6.07.2014

Preparing for the Next Stage

Well, its all over!  I have to say, now that I've gone through the demolishing stage it feels both liberating and exciting!  I have lot's of photos and lots of memories of 'Quinntopia Versions 1 though 4' and (more importantly) experience and thoughts about what to do better.  The above photo is - of course! - the infamous yellow legs that once held the layout.  I have a simple little table top (originally used to set up a 1/32 Carrera digital slot car system!) that I've put on top to have a place to clean and organize all the stuff.

Speaking of 'stuff'....Baronjutter (one of the many great people I've met through this blogging experience!  I've said it before but its worth repeating if you are new to this blog: I highly recommend starting a blog to share your hobby! Or at least connect and share on one of the N forums!) made a brilliant point that demolishing a layout really only means the loss of scenery and benchwork.  My benchwork was pretty shoddy and the scenery looks old after a while, so really I've only lost a little bit of track.

Where's all the other stuff? Here it is!

Below is most of the track.  For the time being its crudely organized by manufacturer and type (e.g. "Kato curves", etc...) and still needs to be cleaned and better indexed so I know what I've got on hand.  Also, some of it might be sold as well!
 I have short little shelf that I use to store small buildings on.  Most of these will be boxed up for re-use....or sold!
 Some of the larger highrises awaiting storage....

 Again, my workbench, now unusable until I clear some space out!
As you can tell from some of the above comments, part of the process right now is to make room and select what pieces will be a part of the next layout.  I already know that a trolley/tram line is out (I love the idea; but I could never get my trams to operate well except at high speed!), large yards and/or lots of switches are out; and a terminal-end passenger station will also be out.  Which means this big monster is surplus!
While I know I want to sell it, its so large, its not easy!  It basically has three parts: The terminal, the canopy structure, and the platforms.  The biggest problem is that the platforms are about 65" (1.65m!) long!  Combine that with a station that is 16" wide and about the same tall, and its a nearly impossible structure to shop in one box...more like three! And I just question...with all the hassle of getting this ready to ship, the size of this thing, the cost of shipping....is there any return in it for me to even both selling it? Should I just hang on to it?  Maybe just sell it to someone in the local area (Seattle? :-) )
Well, the station and canopy can fit in one box (I believe the box below is 18x18x24 - which is a huge box for shipping and will easily put shipping costs close to $100!).  But is this stations still cool without the platforms?  Geez...what other maniac would even have a layyout to fit this on! Am I crazy! :-)
What do you think?  And how much do you think its worth?  Since I built it custom, I feel its pretty unique, but its also 'home-made' and there's really no reference point to compare this to.  I've obviously also got a lot of time put into this building, so I don't want to just give it away! Quite a problem!

I still have some other stuff to put on eBay, thankfully not quite as problematic as the 'psuedo Berlin' terminal shown above! But this one is sort of 'in the way' at the moment for me mentally.  Guess I'll clean track until I figure out what to do!

3 comments:

  1. Hi Jerry, I second all the comments and encouragements. Quinntopia will be reborn!

    Can't wait to see your choices and what wonderful landscapes you will come up with.
    And, since you know I'm more a geek that a layout builder, I am curious to see your (DCC?) decisions regarding driving and accessory control ;-)

    Have fun!

    Pierre

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  2. Jerry,

    Sorry to see you want to dismantle and sell the Berlin-style terminus. I'm aiming to build something more in the style of Frankfurt, ortherwise I'd consider taking it. ;-)

    Regarding being able to operate the trams reliably only at high speed, you may want to bookmark this page: http://www.glasmachers.com/ This guy is well known in the German model railroading scene and offers replacement worm gears for many European model trains that have excessively high top speed and miserable low speed control out of the box. Prices are reasonable, he accepts Paypal, speaks English and will ship to the US. E.g. replacement gears for the Kato KWG tram are EUR 35. I myself bought replacement gears for Kato's excessively fast ET 425 (which I have yet to install).

    M

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  3. Try a tram again! I had the same problem on my last layout but that's because actually plastering track and carving perfect ruts is VERY hard. I'm now using just tomix tram track and track filled with cut fills rather than plaster and it works great. A city just floating above a railway is ok but it lacks interest/movement. A tram is a great thing to have in a model city.

    Or if not a tram, why not some elevated rail system like a berlin S-Bahn or a Chicago "El" ? Just something to add some movement and trains to the urban core.

    Also will you post what you decide to sell?

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