Ahhh... Fall is here! And with the coming of Fall, its time to spend more time in the train room! Despite my lingering ideas about building a new layout, this weekend I chose to clean the track, run trains, and take care of a few details.
One of the things that I decided take care of today was to finally do something about the 'blank space' referred to as the 'negative zone'. What I did was added in three buildings that, since completion, have say idle on shelves! Above (and below) are some photos showing where I placed the two
Vollmer buildings that I completed way back in December of last year facing the tram line with their backs to the main rail lines.
I also placed the "
Quinntopia Hospital" across the tram line from the Vollmer buildings. Yes, this alignment now makes absolutely no sense (did it make sense before?) with the tram line running right in front of the hospital!
There's some open tarmac around these buildings and the tram line that, I suppose, is just really poorly utilized parking spots right now; a good location for a future tram stop I think!
Looking 'down the road' (miraculously, the below is one of about 20 photos I took from this angle that was NOT blurry!) you can see the
Dali-esque inspired urban layout that the hospital/Vollmer neighborhood of the layout experiences! Ah well....at least they do get access to public transit (and at least there is now a reason for a tram to visit this line!).
The above experience should make clear why I am considering a new start for a layout...I've just run out of room but - unfortuantely? - not ideas!!!! No fear, I find it hard to part with things, so I am sure the layout will continue to stay well for quite a few more months or years!
That's it for now! Hopefully I'll have a few more updates on the layout and other N gauge hobby stuff shortly! Thanks for reading!
Looks great.
ReplyDeleteI've been avidly reading your blog the past month since I got back from Germany with a few minitrix trains and cars.
My dad has been into Marklin HO for decades. It just took a while for me to catch the bug.
Your blog is one of the best concentrations of good info for someone starting to get into N scale like me.
Thanks for taking the time for this!
Hi Jerry,
ReplyDeleteI didn't want to comment the previous post, it was a bit "darker" and seemed to indicate the artist needed some time alone ;-)
Nice to see ideas start pouring in. No matter what you decide to remove/improve, those layout pictures are already impressive.
I'm curious to see what's next!
Pierre
I just came back from a two-week vacation and what a nice surprise to see a new post! Please keep them coming..
ReplyDeleteMurat
Hi Wes, Pierre and Murat!
ReplyDeleteThank for all the really nice words! Its nice to know that my efforts on this blog to do something interesting are appreciated! Unfortunately, I just seem to have completely run out of time these past few months and have had little time to dedicate to the layout! It was a lot of fun to get to work on the layout again as I covered in this post, so hopefully I can get to a few more projects shortly!
Thanks again for your nice words - they really do mean a lot!
Hi Jerry,
ReplyDeleteIt's those rare finds that make us not want to miss even a GTE show. We've got one here next weekend and I'll be there who know what I'll find !
Glad to hear 4D Ntrak is still going strong, they are a great bunch. I had my modules in their (non-mountain division) loop in the Ntrak layout in 2004 at the National Train show held at the Seahawks Convention center.