JD
Thanks for the encouraging words and you are exactly the type of train fan this topic is aimed at. Does the 2035 in your forum name stand for the Lionel 2035 steam engine? As you probably know the 2035 is my last favorite engine for my 027 track and Marx switches and allow me to pull heavy trains with operating cars.
I found the planning of the track diagram went pretty fast. I would try to study other layouts to see where you might want to go in the future and try to plan for that or make it expandable if you can. I never originally planned to have or build the addition but fortunately it could be built in an L and that fit one of my living rooms and also other houses.
It will take time to accumulate train stuff to get good prices. Living in Illinois should be great for train meets and train club shows to met train guys who will be good contacts and sources for trains, track, switches, transformers etc. The north, north east and center of the country model train areas, way more than the south (colder winter up there, I play golf in Jan and Feb in south LA).
I made the main train board in three or four months (including control panel and homemade turntable) working some evenings and some weekends with family of 3 yr and 1 yr and leaving home at 6am, back at 6pm if lucky. The first Christmas we had the board, control panel, turntable and all track and switches. No new buildings but a few Plasticville and two from my kid layout my Dad had made. But trains ran and we had fun.
Charlie
