Saturday morning. Coffee. I just cleaned out the wood stove, and washed the glass on the door of it with hot water and ash from the fire. Just sipping that coffee and waiting for the few charcoals I left in the box to catch the wood I put in after the cleaning.
Iwas awake late last night, watching YouTube, and doing some research on the California Zephyr, a train I rode when I was nine years old. Recently I got hold of an N-scale mdel off most of it. All I am missing is the B units to the engine compliment, which there needs to be two of for a mountain grade consist.
When I rode it, mom and I took it from Salt Lake City to Denver, the bit were there were of course, four engines required. Why couln’t we have gone from Denver to Chicago, where only two units were required? Oh well, it waas one of the most beautiful trips I have been on, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.
I suppose that I should really keep my complaints to a minimum becaause we rode that day on not only one of the most beautiful trains to ever grace American rails, but also on one of the most beautiful routes available to the American traveler.
Now that I am in posession of the train, it is necessary to establish the route that a layout will represent, the stops along the way, and things like the era that the layout will represent. My first inclination was 1980, the year I rode it. But that consist waas running from 1947, and so I could represent the 1950’s, and easily make it a sort of memorial to my riding partner, my mom, who was born in 1952. That is a decision that afffects things like the buildings, railcars and engines, and highway traffic on the side roads.
Nothing is yet set in stone. I am still looking at the space that will be available to me to establish a layout in this old house, and how things like parts of the mountain route can be represented. I am very inclined to a layout with two small main boards, and a connecter piece that allows for the mountain route. That should give space for a slightly curvy section of track, and room to really stretch the train out, as it is about seven feet long. Laying that on a two foot by four foot board would mean its engines would be in sight of the parlor car as it went around. That would not represent my nine-year-old adventure, at all.
When I was originally looking at the idea of getting started on a model railroad, I thought about just getting an oval layout from Hobby Lobby. But what they sell there in the $100 range is a DC layout that can really only operate one train at a time, and it fixes the buyer into Bachman track, which is not necissarily what is most desireable in the long term for a proper layout.
As it turns out, railroading has come a long way since I was a kid, playing with my own little HO scale, DC layout. For the enthusiast, the tracks now run on a constant voltage, and signals are sent through them to a decoder in the trains, telling them what to do, such as run forward or backward at scale specific speeds, turn on and off lights in the model, make sounds, such as a horn honk, or a bell, engine start, or different operating speed sounds. Model Railroading is miles ahead of where I left it in the 1980’s. And don’t you think I want to take full advantage of that, because for all of its reality in the 1980’s, one reason I did not fully get involved in it was because it lacked reality. Luckily, grown men build models, rather than play with toys.
Still, I know that rather than a point to point railway, I want to be able to run the model in loops, so there is that. That means both ends of the layout will have to be able to accommidate a u-turn.
Ambition says to me, move house, get a ideal farm, and a bigger space to build this model in, but practicallity says, just build in the space we have, keep it classy, and do it well. It will be cheaper, manageable, and in the end it will be a chance to share memories and inspire the younger generations with a fascinating layout.
So far, I have the bulk of the train. I also have a two foot by four foot layout board. I think the second large board I get will be closer to a four by four, or four by six, and they will set up in opposite corners of the room, with a connecting piece between. The two boards will unfairly represent maybe Denver and Salt Lake, or a couple of the stops between. The connecing piece will mount on the wall, and represent the mountains between.
Why is all of this important to me? Well, when I was looking at what to buy, I settled on a piece off personal history, and a special day spent with my mother, who is not with us anymore. That is the past. The present is the creative outlet, and the means to get away from the farm without haaving to actually leave it. The future is the children who will look on, and be inspired to create things themselves. After all, without art, are we human? I’d like them to see how to keep in touch with that for themselves, at least in one way.
The fire in the wood stove is finally going. I don’t think it is going to go out. Time to get moving on the day!