All of these replies make me feel a lot better. I was under the impression most of you were up and running! In 2007 (?) my fiancé asked me "Are you serious about wanting a train?". I didn't even realize that I had been talking about something I liked since childhood but never had. So for Christmas I received a Lionel (didn't even know about MTH) RTR Rio Grande set. Put up the customary 4x8 plywood and immediately got bored. Found cheap porcelain buildings, got another 4x8 to make an L shape, bought another RTR set and had two separate loops........bored again! THEN I discovered OGR Magazine and saw what people were doing with realistic scenery and prototypical settings...WOW! I also discovered a great local train shop whose owner was above and beyond the first shop I visited. Dennis Brennan's book also motivated me! I started sketching on graph paper using scale rulers and curve templates (I was experienced with landscape designing as well as Art so this part was fun). Like many others here, I have a layout under development but I am frustrated that it is still a world of pink. I want to invite friends and my granddaughter's friends over but it is so far from completion that I am embarrassed. I want to start with the scenic work but keep holding back; the same with improving the wiring. Part of my problem is that I wanted to represent a certain area but it just is not possible in the space. Also, I would like to try to fit in a second mainline but that is not how it is in real life AND it means cutting away more space from the already too small town. Do I keep revising it until I am happy with it (is that even possible?) or do I just go for it, glue down what I have, wire, paint, scenic, etc.? Like the responses in another recent thread, I have piles of boxes of trains, MTH, Cornerstone & Ameritown buildings and kits (slowly getting rid of most of the porcelain), cars, trucks, people, and so on. I don't understand the mental block that I have with this (I guess that it is the permanency of it). I have designed and installed a similar size one as a temporary layout in town for the holidays and it is a great hit!
Mikki
