Well, several years ago I started working on an 0-gauge train layout. I envisioned a somewhat different layout than I ended up. In my current basement, I dedicated a 14' x 14' space to the trains. Then I built two 6' x 7' tables and connected them with two 24" spans, one with a bridge.
My collection of trains started off with the Lionel Polar Express but it grew quickly with two eBay wins that resulted in adding a very fine K-Line Erie Lackawanna passenger set and an Erie Lackawanna ABA engine set. I also picked up a NYC steam engine and. Bunch of other assorted cars. Since then, I have added several more engines (mostly diesels) and cars.
My layout is primarily focused on the Erie Lackawanna and NY Central equipment that ran on the Northern NJ lines in Bergen County. I grew up in Tenafly and Northvale NJ and I spent many years seeing and hearing about and playing on and around the EL lines that ran through these towns.
I'm also a bit of a nostalgia buff with a focus on my family history and the places where I and my family grew up. For almost 3 generations, my family has lived and worked in this urbanized suburbia about 10 miles north and west of New York City. I moved to Atlanta in 1997 but I did not start playing with trains until after my son asked for a Polar Express train set about 3 years ago.
It did not take long to get totally sucked into the world of trains. O Scale takes up a lot of space and fortunately we have a huge basement. My layout has been a true labor of love, but after about a year and a half I stopped working on it because I was down to replacing some buildings which were place holders for more detailed ones.
Now we are considering moving to Florida. And that move will up end the layout come tell from 2 perspectives. First, the layout may need to be reworked to fit the new space, which at this time is completely unknown. To solve the problem of not knowing the potential dimensions, I have neglected to assume the space will be a one car garage or an attic. If its a garage the space utilization will need to be carefully worked out. If its an attic, I believe I will have a lot more space to work with. But either way, I know I need to redo the layout and stick with tables that can be moved.
To that end, I thought I would stick with a maximum 4' depth. But as I have come to learn, 4' is too great a Distance to reach the far side of the table. So I have set a 42" maximum depth for the new design. That said, there is some potential for the layout to change. But how?
Maybe I'll scrap the new design and rework the existing layout. I'm so confused!
