[jlinde]

I suppose this could be filed under the making lemonade out of lemons category. My wife and I recently moved to Marblehead, MA (which is fairly close to Larry Mosher, actually) and I had to tear up my admittedly small layout in Virginia. We are working with a landscape contractor to level some of our backyard for the purposes of a new railroad, but in the meantime, I've been going nuts without someplace to run the trains. The solution? Take over the back patio! I've only got a little loop going currently, but it's good enough for the time being and does allow me play with my trains after work (note the visible wire has since been buried).

 

[jimtyp]

Whatever it takes to run trains! Nice temp layout!

 

[Rayman4449]

Looking good. At least you don't have to reballast with this setup. Is that an F or E unit?


Raymond

 

[jlinde]

The 2nd photo is of an Aristo E-8. Thanks for the support!

 

[jlinde]

Here are several additional photos of the E-8 in action.

 

[Guest]

That is the 1st time I like the smoke working on a E-8 or any other loco.
I mean I can just feel the engine working hard to pull, great shot!
Toad

 

[Rayman4449]

Boy those E units are nice. : )

 

[Dave F]

I've got a buddy with a pair of Burlington E-8's in chrome.. man they are something to see.

Really nice.

 

[jlinde]

I'm considering getting another E-8 - they're relatively inexepensive and run like tops.

 

[jlinde]

I do enjoy the MTH Dash 8's, also - they've taken some flack here, but they run flawlessly and have very nice detail.

 

[VillageRail]

Good idea to claim the patio. With a "temporary" layout you won't feel pressured to rush through the backyard layout. I've been working on the outdoor garden layouts in a series of stages over a couple years. Just recently my wife has begun to notice the Village is slowly taking over. If I had originally proposed just what I have accomplished so far, I'm sure it would have been vetoed. Instead I have managed to at least start on 7 of 8 planned tracks.

But the most running time actually occurs on "Track One", a temporary layout running through the house. I will set up various layouts with up to 200 feet of track and 6 turnouts. Then I can sit back in the recliner and watch television while the trains circle around the room. Depending on the layout, I can leave this up for up to a month. Complex layouts only last a few days before the wife and daughter start complaining about stepping on track. I picked up an Aristo point to point setup and a reverse loop circuit from LGB to eliminate the problem of having to cross doorways and hallways. Meanwhile my daughter is in charge of a handful of structures, a dozen cars and trucks, and around a hundred figures. Doesn't exactly qualify as "operations", but its a good way to bond and play with the trains at the same time.

Paul