palallin posted:Got bit by the SG bug once, stuck a whole foot into the water, and quickly realized I had nothing like the necessary resources to really swim. A shame, too: they have an unmistakable charm and ambiance that surpasses anything more realistic.
That may best describe my ventures into the realm of Standard Gauge as well. The toy charm has an unbelievable draw to it. And for awhile, I entertained the idea of a dual O-Gauge AND Standard Gauge layout. However, the sheer size of the resulting layout meant I'd probably need to build a barn in our backyard 
, which simply wasn't in the cards for a variety of reasons.
If you think O-Gauge requires lots of space, that dilemma only worsens with Standard Gauge. So at the end of the day, I opted to return to my O-Gauge roots when I designed the preliminary track plan for my new layout. But we did include some really cool built-in shelving on one end of the layout that will house some colorful Standard Gauge trains for display purposes. That's also the end of the layout where the O-Gauge accessories include a triple-span Hellgate Bridge along with the #840 PowerStation, Signal Towers, and Station/Terrace. So we managed to include those tinplate accessories that can work well in either an O-Gauge or Standard Gauge setting.
Once the layout is complete and I select those Standard Gauge Trains for the built-in shelves, I suspect I'll have a few remaining Standard Gauge items that will be listed for-sale soon. I've already started listing some Standard Gauge accessory items I won't be using on the new layout.
For many folks toying with the idea of big tinplate, I can easily see where being a member of a Standard Gauge modular club would be a GREAT way to satisfy one's draw to the shiny side of toy train life.
David
