last edited by Hump Yard Mike

I'll add this, it seems like when I finish laying the last piece of track, and I pour myself a big cup of coffee and run some trains...I start looking at how I can add another siding to fit more on the layout.  I thought I had finished several times, but I still do a little here and a little there.  To me, that's what makes it so fun.  As we speak I'm running two freight trains while I build a 1/32 scale ju87a, it doesn't get much better....LIFE IS GOOD!

Great Question, The Looney Lines RR Began late 1998, with many Local Hobbiest involved. A good friend helped me do the Frame Work, Build the L-Girders for the table frame and picking up all the materials, Plywood, Homasote, 2 by 4's, 4 by 4's, and we used a Delta 12 inch miter box and skil saws for our cutting procedures. Many Hobby shops were utilized fir purchasing all the Track...Train stores in NY supplied all the Cork Roadbed.  I did all the construction with friends. We had many Vice Grip Clamps in place, Levels, Jack Tools.  The layout is 17 by 38, walk around, walk under...Engines, cars, accessories are fairly expensive, but wait until you add Scenery...Get your wallets ready...To do Scenery, I was blessed with a retired Lt. Colonel and his wife that actually hid every mistake I made... it's been a Fantastic Journey, many pains, bumping heads, messy spills, and much Thinking. It's been interesting utilizing the Legacy Control System running the trains, Characters with Personality, Through Scenery, The Setting, and Backdrop for the trains to pass through. It's a voyage that sets your mind Free, forgetting the issues of work, ( your livelyhood) or even Honey do projects....It's your own Creation, large or modest....The man pictured did all my artistic work...Yes, friends in the Hobby make it even more fun....WOW!!!IMG_0063IMG_7824IMG_8006IMG_0073IMG_8053

 

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Images (5)
  • IMG_0063: Ray Ward, working on villages
  • IMG_7824: 911 and First Responders...
  • IMG_8006: Elevated portiont
  • IMG_0073: Rolling Thunder
  • IMG_8053: A scene

I've done three major layouts over the past xx years ... and now I'm working on my fourth after a move to the beach.    I did all the work on the previous layouts - with a little "scenic-ing" help from my wife on layout number three.

The new, current and in-progress layout uses Mianne benchwork (a dream solution, BTW) and my wife truly enjoyed helping me put the frame together - but I will do the rest.  She may spend some time doing a scene or two, though.

 

Yep, me.. myself and I !    And have enjoyed every minute of it, along with the bumps, scrapes, and bruises.  And sometimes I even get pinched or cut a little......   But really, it is a product of our own imagination, effort and realizations when the main, or totally singular, man power involved in one's self.  The moment(s) of satisfaction are beyond measure.. as are some of the "oh-ohs" and "ah shoots".  Yes, would be nice if there were others living in the area that had same interests and wished to be involved, lend a hand when the lifting gets heavy.  But, kids are all grown and still live in Texas.  And the missus has her own interests, as we are always going somewhere, enjoying all the activities and community civic programs in the OKC region. Have only been able to locate HO scale clubs around, and they are also far away.  So.... yes, and I get to claim, or explain, all the wonders and marvels of my O gauge empire.  Well, it will be if I ever get it completed.......

Jesse    TCA   12-68275

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