This is my very fist layout and I have always wanted one, so I'm very happy to share it with all of you!

Looking good Darius, like the mountain :thumbs


Ed

Hello Darius,

The track plan should give you a lot of scope but the return loop could be an issue.  Be sure to check out http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=10671&forum_id=6&highlight=sunil#p203627 and note the part about the return loop!

Glad to see you into your construction… putting a few of us including myself to shame really!!!

Cheers from Oz

Trevor

Hi Darius,

Great progress, especially the mountain. The paper maché is a nice touch. Lighter than plaster cloth and and less expensive (recycled recycling) and probably tougher. Thanks for the reminder about this almost free material.

Nigel

Well hello there…!After nearly a seven year hiatus, I've returned. Though there's not much to return to. 
I'm not sure exactly why my last post was when it was. I'm trying to think of whatever big events happened around that time, but I'm drawing a blank. 
I believe I was in grade nine back when I was last active on here. I'm sure I made a bit more progress on my layout after I stopped posting, but I have no idea what it was. Nothing major, but I do remember that for some reason I bought a ton of American & Canadian HO scale rolling stock… I think it was dirt cheap at a garage sale. Anyways, whatever few things that were happening on my layout were happening at a much slower pace. Then with grade ten, and grade eleven, and my first job, etc, etc, came less and less time. It's funny - I was just a kid but I'm writing like an adult or something  :roll:. 

In all this time, I really wanted to keep working on my layout, but there was very little I felt that I could actually do. 
Then that wrench came into my plans…. my parents moved homes in my first semester of  grade 12 (Fall 2018) Long story short, I finished up at  school and graduated a semester early, but all my modelling things went into a rubbermaid plastic container in my grandparent's basement, where they still are. At least they're safe! Except for the mountain and the baseboard and all that kind of stuff. It wasn't so fortunate.
Because I was working full time and saving for college, I never even tried to work on my models again. It's all for the best, because my parents have moved again, and now there isn't even a room I can call my own (gotta love Vancouver housing prices… also, growing up  ;-).)

So here I am - my final year of college, interning in Winnipeg of all places! For those of you that may ask what I went to school for (sorry if you weren't going to): I am attending Millar College of the Bible (my campus is in Salmon Arm, central British Columbia, about a 5 hour drive east from Vancouver). The first three years of the program were normal in-class studies, where we cover the entire Bible, along with other classes like theology, teaching, etc. In order to get my BA in biblical studies, I have to do an internship as my fourth year, to put into practice everything that I've learned, and I have a week of classes once/month. I am currently interning at a ministry (and the church they're connected to) that sponsors refugees to come here to Winnipeg, and then we help them settle here, which basically entails everything from getting social insurance numbers to learning what a dime is and everything in between, and not between that you can and cannot think of. It's very rewarding and super interesting. 

Now, for whatever reason, apparently I have decided that this is the time to get back into my models. I am very thankful that my account here is still active! 
All that being said, I have to sadly announce that this railway is dead. It is Kaput. No more. While I can't start anything for a while (my things are a mere 2,400 km away), I certainly can start planning and dreaming of what might be next… and be a bit more realistic in accomplishing things, now that I know a lot more about myself and what's next in my life. 
Anyways, that's all for tonight, but hopefully you'll be hearing again from me within the next few weeks. I will be in need of some suggestions and advice for the next big (but actually small) thing. 


edit/ps:  I tried to change my profile picture but for some reason it doesn't seem to have worked… It currently is me as a eight-year old, but I am a grown man now haha. Just thought you should know    :cool:

Welcome back Darius,
Sounds like the work you are doing is very worthwhile so well done you!  I also had to drop the hobby participation for the three years at College but I got there and you will too!

Perhaps some planning using Trainz might be in order for you?   Only trouble is is that I don't know if there is much Caledonian rollingstock available in Trainz but it has been a while since I have used it,

Hope to see some more of your "news" soon and definitely NOT another 7 years,

Cheers from Australia

Trevor

:hiWelcome back Darius! I too have had time out before beginning a new  adventure with N Gauge!
Have fun!
John

Thank you guys for the nice welcome back :) 
Trevor - just looked into Trainz and it looks like a cool program! At this point I think I'll just stick to Xtrackcad since it's what I know, and I fear that I'll really go down an obsessive rabbit trail if I start using a program like Trainz… hahaha. 

In order to actually have a working model railway, I have learned that I need to set very realistic and achievable goals… Therefore, I'm looking into more of a small shunting/shelf layout that's also portable (with strategic potential for expansion and connecting to other modules). That also means that I will press pause on the Caledonian focus. I'm just gonna use what I have, and have fun, but not be too concerned with how realistically the rolling stock matches. If the breakdown crane is being pulled by a CR train along with some passenger coaches, and on its way to rescue a GWR loco, oh well. 
As long as the Canadian rolling stock stays away…  ! (ironic)
That being said, if I ever get to buying new rolling stock and engines, the CR will probably be my priority. Even then, I don't think I'm such a purist that there can't be a few minor historical inaccuracies ;). 

Along with not having the biggest budget (though even as a student it would be much higher than 13-year-old Darius ever knew), part of my thought process for a lot of this comes back to one of those things I learned about myself: I was diagnosed with ADHD this past May, which in retrospect, explains a lot about the way I've done things in life, including my railway. Or maybe I should say, it explains why I haven't done things…!
I also just want to start with something small and reasonably achievable (not three years) as a way of proving that I can actually do it, and then the bigger modelling tasks aren't so daunting….
So far I am thinking: a small shunting layout using almost exclusively what I already have, maybe the classic "timesaver," built on a base that's small enough to finish, and be portable (current thought: the right size to fit on top of an ironing board - apparently I'm not the first to have this idea). What would you guys think is the smallest that one could realistically make the timesaver layout? In oo gauge.I also would want to have a track on at least one side, but maybe both, that I can connect to a fiddleyard, or eventually connect to an expansion or another shelf layout. 
Thoughts, suggestions? I should probably start a new thread for this…..
Hope that all makes sense….! 
These are my ramblings for today. 

Hi Darius,
Don't know if you can actually run trains on an Xtra Cad layout but Trainz you can definitely check the running of your trains on layouts you design.  Not sure how OO will go with a small station and fiddle yard on a ironing board but I for one would be interested how you go with that idea.   I think personally I would forgo the ironing!

Keep us posted.  

You might also be interested in the Railway Modeller Australia and I need a couple of younger authors for the mag if we can.  PM me if you would like the link!

Cheers

Trevor

Welcome back Darius. 

Don't know if you've already looked at the late Carl Arendt's site, Carendt.com.


Loads of ideas for small/micro layouts in various scales.


Tymesavers (Time Savers) are here within Micro Layout Design Gallery.







Ed

Welcome back Darius. A micro-layout appears to be just the job with which to get you started in the hobby again.  One book which I would recommend is 'Building Micro-Layouts' by Paul A Lunn (Published 2009 by Santona Publications an imprint of Book Law Publications.)  

 Terry