I feel that a layout is never finished. At any time you can get a new idea of how to improve an area, how to change things around, etc. If you get bored with it, that is a different question. Very glad to hear the CCMR is still going to be around!
Hey Chris, you're spot on. Sometimes introducing some variety into the hobby helps, including a new project. In any case, who knows when that'll happen. in the meantime, all the content coming up will still be starring my 3x7 in the basement.
Funny that you speak about the time it takes to do a layout. I am probably the world's slowest modeler. I started in May of '23 and I still don't have a complete mainline. I do have over 50 painted and lighted buildings, 5 bridges, and assorted rocks and scenic pcs. I'm getting there. I always tell myself it's not about the destination, it's about the journey to get there. Great stuff, my friend.....🤜🤛
As a simple observer I 100% agree with your assessment. Part of what I love about your layout is that it's not about the trains, it's a neighbourhood, beautifully modelled that happens to have trains in it... and more importantly: trains running at sensible speeds! I could imagine that at some point you could have the area evolve, like in real life, where you demolish an existing building over time, and replace it with something else. So to make the work part of the story-telling. Basically playing sim-city, but then physically. Then you move away from a static model that is getting more and more detailed to a more living site. Different mindset but I could imagine someone taking that approach. I wrote this before, and will say it again... amazing work.
Thanks again Arjan - it's funny because this layout has gone through years of evolution just like you say - many of the buildings in the early video of this layout from say 2019 moved elsewhere or even in some cases off the layout entirely! It's part of why I never glue down buildings and make all of the lighting plug-and-play. Always possible to swap in some new stuff just to open up options for specific operations or scenic elements.
Eric, I love your videos. To do what you have already done in N scale is incredible. A hobby is a hobby and it should reduce stress from day to day work. And with that said being a hobby, work it how you want it. I am not from Chicago but have been there a lot. My Chicago friends who are not even modelers say you capture it. I feel the same, as you can almost smell that area when looking at yours. The rusty metal, polluted water, oil, grease, garbage piled up outside cans. When I look at a layout and I think of smells those are outstanding. Keep it fun and stress free, but for sure keep it up.
Hi Bruce, thank you for supporting the channel and appreciate the kind words from you and your friends. Sometimes I also get a whiff of garbage down in the train room, though I suspect that might be sewer gas :D
Many times my wife has asked me, “What did you do today?” I would laugh and tell her: “You could come down and look but you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference” I retired 21 years ago and tore down my layout and started over because I finally had the time to build what I really wanted. I filled my 22’x13’ foot room in about 11 years and then proceeded to cut a hole in the wall and filled another room equal in size to the first one. I cut another hole in a wall and added a 4’x8’ addition. I love the creativity involved in the hobby. Last I looked I still have a bunch of track left so…… One last thing. As your resident White Sox fan I think a detail you could add somewhere is a tombstone with the Sox logo on it. This season is a disaster
No kidding, and I'm blown away by your layout. It's incredible. Love the Sox idea. At least in 1997 (layout year) they came in 2nd in the AL. Maybe I'll just hold on to that ;)
You actually looked at my videos? I’m flattered, thank you. Since you did, I’ll tell you that it’s entering another phase and I’m retiring the major passenger trains
@@tczephyr3665 of course! I learn a lot from everyone's layout content, yours included. The great thing about the community is precisely this opportunity to share and learn. Always goes in two directions.
So, I watched this video a few days ago and have been trying to think of the words I wanted to leave here. Firstly, don't fall into the trap of feeling like you have to have 'production schedule' or video schedule for TH-cam. This happens to so many creators and it only ever leads to burnout (I'm a prime example). Make the videos *you* want to make when *you* want to make them. The people who truly enjoy your content will be here when the video drops and that's all that matters. Secondly, as far as your layout being "done" and the idea of building a new layout goes, I say take the knowledge and experience you've garnered from this layout to build the next one. Whether it's a diorama layout or a full blown shelf layout, I'm all for gaining experience and improving techniques on a new project. I loved your reference to A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in your previous video, so imagine if Seurat just kept working on that one painting forever. Would it continue to improve? Or would he have been better using that experience to create more art? I think that's what you were describing at least lol. Point is, use your skills and mistakes learned here to make another work of art. I've spent the last 3 years working on my Cross Harbor layout and I'm ready to scrap it. Not because it's bad, but I made a lot of mistakes that I want to correct on the next one. And I learned a lot about scratch building that I'd like to incorporate as well. I'll still be modelling the same prototype, but I want to do it better this time! (also I want to start a video series on the process) Lastly, do what feels right and disregard all the comments here lol. I think a lot of us would love to follow you as you raise the bar in the N Scale fine scale modeling world and personally I'd love to see you make use of code 55 or even code 40 track (dare I say XD).
Shoot, before you scrap that layout ship it here to Colorado :). I seriously love what you built. To your points, couldn't agree more, quality over quantity and thank you for the reminder about burnout. I think it's a good rule like you say of content being a reflection of the hobby and not the hobby becoming subservient to generating content. Some days I just don't want to turn on the camera and instead just get immersed in the layout without worrying about generating footage. Totally good with honoring that. The point you make about art is actually a really interesting one. I've been a musician for many years and sometimes I'll go back and re-listen to records I've made, and hear choices I made that now I'd do quite differently. But I don't go open Pro Tools back up or book more studio time to revisit it. The record already hit its creative culmination point, and it's a document of an idea in time. I wonder to what extent a train layout is the same as a work of art that exists as a creative point in time, versus a dynamic project that never fully culminates and stops. It's all philosophy of art stuff that I (but probably not most folks) enjoy turning about in my mind. Despite that, I do feel excited about starting up something new as a parallel project. Nothing elicits more creativity than the blank canvas. If anything, it'll probably also provide refreshment for the current layout, and maybe new skills to take back to it if I choose. Thanks for writing in - always a pleasure.
Eric, first thing, so glad to hear you do not plan to dismantle the CCMR. It is just too good to take apart. I would suggest you incorporate it in your shelf track plan and use it with a minimum of adjustment. Build your modules so when the time is right blend them together. That way you can still run trains and your ( new layout is seamless) has the best of both worlds just running ops when you want and have a rail fan portion imbedded in the layout. My CSL caboose soon will start the weathering stage. I will keep you posted
Hey Will, always glad when you stop by the channel. Lots yet to come. Inspiration waxes and wanes, but it's too much fun to do something insane like sell or dismantle this little layout. I'd given thought to integrating the module(s) but I suspect i won't. I think sometimes for a work of art to stand on its own, you have to unchain it from what you did previously. I actually like the idea of having two different paradigms for model railroading in the same room together, even if the track doesn't connect (either that or in comes the non-prototype car ferry) :)
In the last week I've fallen down the rabbit hole of N scale model railroading. A week ago I was convinced I don't have the resources or space to even try. If you can't build a gigantic dream basement layout why bother right? I am now determined to build a 2x4 layout as a test bed to learn the necessary skills. Content like this is absolutely inspirational. Something I read yesterday said, "focus less on your track layout, and more on what story you want your railroad to tell." I feel like you have captured that. Chicago Crossing tells a story and it only becomes more rich/vivid the more details there are. I'd love to see some videos on how these scratch-made buildings are created.
Thanks and glad the channel is helpful to you! What you read is right, at least from my worldview. Having a track plan is nice, but it doesn't make a layout come alive without integrating into the surroundings. That's why I say it's not all just about the trains, but they do provide a reason for the layout's existence. For some that may not be important to their view of the hobby, for me it's essential.
I'm a few months down this path... Shelf layouts are cool if you don't "need" a loop. Personally, I want to let trains run so I have a rough 2x4 loop to play with while I work on a more detailed layout. Lets me experiment and make mistakes too. Definitely recommend starting with something quick and easy so you can play straight away. 2x4 is plenty big enough in N! My rough one fits behind the couch, it's 100% second hand and it's very fun. I've started with small scenes for my detail layout as practice and testing - 25x25cm squares. They get treated with much more care. I'm picking up new components for my detail layout and being able to play with the rough one let's me feel like I can take my time. Honestly, the detail layout is rewarding in different ways but it's more stressful too 😂
@@luciddaze248 I think it's great to be practicing with different genres of model railroad, and from an enjoyment standpoint you can't beat having options for how you want to run your trains. CCMR has been nice because the branch provides for a point-to-point style of railroading that mimics a shelf to some extent, but I do enjoy sometimes letting the trains just go round and enjoying the scenery and animation.
Hi Éric, that 3 story brick 13:07 building with missing exterior walls is georgous with roof vegetation and roof trees growing We can´t tell if it´s under renovation or demolition. With that see through, just a bit inside, so much possibilities with crane bringing or removing materials, machines etc. Covered, smashed or intact windows, it can turn in an endless project, and at the same time an easy one goofs forgiving. I love those kinds of building with story telling behind. Complete, partially demolished or sometimes just the historically facade remaining with structural beams add on to keep it standing while being rejuvanated in a new construction project. Happy 4th of july celebration.
I like that building too. I've thought about fabricating a similar structure and setting it above the track in the left corner where the 'tunnel' is. That would help resolve the idea that it's a mountain and more like an underpass beneath a structure. Happy 4th Daniel.
i agree about social media for model railroaders, we do have a pretty decent community and other than a couple of boobs that try to ruin it - it's a very supportive and insightful group. i like that a problem can be posted in a video and people will jump to offer suggestions and that expands the hobby's interest and knowledge. since you've taken a 'slow and go' approach, have you considered building the shelf layout above in a modular fashion? If you purchased say T-trak modules and slowly detailed and laid out each one before going onto the next and then eventually the whole thing would come together. You'll have CCMR to run if you get the itch to turn the trains on but you'll also have a place to fiddle with the fine details. If you could work in a small helix to connect CCMR to the shelf layout your operational potential greatly expands and that might also alleviate the need to revise any trackwork on CCMR which seems like it could be a disaster to the delicate details around it - not to mention the likelihood of slight track misalignment that would drive you nuts for the rest of the layout's existence. Glad to see you're not taking CCMR apart, however. that would be an absolute shame because it is a beautiful layout!
I've absolutely considered a modular approach, mostly to keep project scope and size manageable. Not sure I want to connect the two, I suppose I don't see a huge need to do so (plus the locations are sort of duplicative - odd to have a train move from Goose Island to Goose Island ;). )
I'm in the process of building my small layout plus a switching layout and I'm in the same philosophical spot as you. I ripped up and redid the tracks several times and now its scenery and structures and building up the details to match what I envision and what is practical/looks right. Thanks for your inspiration
Absolutely! Glad you were able to get things the way you wanted, I know ripping stuff out and starting over can be somewhat daunting but seems you've taken it in stride :)
AS we say at GmbH, we are not building toys, but we are also not building collectables. Just play with your train collection and have FUN with it. A layout is "completed" when you do not have fun with it anymore. Your layout looks awesome, even by European standards, and with 2 curved switches would also operate extremely nicely. Layouts are not meant (only) for display and scenery, but for operations: this is the reason why most Europeean layouts have stations as the main focus of the layout.
Hi Munteanu, completely agree with you and thanks for the kind words. The distinction between American and European layouts is really interesting - is this a reflection of the relative dominance of passenger service in Europe vs. freight operations in the US? I've seen lots of freight trains every time I've gone to countries in Europe, but never many local freight trains and sidings. I may have also just missed it!
@@ChicagoCrossingRR Real life operations has nothing to do with the way most people in Europe design their layouts. Simply put it, running a train in circles (or a variation of a circle) gets boring quite fast regardless of how well or how good is the scenery. That's why European manufactures invented the electric uncoupler, digital uncoupler, double traction in DCC or even the DCC itself. In this context, a train station provides variation in operation (similar to your industry line) and creates possibilities for further scenarios. I am fully aware that in reality, U.S.A. freight trains are extremely long and modelers often try to reproduce that. But here we have serious space constrains and most modelers from Europe usually run 2m/3m by 1m/1.40m layouts. We have lots of freight trains and many staging yards in Europe, but those trains usually move by at night, due to traffic constrains. Also, due to minimum speed constrains our freight trains are a lot shorter.
As someone who intends to build an N-gauge railway when I retire, and who was brought up in SE England, freight died in the 1960s with the growth in the road cult, and today it is almost absent. That's why (I think!) we hanker after the days of coal trains, pick-up goods, shunting yards, breweries with their own sidings, cattle docks ... I could go on!
It's worth looking at the works of the late Iain Rice who produced many exquisite small layouts (and produced plans for many more) of both US and UK prototypes. His UK models were primarily P4 scale (finescale 4mm/ft with scale track, rather than OO which uses HO track). He produced some superb works of art, a number of which are still on the exhibition circuit. Inkerman Street was a goods yard built as a Model Railway Journal project and is a prime example of a model in which the trains are almost secondary to the scene itself - they give it purpose but it works even when they aren't there.
Thank you Jim - I did a search for a few of Mr. Rice's designs and they look incredibly well thought out and set up for interesting operations. A great resource to tap into as I start figuring out how to compress the real Goose Island into a layout.
Yes the shelf in that room is ideal! Starting a new "switching section" that could be included in a shelf layout would be great. I really appreciate your details and videos.
I love the concept of railroad talk. I left a comment on your last segment. I will be 70 in November, so I'll never really finish my layout. I'm about to start the bench work on my new freelance layout. I have been making paper plans for almost a year. I spend a lot of time on buildings, rolling stock and vehicles. Once the bench work comes together, I'll have a lot of stuff ready. I look at a layout the way a war gamer looks at the gaming table. I want the freedom to be able to generate any scenario that you would encounter in real life. Could you start a new project and be able run trains from the layout you have now to the new project? Use the new project as an extension.
Thanks Paul, glad you've enjoyed the series. It's actually been a lot of fun to step out of the updates and how-I-do-this genre to get some dialogue going from people far smarter than me at this stuff. You have a really interesting take on the model railroad concept. It seems that's what the robust sectional track would really facilitate - being able to set up and take down layouts that offer different possibilities. I played a lot of micro armor as a kid so I absolutely get the idea. I'd thought of setting this up as an extension that maybe comes off of the yard, and I may make it compatible with the current setup, but ultimately I kind of like the small standalone option :) Great to hear from you.
One can argue a layout is done when the creator decides to do no more work on it. Whether they tear it up and start over, or run trains on what they built, the layout is done. And perfect can very well be "the enemy of the good" where one fiddles so much they wreck a good overall layout. A Goose Island Module ("GIM") would be a far better idea than tearing up the CCMR (I'm very, very glad you won't tear it up or sell it; there are many fine scenes/views/sights/work on the layout). You can take what you learned from the CCMR and scratch your "Goose Island itch" while keeping the CCMR running until you merge the two with a bit of trackage. While you spoke of the CCMR being reminiscent of the North Side of Chicago, you've so captured the grittiness of the steel mills, vertical lift bridges, and the old-school manufacturing, storage depots, etc. (did I see a grain elevator mimicking perhaps the old Cargil facility off Torrence Avenue, or the Port District off of I-94?) of the Southeast Side (South Deering/Irondale/East Side/Roseland) neighborhoods that your layout is truly art to those of us who have seen those scenes firsthand. They had their own stark beauty for those who could see it.
Hi Mark, thanks for writing. There does come a time when making big changes is self defeating so I’m looking forward to building out the module. All hand laid track, tons of detail and scenic focus. It is sort of an itch scratching situation as I don’t want to commit to a new ‘big’ multi module layout either.
Even with much to do on my "big" layout, I have started an Inglenook on a bracket-less shelf just so I can buy an eight sided dice and repurpose some 40' boxcars. I'm looking to be able to take the layout out of the basement to sunlight for photography and switching activities on the patio. I could see a tidy shelf layout above the CCMR with the inaccessible portions above the CCMR. Always great content, Thanks Eric.
Thanks Sandy - that's an additional benefit of the modular designs - I'd love to photograph some of my stuff in real sunlight, I think that's great. I've also toyed with the idea of trying to get Chicago Crossing out of the basement (everything comes off the layout) and maybe show it at some train shows in the area.
Good topic and some good thoughts. People all use different motivations, so every model railroader has a different approach to building, rebuilding, restarting, etc. Personally, I like building the models. Yes, I hope to overcome my wiring deficiencies and be able to operate trains and do switching, but the real joy is in building and painting and doing scenery. One of my personal considerations is the old Grim Reaper. I wonder if I would have time to start over, so I keep modifying the layout that I still have in construction. You sound young enough that this shouldn't be a big concern for you. You seem to have an artistic bent, so you have to decide, "Am I making art to please myself, or do I want to get appreciation from the people in the gallery?". I am quite influenced by other modelers but in the end I decide if the layout is pleasing ME. I really enjoy watching the episodes of Chicago Crossing, and I have already learned from you. I understand about a busy life. I had a 450year career in technical support to surgery, so my schedule was full and chaotic, plus I have a family. The models are my escape from reality. I hope you are able to balance career, home, family and other activites and still have time to enjoy the crazy hobby of model railroading. Thanks for putting out the stuff that you do.
Hi Gary, thanks for this, and really appreciate you supporting the channel. Long ago I decided that the layout was just for me, just as all of my other hobbies are. It lets me be pleasantly surprised when others are excited by what I do on the channel, without compromising my own enjoyment of the layout :)
Hey there, greetings from Boston~ Newtime view, and I just subscribed today. This layout has given me inspiration to start planing a similar layout in size and track plan. Just different era and geographic location. Hope to see more down the proverbial line. Cheers.
I did exactly what you discussed in this video. I went to a 12’x20” industrial shelf layout so I could go deep on a specific area and have hours of switching opportunity. I love it.
Time, space and money dictate layout size for most of us, you have built a nice looking and running Railroad that fit your purpose for now, and it also works perfectly for just railfanning too!! I love seeing different size layouts and scales, from yours and Boomers Diorama to bigger layouts like Tim Garlands Seaboard Central and Daryl Kruse's massive UP layout and also Norms Trains who models in O scale, when the Train bug bites there is no cure!!! I myself was bit at 5 years old with a ride on a NYC SW7 switcher in Anderson Indiana and Ive been a diehard Conrail fan since 76!!! Keep doing what your doing and I'll keep watching Eric!!! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
That definitely fits why you have such a strong connection to Conrail aside from the locale. I'd have loved a loco ride as a kid. Thanks for dropping back in, always great to hear from you!
@ChicagoCrossingRR My Grand Parents house was 30 feet from the North/South mainline of the Big 4 Dow line, NYC switched out Container Corporation 3 times a day and the Switch crew was made up of Conductor Don Staley and Engineer Bill Sailor who were friends of my Grandparents, in the Summer they would stop beside the house and sit on the porch with my Grandfather and drink Lemonade my Grandmother fixed, my Mom and Dad worked at a GM plant here in Anderson so my Grandparents watched me thru the day, one day they saw me watching them switch and Don Staley came up and told my Grandfather they were " taking" me for awhile, the set me in the Fireman's seat and we spent the next 45 minutes switching out 2 different spurs at the plant!!! Since then I've always loved a SW7 Switch engine and I've collected a few in HO still in NYC Livery, alas a few months after that ride NYC merged with the Pennsy and became PC and they sent the Switchers to other parts of the system and started using the GP9 on that job!!!!
Eric, Glad you are thinking ahead, but keeping CCMR. I have been so influenced by CCMR, I am learning a lot from you. Fact is it took several videos for me to realize, this was N scale, not HO, then I was really amazed. I have never lived in the Chicago area, only briefly visited a couple times. I am a Carman for the Union Pacific, Railroad family, based in Oregon. My goal is a HO Chicago area in 1964, based layout, with lots of interchange, but primarily The Milwaukee Road. I had a random encounter with a Milwaukee Road Bay Window Caboose in Portland, in 1975. I was hooked on The Milwaukee Road, from then on, then came Bill Denton's Kingsbury branch, and the rest is history. I grew up in the cabs of Switch Engines, so I like your thoughts on going forward a lot. There was a comment that suggested you work CCMR into the future plans. That could maybe work, connect off the stub yard behind the bakery. You layout is very special, glad you are keeping it.
Hi Sam, thanks for dropping by again and glad the channel has been a helpful resource! I'm really excited by your project plan, Chicago was an incredible railroading town insofar as local switching and industrial activity is concerned. Much of the industrial north side is gone, but still lots to see down south. 1964 is a great way to have your cake and eat it too - running small diesel switchers on busy branch lines with plenty to do!
As long as it holds your interest, is as long as you will keep it. I’ve done enough of them, and that’s always the deciding factor, ask my wife, she can’t figure it out, I was one of them, build, change, tear down, start over guys, the last one, had pretty much everything on my wishlist , but I finally stepped back and looked at it, it was too much, and it had turned into the spaghetti bowl, that I was trying to avoid, about that time, I was seeing the shelf layout’s and really weighed the options,( here’s a tip, if you have to duck under your layout to get into it to operate, don’t put your workbench on the outside of it) I did have a lift out, and a swing gate, but ended up going solid bench work because of track work, finally had enough and downsized? To a 2 ft wide shelf, I model in ho, around 3 walls, 26 by 12 by 12, which could have been half that size, but I always think I have to use it all, just the way I’m wired, I guess, but I’m into it a couple years, finally got the track layed out the way I want it, ( slow process, I’ll operate for a while and make adjustments, think I moved every building twice, to get a good flow of traffic/ operation, I’m a switching guy, ) but now I’m seeing the scenes and how you can immerse yourself in a foot by a foot, now this looks huge! So as long as it holds your interest, it’s never done! There’s always something that hits you and you want to add it to the scene, and on another note, I’ve been on a kick with the British layouts on you tube, their scenery is amazing! Along with yours! Well that’s enough, and don’t forget model railroading is fun!
Thanks for sharing all this history and insight Thomas. What I really like and respond to is the idea of test-operating the track to find out if it really does everything you want in terms of design, and not just as a means of checking for good electrical continuity and correct gauge. That seems like a really valuable strategy. I did a lot of that with buildings on my layout as you did, which is probably how I ended up with the optimized arrangement of structures here. Had I done that with the track, chances are the issues I occasionally run into on the layout would have been rectified early on. Good to know for the next one!!
Thanks again for all the great thoughts and whether you know or not "ideas" . I guess I didn't know you were living in Denver . I grew up in Colorado Springs . And I have mentioned to you , I lived for a short time int he Northbrook/ Highland Park area . So I have lived in quite a few states over my younger years . Your talent is way beyond my capabilities , but I will keep trying to make my layout better . Your layout is wonderful . Thanks for your content in this video .
Great to hear from you Steve. Beautiful area down there for sure - way long ago when I was a Civil Air Patrol cadet I'd figured Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy might be my destination.
A very insightful video. Thank you. I think I live in fear of ‘finishing’ the layout, because every layout I’ve ever called ‘done’ has met its demise shortly thereafter. I think that’s one of the reasons I expanded the trackplan to include the British section. Now that that section is essentially complete, I’m left with a very finite amount of work left to do. So, like you, I’m now considering another layout. It might be a switching layout, or perhaps a tabletop arrangement, but it’s looming out there. As far as the tunnels go, I tend to use them to hide unrealistic curves. That, and they add that disappearing, reappearing aspect as well. In the end, it’s what you’re pleased with that matters most. I think Chicago Crossings is a wonderful layout and certainly a work of art but I understand the itch to start a new page. I’m excited to see where you end up going. Brooklyn
Hi Brooklyn, I think that's true for a lot of people, once the layout is 'done' it sort of goes away and meets any number of fates. I kind of enjoy this current phase of having CCMR in a good enough spot to kind of live in the creative fogginess of what comes next, seems like you're in that place too. Just don't rip down your current setup, it's really fantastic.
Howdy Eric. In response to your growth from 20 subscribers to now, what I truly appreciate from your channel is your incredible work, your concise and clear explanations of techniques and reasons, the down to earth yet professional production of your vids, and of very high importance is to see what you've done in a 3x7 area as I'm working a HCD sized layout. I agree with an earlier comment about the future of CCMR, maybe consider incorporating the shelf to CCMR? I've been curious as to what radiuses are amongst your smallest. Have a great rest of the weekend Eric and thank you. 🙂
Thanks for the really kind comment and glad the channel has been helpful :) Not sure that I'd make the shelf an extension of CCMR, it's a plausible idea but it would probably be limiting down the line to treat the next steps as an extension of the layout versus as a unique work. I don't imagine I'll stop making content about this layout in any case (and don't know when I'd start a new module either!). Smallest radii are 8.75", enough so that the outward rear swing of an SD40 will derail cars without body mounted couplers!
It's kind of like the U.S. Constitution, as a living document. The CCRM railroad has multiple things that change in real life. For instants ....The Dog eating that slice of Pizza. ....finally!! (I miss Chicago Pizza so much) Moving vehicles around. Painting more graffiti on the sides of.....Everything. Facts of life in Chicago (all cities) is gang's come and go. gang art will always be there. Not sure if the work crews can move, but hey, why not. Once you get into "The Operations" of the layout and come up with car movements and Amtrak blocking everything, I think that it will become more fun and relaxing for you. And, I hope that you don't remove the Bridge/hill project.
Hey Jeff, always great to hear from yoy. The layout certainly does have that 'living document' feel, I enjoy the analogy you made. It's pretty dynamic all told. I find the most relaxing element is scenery. Adding new vegetation, pulling out the airbrush and hitting ties, buildings and overgrown plants...for me that's the zen moment.
Well said! I find too that creating scenes and improving existing scenes is more satisfying than actually operating my trains - might also be because my track needs a bit of work to make it more reliable. I'm also considering building a switching layout for my office. Maybe a section of Shinkansen line in Japan. But like you, I also have a full time highly demanding job and often in the evening I just don't have the energy anymore to do any modelling.
I've been impressed with how much railroad you've put together at high quality despite all the work demands, etc. It's a real challenge to get to the train room and do anything useful after a long day, I totally agree! I'd thought of maybe making a z-scale office layout, but then I wonder if I ever really want my career and my hobby to cross paths like that ;). If you do get started on something new, hope you share it on your channel.
This is a awesome layout. Um a um as the world keeps moving so does our model world. Yes your layout is very very well detailed. I think that your model railroad is just the right size. Not so big that you feel so overwhelmed. Or worse it does not reach the level that you have achieved. Oh by the way. They are not impirfections. As a famous artist always said. It is a happy mistake that can be fixed. You are in control of your world. The railroad will show you where the train will go. Where the cars go.and the little people that live in your world. They come and they go. They get on the trains to get to work . Do their job. The world is what you are trying to express. As simple or as complex as you want it. But making it your own and that you will not get board of your effort. Be satisfied of what you have accomplished. And what you want in the future without destroying what all your efforts you have used to achieve your current status. I like it and it stays with you. Awesome sauce. The thing with having the layout that you have completed. Is it really completed. Or have you got to grow beyond it. John Allen once said. A model railroad is not truly finished. Time changes everything. It controls the layout effects. Enjoy the hobby. Oh by the way. It is not a matter of where the train is going. What really matters is. Deciding to get on and starting a new adventure. ( Polar Express).
Thanks for the insightful comment - regarding imperfections I've come to realize that discordance between what I see on the layout and what others see. What I think are imperfections everyone who sees this layout simply accepts and enjoys. It's unlikely I'd ever be complacent with things I'm not personally happy with, but I've also learned to scale the urgency level in dealing with them to whether they really interfere with the overall experience and immersive quality of the layout :)
A very interesting assessment. I have a relatively large basement layout that started as a way to occupy myself during the early days of COVID lockdowns. It has grown into a 75% completed layout and like you I occasionally ponder where to from here, I am considering building a module or two to some standard such as Freemo linking via a spur to my existing layout. This may give 5h3 option to attend some group displays in the future. Regards Peter from Downunder (Australia).
Hi Peter, thanks for stopping by again. I really enjoy what you've built. I also think switching genres (big layout over to module for instance) seems like a really nice way to sort of refresh and take on a different side of the hobby and see how it suits you. Cheers!
If you're looking for validation on that question, you answered it yourself. When you've gone as far as your abilities can take you, and or, mama says you're done....you're done😂. And don't beat yourself up over the tunnel, who doesn't want one on thier layout...know what i mean, say no more😂😂besides, it has viaduct vibes to it, & you've earned your artistic license.
Hey Steve, I usually manage to ignore that tunnel...however I am thinking of placing an abandoned track up top of it as a subtle scenic nod to the loads of abandoned elevated trackage on the north and south sides of the city through the years :)
I think having a second layout focused on switching operations is a great idea. And keeping your first layout to go back to just when you feel like it is also sound thinking. My 1x6 HO switching layout is also starting to reach a plateau in its development, so I'm trying my hand at a small diorama to explore newer (to me) scenic techniques and to provide a platform for rolling stock photography. (My horde still has many unbuilt boxcar kits for my 1962 era that I want to build and weather.) I look forward to seeing the development of a Goose Island layout. I've watched a number of videos on that operation. Cheers from Wisconsin!
This is great Andrew - 1x6 seems like a nice size for an HO, I bet that's a fun 'little' layout to work with. The Goose Island operations were some of my favorites in industrial railroading. Mostly Geeps and SWs, short little trains and lots of street runs and interesting sidings. Cheers back from Colorado!
Eric, I've been following your videos for a while now. I love the "feel" of the layout and how much you have gotten out of such a small layout footprint. Thanks for putting it out there to inspire the rest of us! There's lots of interesting thoughts in the video and I can relate to some of them, having burned out in a way too big layout build. As you say yourself there's still stuff to improve on the Chicago Crossing but maybe that improvement is better done when building something new. Just a few comments that jumped to mind while listening to your video: - I've been loking into the mini/micro layout idea as well. I highly recommend James Hilton's channel for inspiration. - If building new please consider code 40 track. One thing that always gives away N-scale is the track and code 40 looks significantly better - at least on non-mainline tracks. - Uniformity of detail levels and "fineness" in the scenes is at least as important as the amount of details. - That tunnel works because it is in a corner and out of general sightlines. But a corner of an elevated freeway would hide the curve just as well. ;-)
Thanks for supporting the channel and appreciate your comments here, particularly the bullet points you included, you're spot on! It's a tall order to do some of the renovations to tunnels etc. as you point out, and to some extent it may be better to leave them be on this layout and pursue different approaches for hiding tight curves on the next one. Thanks for pointing me in James Hilton's direction - I'll absolutely have a look at that. Likewise, you nailed it. My intention is to make the next layout Code 55/code 40. Micro engineering seems to make a good product here and I think it'll be great to have more prototypical rail heights throughout (granted LOTS of the track on goose island is buried in asphalt and concrete, it was a street run fan's dream.
@@ChicagoCrossingRR As far as code 40 goes you don't want to use ME flextrack. Most wheel flanges hit the "spikes" and this is not just "pizza cutter" flanges. I've torn my ME flextrack up. Fasttracks is a much better choise even if their jigs are quite expensive. It takes a little practice but once you get the hang of it it is nice to work with. And considering what else you get yourself into you should be fine working with it. 🙂
@@cslundsten thanks for the heads-up on that. I figured at some point I'd try hand laying track, a small module seems like a manageable start. Were you using code 55 turnouts or handlaying those in code 40 as well?
@@ChicagoCrossingRR For some strange reason my previous 3 attempts to reply seem to have vanished in thin air? My current layout, "The Collennsville District", uses ME code 55 for its open staging yard. After all it was just a staging yard but eventually it turned into a little scenic exercise. The "real" layout is code 40, including turnouts. It is a secondary somewhat derelict mid 80s mainline and thus not very heavy track. Code 55 is oversized for even the heaviest standard rails though not all that much. I think a 132 lb/yd rail scales to around code 50. In my opinion the track is the worst giveaway for N-scale so I wanted to give the finer track a try.
@@cslundsten thanks this is good to know. All of the track on the part of Goose Island I'd be modeling is essentially branch line. Code 40 would probably be accurate for that. I agree, N scale track usually looks the part. I've worked with my track a lot to try and integrate it into the scenery on CCMR so it isn't as obtrusive, but stuff like tie spacing and rail height are always dead giveaway. The modular approach I'm thinking of would likely make the hand-laying less demanding since I can tackle it bit by bit.
Pretty straightforward (at least the basic stuff). The track was painted a rust color, airbrush or spray paint works well, I prefer the former due to better control. These days I'd shoot for a mix between Nato Black and Red Oxide to darken things a bit - this provides essentially a dark umber hue. For ties, I'll take a huge range of colors and airbrush the individual ties to get variation, similar to how Boomer does it on his channel.
@@conecuhvalleyttrak I suspect what I build may take on a sort of both/and dimension. For the finescale switching module my goal is to be using code 55 and maybe even try some handlaid code 40. Given the t-trak system is modular kato, that could be a really nice way to not sweat the track so much and go for other details on a different module.
Eric, I have question for you? How are you going to attach the people to the layout? I am not sure what to really use for my own diorama. Bruce in Minnesota
Hi Eric, Will you be attending the N-Scale Enthusiast Convention this year in Bethlehem? If yes, hopefully we can talk trains and as they say "put a face to a name". As for when is a layout done, I agree with you 100%, the layout is not done, we are done with the layout. I may have mentioned this before, but I think the majority of Model Railroaders are either, builders or operators. I know a few guys who are builders and have zero interest in prototype operations, so for them when the railroad reaches the 95% mark, their interests begins to wane and not long after that point, the saws come out and goodbye layout. Which within a short period of time, a new layout is started. On the other end of the spectrum, the operators I know, I have been operating on the same layout for years, but over that period of time, they've made track plan changes to improve operation. Only a couple have completely removed the original layout and started over, manly because there were just too many issues with the original layout, so it was more of a learning experience and those mistakes are improved upon and corrected in the next operation based layout. Now Eric, for your specific question, my advise is stop focusing on the end. Model Railroading is meant to be a "Lifetime" hobby. Stop worrying about if I start a new layout, will I ever get it finished. Now I think it's wise to build your around the wall shelf layout in sections, but don't put a timeline on when you think it needs to be completed. Just my personal opinion but I think too many folks get burned out in the hobby because they think they should have a layout constructed in x amount of time and when it appears they are not going to meet that deadline, they start working on the layout like a second job. This leads to layout burnout. A very good friend of mine has the traditional basement layout, but he built it in sections. The entire layout was built for prototype operations, but he didn't need to have the entire layout finished to operate the layout. Having one section up and running, kept the mojo going to build the next section. He's now been operating on that same layout for 46 years. But I think what keeps the interest going is, he's not a lone wolf operator and it's the crews that keep coming back have added to the longevity of the layout. My own 24" x 80" Hollow Core Door layout has been in existence now for 20 years. The track work is still the same as when it was first spiked down 20 years ago, but the operating scheme has changed over that time. But one thing that I found fun, was when a friend stopped by to run the local on my layout. It was neat to see someone else running the local and it was satisfying my idea actually worked with someone else at the controls. If you have a few model railroad friends nearby, I suggest you invite them over to just do a little switching on your layout, at that point you'll see your layout in a entirely new light. In closing, I very much enjoy your videos, thank you for uploading them and I look forward to more on your CCMR and possible a new Goose Island layout. Kind Regards, Rich S.
Hey Rich, thanks for all this. As you say, patience is everything, and no real need to get to the endpoint. I'll keep that in mind. Love your story about your layout, that's great to know CCMR is really kind of 'young' still (or maybe middle aged!). I don't know that I'd make it out to the N scale convention this year due to pre-existing travel commitments, though I'd certainly love to - Pennsylvania is an awesome state and I've never been to Bethlehem!
Hi Eric @@ChicagoCrossingRR The convention looks like it's going to be a great time. This is only my second N-Scale Enthusiast Convention, the first was a number of years ago in Pittsburgh. What's neat is the convention hotel is built on the former Bethlehem Steel Mill site and part of the mill is still standing. But I think I read, tours are not currently available of the site. Also if I remember correctly, I believe there are railroad tracks along the Lehigh River which runs beside the Hotel. As you mentioned, I can't make the entire week because of scheduling issues, but plan on driving over to Bethlehem Thursday and spending the remainder of the week at the convention.
One thing on ever model railroad I've ever seen - the cars/trucks and particularly parking lots just don't quite look "right" - I think it is weathering
I agree Charles. Vehicles are among the last objects I ever weather, so they look shiny and toylike in contrast to the other elements. Parking lots are funny things. I don't find they carry much scenic value and so I tend to compress them away or avoid adding businesses like big box stores that may require them in order to fit into context. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say 'you should check out that model railroad, it has a sweet parking lot on it' That said, getting pavement and concrete right does require a bit of artistry. I don't feel I've yet mastered blacktop pavement.
@@ChicagoCrossingRR watching this video, there are 4 vehicles I find jarring. The first and biggest (pun intended) is the yellow forklift. Maybe they look like that for a few days, but the yellow fades, the get scratched up, they inevitably leak, and they are usually old The green and copper colored cars back in the parking lot. Not sure why they look “wrong”, but they do. The last the the work truck near the front. They get beat up, they usually have “stuff” hanging on them, they need to”oily” panel lines etc. Thing is, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a model rr set after say the 1940s, EARLY 50s where the vehicles look “right”. I’ve seen old chain drive Macks look good etc. I think it is the paint. Even though you might keep your car clean and waxed, at 300-400 ft distance, air haze etc makes them look a bit faded. I was never good at it (I continued model building after I no longer had a RR). Even model race cars etc. they just never look “right”
Hi Richard, not really, at least in a practical sense. The room is too small to make something work well, and that's okay. To me CCMR has always been its own little world and I'm happy to keep the layout going that way.
th-cam.com/video/pVHf5F5FZGg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=raXEadBLyfC7eKOl Happy sunday Eric. I offer you a nice relaxation time with that video. It started like all layouts, then became a museum open to public. Ain´t too big with 1,271 miles of HO track. 120 locomotives and 1 560 railcars. If you ask yourself to expand just a little bit your 3 X 7 empire. Smart overhead "rolling bridge" for maintenance. Sub titles in english available Enjoy, you deserve it😊
You said it best it art it's like a painting will you destroy a painting that you finish no you won't I feel the way about model railroad that how I feel about my layout it's my art 2nd people complain about money why would throw away money like that I just take my time an as you say it's art keep the layout
Hi Anthony, sometimes there can be good reason to do a big modification. I suppose I haven't found reason enough yet. The one disadvantage of having a layout you love for a good while like I have is you may become more tempted to try and change it more than is reasonable, rather than to treat it as a product of its own time. So I don't see my self knocking out the tunnels yet.
Scale and date. Is the layout stop for ever august 3rd 1972 ? Or is it the seventies ? Or today minus 12 years (april 20th 2012) ? Just that point of time will dictate research time and modeling accordingly. The second one is more vague. The Beach Boys or Saturday night fever ? The third one implies that you follow new trends as they appeared. What if you model Conrail ? CR is gone. Repaint locos ? Old ones get scrapped. CN SD40 are no more. Your downtown streets cars must be replaced to. Money and work. Scale is funny also. The smaller the more intricate details are in. Like in that N scale project, while in O, there is still 3 rails track. On G, there is some buildings along track in the garden. Nothing is weathered except by mother nature. Flowers here, some tiny bushes there. In 1/8, where YOU sit ON your train there is almost nothing. The real surrounding scenery IS the layout. There is marvelous rolling stock. Ya a 40 ' boxcar is 6 feet long ! A UP Big Boy is 12 feet long. But for many a plywood four wheel critter not really too sexy is fabulous. They built it, sit on it, and that thing moves you and sometimes is even use for real chores on the property. Bigger scales also exist. You´re no more ON, but IN . If you continue you´re in full scale narrow gauge and so on. When any of them is really finish ? Never. Thanks and enjoy your week end.
I feel that a layout is never finished. At any time you can get a new idea of how to improve an area, how to change things around, etc. If you get bored with it, that is a different question. Very glad to hear the CCMR is still going to be around!
Hey Chris, you're spot on. Sometimes introducing some variety into the hobby helps, including a new project. In any case, who knows when that'll happen. in the meantime, all the content coming up will still be starring my 3x7 in the basement.
Funny that you speak about the time it takes to do a layout. I am probably the world's slowest modeler. I started in May of '23 and I still don't have a complete mainline. I do have over 50 painted and lighted buildings, 5 bridges, and assorted rocks and scenic pcs. I'm getting there. I always tell myself it's not about the destination, it's about the journey to get there. Great stuff, my friend.....🤜🤛
Thanks much and all good. Best everyone enjoys the hobby at their own pace!
All the small details make this a great railroad
Thanks Keith - despite the interest in setting up something new I'd be unlikely to stop work on this layout anytime soon.
As a simple observer I 100% agree with your assessment. Part of what I love about your layout is that it's not about the trains, it's a neighbourhood, beautifully modelled that happens to have trains in it... and more importantly: trains running at sensible speeds!
I could imagine that at some point you could have the area evolve, like in real life, where you demolish an existing building over time, and replace it with something else. So to make the work part of the story-telling. Basically playing sim-city, but then physically.
Then you move away from a static model that is getting more and more detailed to a more living site.
Different mindset but I could imagine someone taking that approach.
I wrote this before, and will say it again... amazing work.
Thanks again Arjan - it's funny because this layout has gone through years of evolution just like you say - many of the buildings in the early video of this layout from say 2019 moved elsewhere or even in some cases off the layout entirely! It's part of why I never glue down buildings and make all of the lighting plug-and-play. Always possible to swap in some new stuff just to open up options for specific operations or scenic elements.
Eric, I love your videos. To do what you have already done in N scale is incredible. A hobby is a hobby and it should reduce stress from day to day work. And with that said being a hobby, work it how you want it. I am not from Chicago but have been there a lot. My Chicago friends who are not even modelers say you capture it. I feel the same, as you can almost smell that area when looking at yours. The rusty metal, polluted water, oil, grease, garbage piled up outside cans. When I look at a layout and I think of smells those are outstanding. Keep it fun and stress free, but for sure keep it up.
Hi Bruce, thank you for supporting the channel and appreciate the kind words from you and your friends. Sometimes I also get a whiff of garbage down in the train room, though I suspect that might be sewer gas :D
Many times my wife has asked me, “What did you do today?” I would laugh and tell her: “You could come down and look but you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference” I retired 21 years ago and tore down my layout and started over because I finally had the time to build what I really wanted. I filled my 22’x13’ foot room in about 11 years and then proceeded to cut a hole in the wall and filled another room equal in size to the first one. I cut another hole in a wall and added a 4’x8’ addition. I love the creativity involved in the hobby. Last I looked I still have a bunch of track left so……
One last thing. As your resident White Sox fan I think a detail you could add somewhere is a tombstone with the Sox logo on it. This season is a disaster
No kidding, and I'm blown away by your layout. It's incredible. Love the Sox idea. At least in 1997 (layout year) they came in 2nd in the AL. Maybe I'll just hold on to that ;)
You actually looked at my videos? I’m flattered, thank you. Since you did, I’ll tell you that it’s entering another phase and I’m retiring the major passenger trains
@@tczephyr3665 of course! I learn a lot from everyone's layout content, yours included. The great thing about the community is precisely this opportunity to share and learn. Always goes in two directions.
So, I watched this video a few days ago and have been trying to think of the words I wanted to leave here.
Firstly, don't fall into the trap of feeling like you have to have 'production schedule' or video schedule for TH-cam. This happens to so many creators and it only ever leads to burnout (I'm a prime example). Make the videos *you* want to make when *you* want to make them. The people who truly enjoy your content will be here when the video drops and that's all that matters.
Secondly, as far as your layout being "done" and the idea of building a new layout goes, I say take the knowledge and experience you've garnered from this layout to build the next one. Whether it's a diorama layout or a full blown shelf layout, I'm all for gaining experience and improving techniques on a new project. I loved your reference to A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in your previous video, so imagine if Seurat just kept working on that one painting forever. Would it continue to improve? Or would he have been better using that experience to create more art? I think that's what you were describing at least lol. Point is, use your skills and mistakes learned here to make another work of art. I've spent the last 3 years working on my Cross Harbor layout and I'm ready to scrap it. Not because it's bad, but I made a lot of mistakes that I want to correct on the next one. And I learned a lot about scratch building that I'd like to incorporate as well. I'll still be modelling the same prototype, but I want to do it better this time! (also I want to start a video series on the process)
Lastly, do what feels right and disregard all the comments here lol. I think a lot of us would love to follow you as you raise the bar in the N Scale fine scale modeling world and personally I'd love to see you make use of code 55 or even code 40 track (dare I say XD).
Shoot, before you scrap that layout ship it here to Colorado :). I seriously love what you built. To your points, couldn't agree more, quality over quantity and thank you for the reminder about burnout. I think it's a good rule like you say of content being a reflection of the hobby and not the hobby becoming subservient to generating content. Some days I just don't want to turn on the camera and instead just get immersed in the layout without worrying about generating footage. Totally good with honoring that.
The point you make about art is actually a really interesting one. I've been a musician for many years and sometimes I'll go back and re-listen to records I've made, and hear choices I made that now I'd do quite differently. But I don't go open Pro Tools back up or book more studio time to revisit it. The record already hit its creative culmination point, and it's a document of an idea in time. I wonder to what extent a train layout is the same as a work of art that exists as a creative point in time, versus a dynamic project that never fully culminates and stops. It's all philosophy of art stuff that I (but probably not most folks) enjoy turning about in my mind.
Despite that, I do feel excited about starting up something new as a parallel project. Nothing elicits more creativity than the blank canvas. If anything, it'll probably also provide refreshment for the current layout, and maybe new skills to take back to it if I choose.
Thanks for writing in - always a pleasure.
Eric, first thing, so glad to hear you do not plan to dismantle the CCMR. It is just too good to take apart. I would suggest you incorporate it in your shelf track plan and use it with a minimum of adjustment. Build your modules so when the time is right blend them together. That way you can still run trains and your ( new layout is seamless) has the best of both worlds just running ops when you want and have a rail fan portion imbedded in the layout. My CSL caboose soon will start the weathering stage. I will keep you posted
Hey Will, always glad when you stop by the channel. Lots yet to come. Inspiration waxes and wanes, but it's too much fun to do something insane like sell or dismantle this little layout. I'd given thought to integrating the module(s) but I suspect i won't. I think sometimes for a work of art to stand on its own, you have to unchain it from what you did previously. I actually like the idea of having two different paradigms for model railroading in the same room together, even if the track doesn't connect (either that or in comes the non-prototype car ferry) :)
The more I watch, the more I do... The more I realize I'm not alone😊
True that. Thanks for dropping by Patrick!
In the last week I've fallen down the rabbit hole of N scale model railroading. A week ago I was convinced I don't have the resources or space to even try. If you can't build a gigantic dream basement layout why bother right? I am now determined to build a 2x4 layout as a test bed to learn the necessary skills. Content like this is absolutely inspirational. Something I read yesterday said, "focus less on your track layout, and more on what story you want your railroad to tell." I feel like you have captured that. Chicago Crossing tells a story and it only becomes more rich/vivid the more details there are. I'd love to see some videos on how these scratch-made buildings are created.
Thanks and glad the channel is helpful to you! What you read is right, at least from my worldview. Having a track plan is nice, but it doesn't make a layout come alive without integrating into the surroundings. That's why I say it's not all just about the trains, but they do provide a reason for the layout's existence. For some that may not be important to their view of the hobby, for me it's essential.
I'm a few months down this path... Shelf layouts are cool if you don't "need" a loop. Personally, I want to let trains run so I have a rough 2x4 loop to play with while I work on a more detailed layout. Lets me experiment and make mistakes too. Definitely recommend starting with something quick and easy so you can play straight away. 2x4 is plenty big enough in N!
My rough one fits behind the couch, it's 100% second hand and it's very fun.
I've started with small scenes for my detail layout as practice and testing - 25x25cm squares. They get treated with much more care. I'm picking up new components for my detail layout and being able to play with the rough one let's me feel like I can take my time. Honestly, the detail layout is rewarding in different ways but it's more stressful too 😂
@@luciddaze248 I think it's great to be practicing with different genres of model railroad, and from an enjoyment standpoint you can't beat having options for how you want to run your trains. CCMR has been nice because the branch provides for a point-to-point style of railroading that mimics a shelf to some extent, but I do enjoy sometimes letting the trains just go round and enjoying the scenery and animation.
A shelf layout or switching layout could be exciting! It would be a nice extension of what you already have. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely, thanks for dropping by!
Excellent layout great design realistic detail great work
Thank you Anthony!
Greetings from UK. Fantastic layout, so much detail crammed in, love it!
Thank you Phil, glad you enjoyed!
Hello Eric, I completely agree with your analogy. Thanks, Terry
Hi Terry, glad to hear from you!
Hi Éric, that 3 story brick 13:07 building with missing exterior walls is georgous with roof vegetation and roof trees growing
We can´t tell if it´s under renovation or demolition. With that see through, just a bit inside, so much possibilities with crane bringing or removing materials, machines etc. Covered, smashed or intact windows, it can turn in an endless project, and at the same time an easy one goofs forgiving. I love those kinds of building with story telling behind. Complete, partially demolished or sometimes just the historically facade remaining with structural beams add on to keep it standing while being rejuvanated in a new construction project.
Happy 4th of july celebration.
I like that building too. I've thought about fabricating a similar structure and setting it above the track in the left corner where the 'tunnel' is. That would help resolve the idea that it's a mountain and more like an underpass beneath a structure. Happy 4th Daniel.
i agree about social media for model railroaders, we do have a pretty decent community and other than a couple of boobs that try to ruin it - it's a very supportive and insightful group. i like that a problem can be posted in a video and people will jump to offer suggestions and that expands the hobby's interest and knowledge. since you've taken a 'slow and go' approach, have you considered building the shelf layout above in a modular fashion? If you purchased say T-trak modules and slowly detailed and laid out each one before going onto the next and then eventually the whole thing would come together. You'll have CCMR to run if you get the itch to turn the trains on but you'll also have a place to fiddle with the fine details. If you could work in a small helix to connect CCMR to the shelf layout your operational potential greatly expands and that might also alleviate the need to revise any trackwork on CCMR which seems like it could be a disaster to the delicate details around it - not to mention the likelihood of slight track misalignment that would drive you nuts for the rest of the layout's existence. Glad to see you're not taking CCMR apart, however. that would be an absolute shame because it is a beautiful layout!
I've absolutely considered a modular approach, mostly to keep project scope and size manageable. Not sure I want to connect the two, I suppose I don't see a huge need to do so (plus the locations are sort of duplicative - odd to have a train move from Goose Island to Goose Island ;). )
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the CCMR and model railroading in general. You’re asking a lot of the same questions I’m asking myself.
I kind of figure it's a common thing we all think about in the model railroad world :). - have you figured out any answers that work for you?
I'm in the process of building my small layout plus a switching layout and I'm in the same philosophical spot as you. I ripped up and redid the tracks several times and now its scenery and structures and building up the details to match what I envision and what is practical/looks right.
Thanks for your inspiration
Absolutely! Glad you were able to get things the way you wanted, I know ripping stuff out and starting over can be somewhat daunting but seems you've taken it in stride :)
I appreciate the content whenever you can put it out. Keep it coming!!
You bet Rick. Thanks for supporting the channel!
AS we say at GmbH, we are not building toys, but we are also not building collectables. Just play with your train collection and have FUN with it. A layout is "completed" when you do not have fun with it anymore.
Your layout looks awesome, even by European standards, and with 2 curved switches would also operate extremely nicely. Layouts are not meant (only) for display and scenery, but for operations: this is the reason why most Europeean layouts have stations as the main focus of the layout.
Hi Munteanu, completely agree with you and thanks for the kind words. The distinction between American and European layouts is really interesting - is this a reflection of the relative dominance of passenger service in Europe vs. freight operations in the US? I've seen lots of freight trains every time I've gone to countries in Europe, but never many local freight trains and sidings. I may have also just missed it!
@@ChicagoCrossingRR Real life operations has nothing to do with the way most people in Europe design their layouts. Simply put it, running a train in circles (or a variation of a circle) gets boring quite fast regardless of how well or how good is the scenery. That's why European manufactures invented the electric uncoupler, digital uncoupler, double traction in DCC or even the DCC itself.
In this context, a train station provides variation in operation (similar to your industry line) and creates possibilities for further scenarios. I am fully aware that in reality, U.S.A. freight trains are extremely long and modelers often try to reproduce that. But here we have serious space constrains and most modelers from Europe usually run 2m/3m by 1m/1.40m layouts.
We have lots of freight trains and many staging yards in Europe, but those trains usually move by at night, due to traffic constrains. Also, due to minimum speed constrains our freight trains are a lot shorter.
As someone who intends to build an N-gauge railway when I retire, and who was brought up in SE England, freight died in the 1960s with the growth in the road cult, and today it is almost absent. That's why (I think!) we hanker after the days of coal trains, pick-up goods, shunting yards, breweries with their own sidings, cattle docks ... I could go on!
@@anotherfreediver3639 really interesting point - I imagine this explains why I don't see a lot of 'modern' freight layouts from the UK.
It's worth looking at the works of the late Iain Rice who produced many exquisite small layouts (and produced plans for many more) of both US and UK prototypes. His UK models were primarily P4 scale (finescale 4mm/ft with scale track, rather than OO which uses HO track). He produced some superb works of art, a number of which are still on the exhibition circuit. Inkerman Street was a goods yard built as a Model Railway Journal project and is a prime example of a model in which the trains are almost secondary to the scene itself - they give it purpose but it works even when they aren't there.
Thank you Jim - I did a search for a few of Mr. Rice's designs and they look incredibly well thought out and set up for interesting operations. A great resource to tap into as I start figuring out how to compress the real Goose Island into a layout.
Yes the shelf in that room is ideal! Starting a new "switching section" that could be included in a shelf layout would be great. I really appreciate your details and videos.
Thanks Scott! I gaze at that ledge and the wheels turn in my mind every time I'm down there.
I love the concept of railroad talk. I left a comment on your last segment. I will be 70 in November, so I'll never really finish my layout. I'm about to start the bench work on my new freelance layout. I have been making paper plans for almost a year. I spend a lot of time on buildings, rolling stock and vehicles. Once the bench work comes together, I'll have a lot of stuff ready. I look at a layout the way a war gamer
looks at the gaming table. I want the freedom to be able to generate any scenario that you would encounter in real life.
Could you start a new project and be able run trains from the layout you have now to the new project? Use the new project as an extension.
Thanks Paul, glad you've enjoyed the series. It's actually been a lot of fun to step out of the updates and how-I-do-this genre to get some dialogue going from people far smarter than me at this stuff. You have a really interesting take on the model railroad concept. It seems that's what the robust sectional track would really facilitate - being able to set up and take down layouts that offer different possibilities. I played a lot of micro armor as a kid so I absolutely get the idea. I'd thought of setting this up as an extension that maybe comes off of the yard, and I may make it compatible with the current setup, but ultimately I kind of like the small standalone option :) Great to hear from you.
One can argue a layout is done when the creator decides to do no more work on it. Whether they tear it up and start over, or run trains on what they built, the layout is done. And perfect can very well be "the enemy of the good" where one fiddles so much they wreck a good overall layout. A Goose Island Module ("GIM") would be a far better idea than tearing up the CCMR (I'm very, very glad you won't tear it up or sell it; there are many fine scenes/views/sights/work on the layout). You can take what you learned from the CCMR and scratch your "Goose Island itch" while keeping the CCMR running until you merge the two with a bit of trackage.
While you spoke of the CCMR being reminiscent of the North Side of Chicago, you've so captured the grittiness of the steel mills, vertical lift bridges, and the old-school manufacturing, storage depots, etc. (did I see a grain elevator mimicking perhaps the old Cargil facility off Torrence Avenue, or the Port District off of I-94?) of the Southeast Side (South Deering/Irondale/East Side/Roseland) neighborhoods that your layout is truly art to those of us who have seen those scenes firsthand. They had their own stark beauty for those who could see it.
Hi Mark, thanks for writing. There does come a time when making big changes is self defeating so I’m looking forward to building out the module. All hand laid track, tons of detail and scenic focus. It is sort of an itch scratching situation as I don’t want to commit to a new ‘big’ multi module layout either.
Absolutely wonderful. Good to see you on again.
Thanks! Been a crazy month with another crazy one coming up. Thanks for dropping a line!
Even with much to do on my "big" layout, I have started an Inglenook on a bracket-less shelf just so I can buy an eight sided dice and repurpose some 40' boxcars. I'm looking to be able to take the layout out of the basement to sunlight for photography and switching activities on the patio. I could see a tidy shelf layout above the CCMR with the inaccessible portions above the CCMR. Always great content, Thanks Eric.
Thanks Sandy - that's an additional benefit of the modular designs - I'd love to photograph some of my stuff in real sunlight, I think that's great. I've also toyed with the idea of trying to get Chicago Crossing out of the basement (everything comes off the layout) and maybe show it at some train shows in the area.
@@ChicagoCrossingRR As great as your videos are there is no substitute for seeing a well crafted layout in person. It is a 3-D art piece.
Good topic and some good thoughts. People all use different motivations, so every model railroader has a different approach to building, rebuilding, restarting, etc. Personally, I like building the models. Yes, I hope to overcome my wiring deficiencies and be able to operate trains and do switching, but the real joy is in building and painting and doing scenery. One of my personal considerations is the old Grim Reaper. I wonder if I would have time to start over, so I keep modifying the layout that I still have in construction. You sound young enough that this shouldn't be a big concern for you. You seem to have an artistic bent, so you have to decide, "Am I making art to please myself, or do I want to get appreciation from the people in the gallery?". I am quite influenced by other modelers but in the end I decide if the layout is pleasing ME. I really enjoy watching the episodes of Chicago Crossing, and I have already learned from you. I understand about a busy life. I had a 450year career in technical support to surgery, so my schedule was full and chaotic, plus I have a family. The models are my escape from reality. I hope you are able to balance career, home, family and other activites and still have time to enjoy the crazy hobby of model railroading. Thanks for putting out the stuff that you do.
Hi Gary, thanks for this, and really appreciate you supporting the channel. Long ago I decided that the layout was just for me, just as all of my other hobbies are. It lets me be pleasantly surprised when others are excited by what I do on the channel, without compromising my own enjoyment of the layout :)
Hey there, greetings from Boston~
Newtime view, and I just subscribed today.
This layout has given me inspiration to start planing a similar layout in size and track plan. Just different era and geographic location.
Hope to see more down the proverbial line. Cheers.
Thanks for writing! Glad you enjoyed the layout and have fun building yours!!
Great layout. Awesome scenes.
Thank you Paul!
I did exactly what you discussed in this video. I went to a 12’x20” industrial shelf layout so I could go deep on a specific area and have hours of switching opportunity. I love it.
Time, space and money dictate layout size for most of
us, you have built a nice looking and running Railroad
that fit your purpose for now,
and it also works perfectly for
just railfanning too!! I love seeing different size layouts and scales, from yours and
Boomers Diorama to bigger
layouts like Tim Garlands
Seaboard Central and Daryl
Kruse's massive UP layout
and also Norms Trains who
models in O scale, when the
Train bug bites there is no cure!!! I myself was bit at 5
years old with a ride on a NYC
SW7 switcher in Anderson
Indiana and Ive been a diehard
Conrail fan since 76!!! Keep doing what your doing and I'll
keep watching Eric!!!
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
That definitely fits why you have such a strong connection to Conrail aside from the locale. I'd have loved a loco ride as a kid. Thanks for dropping back in, always great to hear from you!
@ChicagoCrossingRR My Grand
Parents house was 30 feet from
the North/South mainline of the
Big 4 Dow line, NYC switched out
Container Corporation 3 times a
day and the Switch crew was made
up of Conductor Don Staley and
Engineer Bill Sailor who were friends
of my Grandparents, in the Summer
they would stop beside the house
and sit on the porch with my
Grandfather and drink Lemonade
my Grandmother fixed, my Mom
and Dad worked at a GM plant
here in Anderson so my
Grandparents watched me thru
the day, one day they saw me
watching them switch and
Don Staley came up and told my
Grandfather they were " taking"
me for awhile, the set me in the
Fireman's seat and we spent the
next 45 minutes switching out
2 different spurs at the plant!!!
Since then I've always loved a
SW7 Switch engine and I've
collected a few in HO still in
NYC Livery, alas a few months
after that ride NYC merged with
the Pennsy and became PC and
they sent the Switchers to other
parts of the system and started
using the GP9 on that job!!!!
Your work is excellent. Thank you.
Thanks John!
Another great topic. It's never finished for me. I'm constantly looking for new ideas and improvements
Hi Ron, glad to see you’re finding plenty of entertainment and opportunity with your railroad!
@@ChicagoCrossingRR I do.
Eric, Glad you are thinking ahead, but keeping CCMR. I have been so influenced by CCMR, I am learning a lot from you. Fact is it took several videos for me to realize, this was N scale, not HO, then I was really amazed. I have never lived in the Chicago area, only briefly visited a couple times. I am a Carman for the Union Pacific, Railroad family, based in Oregon. My goal is a HO Chicago area in 1964, based layout, with lots of interchange, but primarily The Milwaukee Road. I had a random encounter with a Milwaukee Road Bay Window Caboose in Portland, in 1975. I was hooked on The Milwaukee Road, from then on, then came Bill Denton's Kingsbury branch, and the rest is history.
I grew up in the cabs of Switch Engines, so I like your thoughts on going forward a lot. There was a comment that suggested you work CCMR into the future plans. That could maybe work, connect off the stub yard behind the bakery. You layout is very special, glad you are keeping it.
Hi Sam, thanks for dropping by again and glad the channel has been a helpful resource! I'm really excited by your project plan, Chicago was an incredible railroading town insofar as local switching and industrial activity is concerned. Much of the industrial north side is gone, but still lots to see down south. 1964 is a great way to have your cake and eat it too - running small diesel switchers on busy branch lines with plenty to do!
As long as it holds your interest, is as long as you will keep it. I’ve done enough of them, and that’s always the deciding factor, ask my wife, she can’t figure it out, I was one of them, build, change, tear down, start over guys, the last one, had pretty much everything on my wishlist , but I finally stepped back and looked at it, it was too much, and it had turned into the spaghetti bowl, that I was trying to avoid, about that time, I was seeing the shelf layout’s and really weighed the options,( here’s a tip, if you have to duck under your layout to get into it to operate, don’t put your workbench on the outside of it) I did have a lift out, and a swing gate, but ended up going solid bench work because of track work, finally had enough and downsized? To a 2 ft wide shelf, I model in ho, around 3 walls, 26 by 12 by 12, which could have been half that size, but I always think I have to use it all, just the way I’m wired, I guess, but I’m into it a couple years, finally got the track layed out the way I want it, ( slow process, I’ll operate for a while and make adjustments, think I moved every building twice, to get a good flow of traffic/ operation, I’m a switching guy, ) but now I’m seeing the scenes and how you can immerse yourself in a foot by a foot, now this looks huge! So as long as it holds your interest, it’s never done! There’s always something that hits you and you want to add it to the scene, and on another note, I’ve been on a kick with the British layouts on you tube, their scenery is amazing! Along with yours! Well that’s enough, and don’t forget model railroading is fun!
Thanks for sharing all this history and insight Thomas. What I really like and respond to is the idea of test-operating the track to find out if it really does everything you want in terms of design, and not just as a means of checking for good electrical continuity and correct gauge. That seems like a really valuable strategy. I did a lot of that with buildings on my layout as you did, which is probably how I ended up with the optimized arrangement of structures here. Had I done that with the track, chances are the issues I occasionally run into on the layout would have been rectified early on. Good to know for the next one!!
Thanks again for all the great thoughts and whether you know or not "ideas" . I guess I didn't know you were living in Denver . I grew up in Colorado Springs . And I have mentioned to you , I lived for a short time int he Northbrook/ Highland Park area . So I have lived in quite a few states over my younger years . Your talent is way beyond my capabilities , but I will keep trying to make my layout better . Your layout is wonderful . Thanks for your content in this video .
Great to hear from you Steve. Beautiful area down there for sure - way long ago when I was a Civil Air Patrol cadet I'd figured Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy might be my destination.
A very insightful video. Thank you. I think I live in fear of ‘finishing’ the layout, because every layout I’ve ever called ‘done’ has met its demise shortly thereafter. I think that’s one of the reasons I expanded the trackplan to include the British section. Now that that section is essentially complete, I’m left with a very finite amount of work left to do. So, like you, I’m now considering another layout. It might be a switching layout, or perhaps a tabletop arrangement, but it’s looming out there. As far as the tunnels go, I tend to use them to hide unrealistic curves. That, and they add that disappearing, reappearing aspect as well. In the end, it’s what you’re pleased with that matters most. I think Chicago Crossings is a wonderful layout and certainly a work of art but I understand the itch to start a new page. I’m excited to see where you end up going.
Brooklyn
Hi Brooklyn, I think that's true for a lot of people, once the layout is 'done' it sort of goes away and meets any number of fates. I kind of enjoy this current phase of having CCMR in a good enough spot to kind of live in the creative fogginess of what comes next, seems like you're in that place too. Just don't rip down your current setup, it's really fantastic.
Howdy Eric. In response to your growth from 20 subscribers to now, what I truly appreciate from your channel is your incredible work, your concise and clear explanations of techniques and reasons, the down to earth yet professional production of your vids, and of very high importance is to see what you've done in a 3x7 area as I'm working a HCD sized layout.
I agree with an earlier comment about the future of CCMR, maybe consider incorporating the shelf to CCMR?
I've been curious as to what radiuses are amongst your smallest.
Have a great rest of the weekend Eric and thank you. 🙂
Thanks for the really kind comment and glad the channel has been helpful :) Not sure that I'd make the shelf an extension of CCMR, it's a plausible idea but it would probably be limiting down the line to treat the next steps as an extension of the layout versus as a unique work. I don't imagine I'll stop making content about this layout in any case (and don't know when I'd start a new module either!). Smallest radii are 8.75", enough so that the outward rear swing of an SD40 will derail cars without body mounted couplers!
It's kind of like the U.S. Constitution, as a living document. The CCRM railroad has multiple things that change in real life. For instants ....The Dog eating that slice of Pizza. ....finally!! (I miss Chicago Pizza so much) Moving vehicles around. Painting more graffiti on the sides of.....Everything.
Facts of life in Chicago (all cities) is gang's come and go. gang art will always be there.
Not sure if the work crews can move, but hey, why not. Once you get into "The Operations" of the layout and come up with car movements and Amtrak blocking everything, I think that it will become more fun and relaxing for you. And, I hope that you don't remove the Bridge/hill project.
Hey Jeff, always great to hear from yoy. The layout certainly does have that 'living document' feel, I enjoy the analogy you made. It's pretty dynamic all told. I find the most relaxing element is scenery. Adding new vegetation, pulling out the airbrush and hitting ties, buildings and overgrown plants...for me that's the zen moment.
Well said! I find too that creating scenes and improving existing scenes is more satisfying than actually operating my trains - might also be because my track needs a bit of work to make it more reliable. I'm also considering building a switching layout for my office. Maybe a section of Shinkansen line in Japan. But like you, I also have a full time highly demanding job and often in the evening I just don't have the energy anymore to do any modelling.
I've been impressed with how much railroad you've put together at high quality despite all the work demands, etc. It's a real challenge to get to the train room and do anything useful after a long day, I totally agree! I'd thought of maybe making a z-scale office layout, but then I wonder if I ever really want my career and my hobby to cross paths like that ;). If you do get started on something new, hope you share it on your channel.
@@ChicagoCrossingRR Z scale would be great too. So many ideas, so little time and energy!
@@pacificcoastminiatures heard :)
This is a awesome layout. Um a um as the world keeps moving so does our model world. Yes your layout is very very well detailed. I think that your model railroad is just the right size. Not so big that you feel so overwhelmed. Or worse it does not reach the level that you have achieved. Oh by the way. They are not impirfections. As a famous artist always said. It is a happy mistake that can be fixed. You are in control of your world. The railroad will show you where the train will go. Where the cars go.and the little people that live in your world. They come and they go. They get on the trains to get to work . Do their job. The world is what you are trying to express. As simple or as complex as you want it. But making it your own and that you will not get board of your effort. Be satisfied of what you have accomplished. And what you want in the future without destroying what all your efforts you have used to achieve your current status. I like it and it stays with you. Awesome sauce. The thing with having the layout that you have completed. Is it really completed. Or have you got to grow beyond it. John Allen once said. A model railroad is not truly finished. Time changes everything. It controls the layout effects. Enjoy the hobby. Oh by the way. It is not a matter of where the train is going. What really matters is. Deciding to get on and starting a new adventure. ( Polar Express).
Thanks for the insightful comment - regarding imperfections I've come to realize that discordance between what I see on the layout and what others see. What I think are imperfections everyone who sees this layout simply accepts and enjoys. It's unlikely I'd ever be complacent with things I'm not personally happy with, but I've also learned to scale the urgency level in dealing with them to whether they really interfere with the overall experience and immersive quality of the layout :)
A very interesting assessment. I have a relatively large basement layout that started as a way to occupy myself during the early days of COVID lockdowns. It has grown into a 75% completed layout and like you I occasionally ponder where to from here, I am considering building a module or two to some standard such as Freemo linking via a spur to my existing layout. This may give 5h3 option to attend some group displays in the future. Regards Peter from Downunder (Australia).
Hi Peter, thanks for stopping by again. I really enjoy what you've built. I also think switching genres (big layout over to module for instance) seems like a really nice way to sort of refresh and take on a different side of the hobby and see how it suits you. Cheers!
Great video
Thank you!
If you're looking for validation on that question, you answered it yourself. When you've gone as far as your abilities can take you, and or, mama says you're done....you're done😂. And don't beat yourself up over the tunnel, who doesn't want one on thier layout...know what i mean, say no more😂😂besides, it has viaduct vibes to it, & you've earned your artistic license.
Hey Steve, I usually manage to ignore that tunnel...however I am thinking of placing an abandoned track up top of it as a subtle scenic nod to the loads of abandoned elevated trackage on the north and south sides of the city through the years :)
I think having a second layout focused on switching operations is a great idea. And keeping your first layout to go back to just when you feel like it is also sound thinking. My 1x6 HO switching layout is also starting to reach a plateau in its development, so I'm trying my hand at a small diorama to explore newer (to me) scenic techniques and to provide a platform for rolling stock photography. (My horde still has many unbuilt boxcar kits for my 1962 era that I want to build and weather.) I look forward to seeing the development of a Goose Island layout. I've watched a number of videos on that operation. Cheers from Wisconsin!
This is great Andrew - 1x6 seems like a nice size for an HO, I bet that's a fun 'little' layout to work with. The Goose Island operations were some of my favorites in industrial railroading. Mostly Geeps and SWs, short little trains and lots of street runs and interesting sidings. Cheers back from Colorado!
Eric,
I've been following your videos for a while now. I love the "feel" of the layout and how much you have gotten out of such a small layout footprint. Thanks for putting it out there to inspire the rest of us!
There's lots of interesting thoughts in the video and I can relate to some of them, having burned out in a way too big layout build. As you say yourself there's still stuff to improve on the Chicago Crossing but maybe that improvement is better done when building something new.
Just a few comments that jumped to mind while listening to your video:
- I've been loking into the mini/micro layout idea as well. I highly recommend James Hilton's channel for inspiration.
- If building new please consider code 40 track. One thing that always gives away N-scale is the track and code 40 looks significantly better - at least on non-mainline tracks.
- Uniformity of detail levels and "fineness" in the scenes is at least as important as the amount of details.
- That tunnel works because it is in a corner and out of general sightlines. But a corner of an elevated freeway would hide the curve just as well. ;-)
Thanks for supporting the channel and appreciate your comments here, particularly the bullet points you included, you're spot on! It's a tall order to do some of the renovations to tunnels etc. as you point out, and to some extent it may be better to leave them be on this layout and pursue different approaches for hiding tight curves on the next one. Thanks for pointing me in James Hilton's direction - I'll absolutely have a look at that. Likewise, you nailed it. My intention is to make the next layout Code 55/code 40. Micro engineering seems to make a good product here and I think it'll be great to have more prototypical rail heights throughout (granted LOTS of the track on goose island is buried in asphalt and concrete, it was a street run fan's dream.
@@ChicagoCrossingRR As far as code 40 goes you don't want to use ME flextrack. Most wheel flanges hit the "spikes" and this is not just "pizza cutter" flanges. I've torn my ME flextrack up.
Fasttracks is a much better choise even if their jigs are quite expensive. It takes a little practice but once you get the hang of it it is nice to work with. And considering what else you get yourself into you should be fine working with it. 🙂
@@cslundsten thanks for the heads-up on that. I figured at some point I'd try hand laying track, a small module seems like a manageable start. Were you using code 55 turnouts or handlaying those in code 40 as well?
@@ChicagoCrossingRR For some strange reason my previous 3 attempts to reply seem to have vanished in thin air? My current layout, "The Collennsville District", uses ME code 55 for its open staging yard. After all it was just a staging yard but eventually it turned into a little scenic exercise. The "real" layout is code 40, including turnouts. It is a secondary somewhat derelict mid 80s mainline and thus not very heavy track. Code 55 is oversized for even the heaviest standard rails though not all that much. I think a 132 lb/yd rail scales to around code 50. In my opinion the track is the worst giveaway for N-scale so I wanted to give the finer track a try.
@@cslundsten thanks this is good to know. All of the track on the part of Goose Island I'd be modeling is essentially branch line. Code 40 would probably be accurate for that. I agree, N scale track usually looks the part. I've worked with my track a lot to try and integrate it into the scenery on CCMR so it isn't as obtrusive, but stuff like tie spacing and rail height are always dead giveaway. The modular approach I'm thinking of would likely make the hand-laying less demanding since I can tackle it bit by bit.
I’d love to see a video on how you weather your track
Pretty straightforward (at least the basic stuff). The track was painted a rust color, airbrush or spray paint works well, I prefer the former due to better control. These days I'd shoot for a mix between Nato Black and Red Oxide to darken things a bit - this provides essentially a dark umber hue. For ties, I'll take a huge range of colors and airbrush the individual ties to get variation, similar to how Boomer does it on his channel.
Maybe Its time to think about doing T-TRAK there are clubs everywhere.
For sure - there are a few of those in the Denver area where I live.
Agree. A 1x3 small switching layout could easily be done as a T-TRAK module.
@@conecuhvalleyttrak I suspect what I build may take on a sort of both/and dimension. For the finescale switching module my goal is to be using code 55 and maybe even try some handlaid code 40. Given the t-trak system is modular kato, that could be a really nice way to not sweat the track so much and go for other details on a different module.
Maybe you can always add more or change things or improve them but your layout looks great as it is now everywhere :-)
Thank you Thomas!
Eric, I have question for you? How are you going to attach the people to the layout? I am not sure what to really use for my own diorama. Bruce in Minnesota
I just use matte media. CA where absolutely necessary
Hi Eric, Will you be attending the N-Scale Enthusiast Convention this year in Bethlehem? If yes, hopefully we can talk trains and as they say "put a face to a name". As for when is a layout done, I agree with you 100%, the layout is not done, we are done with the layout. I may have mentioned this before, but I think the majority of Model Railroaders are either, builders or operators. I know a few guys who are builders and have zero interest in prototype operations, so for them when the railroad reaches the 95% mark, their interests begins to wane and not long after that point, the saws come out and goodbye layout. Which within a short period of time, a new layout is started. On the other end of the spectrum, the operators I know, I have been operating on the same layout for years, but over that period of time, they've made track plan changes to improve operation. Only a couple have completely removed the original layout and started over, manly because there were just too many issues with the original layout, so it was more of a learning experience and those mistakes are improved upon and corrected in the next operation based layout. Now Eric, for your specific question, my advise is stop focusing on the end. Model Railroading is meant to be a "Lifetime" hobby. Stop worrying about if I start a new layout, will I ever get it finished. Now I think it's wise to build your around the wall shelf layout in sections, but don't put a timeline on when you think it needs to be completed. Just my personal opinion but I think too many folks get burned out in the hobby because they think they should have a layout constructed in x amount of time and when it appears they are not going to meet that deadline, they start working on the layout like a second job. This leads to layout burnout. A very good friend of mine has the traditional basement layout, but he built it in sections. The entire layout was built for prototype operations, but he didn't need to have the entire layout finished to operate the layout. Having one section up and running, kept the mojo going to build the next section. He's now been operating on that same layout for 46 years. But I think what keeps the interest going is, he's not a lone wolf operator and it's the crews that keep coming back have added to the longevity of the layout. My own 24" x 80" Hollow Core Door layout has been in existence now for 20 years. The track work is still the same as when it was first spiked down 20 years ago, but the operating scheme has changed over that time. But one thing that I found fun, was when a friend stopped by to run the local on my layout. It was neat to see someone else running the local and it was satisfying my idea actually worked with someone else at the controls. If you have a few model railroad friends nearby, I suggest you invite them over to just do a little switching on your layout, at that point you'll see your layout in a entirely new light. In closing, I very much enjoy your videos, thank you for uploading them and I look forward to more on your CCMR and possible a new Goose Island layout. Kind Regards, Rich S.
Hey Rich, thanks for all this. As you say, patience is everything, and no real need to get to the endpoint. I'll keep that in mind. Love your story about your layout, that's great to know CCMR is really kind of 'young' still (or maybe middle aged!). I don't know that I'd make it out to the N scale convention this year due to pre-existing travel commitments, though I'd certainly love to - Pennsylvania is an awesome state and I've never been to Bethlehem!
Hi Eric @@ChicagoCrossingRR The convention looks like it's going to be a great time. This is only my second N-Scale Enthusiast Convention, the first was a number of years ago in Pittsburgh. What's neat is the convention hotel is built on the former Bethlehem Steel Mill site and part of the mill is still standing. But I think I read, tours are not currently available of the site. Also if I remember correctly, I believe there are railroad tracks along the Lehigh River which runs beside the Hotel. As you mentioned, I can't make the entire week because of scheduling issues, but plan on driving over to Bethlehem Thursday and spending the remainder of the week at the convention.
@@RWSBaden that's awesome Rich. It's pretty tempting, maybe I'll find a way to fit it in, if so I'll keep you in the loop.
One thing on ever model railroad I've ever seen - the cars/trucks and particularly parking lots just don't quite look "right" - I think it is weathering
I agree Charles. Vehicles are among the last objects I ever weather, so they look shiny and toylike in contrast to the other elements. Parking lots are funny things. I don't find they carry much scenic value and so I tend to compress them away or avoid adding businesses like big box stores that may require them in order to fit into context. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say 'you should check out that model railroad, it has a sweet parking lot on it' That said, getting pavement and concrete right does require a bit of artistry. I don't feel I've yet mastered blacktop pavement.
@@ChicagoCrossingRR watching this video, there are 4 vehicles I find jarring. The first and biggest (pun intended) is the yellow forklift. Maybe they look like that for a few days, but the yellow fades, the get scratched up, they inevitably leak, and they are usually old
The green and copper colored cars back in the parking lot. Not sure why they look “wrong”, but they do. The last the the work truck near the front. They get beat up, they usually have “stuff” hanging on them, they need to”oily” panel lines etc.
Thing is, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a model rr set after say the 1940s, EARLY 50s where the vehicles look “right”. I’ve seen old chain drive Macks look good etc. I think it is the paint. Even though you might keep your car clean and waxed, at 300-400 ft distance, air haze etc makes them look a bit faded.
I was never good at it (I continued model building after I no longer had a RR). Even model race cars etc. they just never look “right”
Is there more room to just add on?
Hi Richard, not really, at least in a practical sense. The room is too small to make something work well, and that's okay. To me CCMR has always been its own little world and I'm happy to keep the layout going that way.
th-cam.com/video/pVHf5F5FZGg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=raXEadBLyfC7eKOl
Happy sunday Eric. I offer you a nice relaxation time with that video.
It started like all layouts, then became a museum open to public.
Ain´t too big with 1,271 miles of HO track.
120 locomotives and
1 560 railcars.
If you ask yourself to expand just a little bit your 3 X 7 empire.
Smart overhead "rolling bridge" for maintenance.
Sub titles in english available
Enjoy, you deserve it😊
That is relaxing - also great to see highly accessible wiring underneath ;). That's a particularly relaxing bit.
You said it best it art it's like a painting will you destroy a painting that you finish no you won't I feel the way about model railroad that how I feel about my layout it's my art 2nd people complain about money why would throw away money like that I just take my time an as you say it's art keep the layout
For sure. I'd never get rid of this layout.
If anything add to what you have don't destroy it add to it
Hi Anthony, sometimes there can be good reason to do a big modification. I suppose I haven't found reason enough yet. The one disadvantage of having a layout you love for a good while like I have is you may become more tempted to try and change it more than is reasonable, rather than to treat it as a product of its own time. So I don't see my self knocking out the tunnels yet.
When you finally run out of money?
That is one possible reason…
Scale and date. Is the layout stop for ever august 3rd 1972 ? Or is it the seventies ? Or today minus 12 years (april 20th 2012) ?
Just that point of time will dictate research time and modeling accordingly.
The second one is more vague. The Beach Boys or Saturday night fever ?
The third one implies that you follow new trends as they appeared. What if you model Conrail ? CR is gone. Repaint locos ? Old ones get scrapped. CN SD40 are no more. Your downtown streets cars must be replaced to. Money and work.
Scale is funny also. The smaller the more intricate details are in.
Like in that N scale project, while in O, there is still 3 rails track. On G, there is some buildings along track in the garden. Nothing is weathered except by mother nature. Flowers here, some tiny bushes there.
In 1/8, where YOU sit ON your train there is almost nothing. The real surrounding scenery IS the layout. There is marvelous rolling stock. Ya a 40 ' boxcar is 6 feet long !
A UP Big Boy is 12 feet long. But for many a plywood four wheel critter not really too sexy is fabulous. They built it, sit on it, and that thing moves you and sometimes is even use for real chores on the property.
Bigger scales also exist. You´re no more ON, but IN . If you continue you´re in full scale narrow gauge and so on.
When any of them is really finish ?
Never.
Thanks and enjoy your week end.
Thanks Daniel, always great to hear from you. CCMR is mid-1990s (give or take when I want to run a cool train) so it's a pretty sweet soundtrack :)
Thanks for your good words Éric.