That first step from hoping to planning to building

[Keith Addenbrooke]

I’ve been holding back on this thought, as there could be a conversation way beyond the remit of Layout Design, so I’ll stay on message.  
 

This is the key step I took to get over the first hurdle on the journey from perpetual doodler to active layout planner and layout builder, just in case it is relevant to anyone else who never seems to quite get there.  It’s not something I’ve seen listed as an ‘intentional pre-planning’ step very often, but something that really helped me was a big clear out a couple of years ago, drastically slimming down the collection I’d built up.

 

The mechanics of the process aren’t for this Forum, but unloading a lot of stuff has had four distinct payoffs when it comes to Layout Design that I’d not really appreciated in full beforehand:

 

1.  It created space in my head just as much as it did physically.  I was no longer trying to achieve the impossible - trying to draw layouts that could never get built to accommodate a collection of fine models that kept gradually growing year on year (partly as a ‘layout substitute’).

 

2.  It actually increased my motivation - I found I became keener to make use of what I kept, and designing a layout has been fun.
 

3.  By carefully working through a disposal process, I was able to become more focused on the type of layout I want.  While this was an expected benefit, the payoff is that I’ve found it much easier to hold on to my budget (which is small) for the things I need for a layout.
 

4.  It helped me understand Layout Design as a process better: as I don’t have to be tied to everything I’ve ever had, it’s easier to see why experienced modellers embrace suggestions that sometimes seem to come from left field: the goal is now more open.  The constraints and priorities I have provide the framework, rather than a big pile of nice boxes.

Why share this now?  This weekend, for the first time, I could run a train on a test layout I had planned, on boards I had built and track I had laid and ballasted.  It wasn’t a moon-landing,* but as some of the track is up to thirty years old, the baseboards some 10 to 20 years old, the Power Controller about 15 years old, and even the bag of ballast was bought 6 or 7 years ago, something’s changed.  Looking back, the thing that made the difference first was the clear out.  Since then, the rest has become much easier, so I share it in case it helps.  
 

* despite the appearance of some of my ballasting.

 

Keith.

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by Keith Addenbrooke
(grammar)