Liberty Industrial Spur

[FCIN]

So the question becomes - what is it that makes you abandon a plan and start looking for another?
Stein

I think that's the NUMBER 1 question you should ask yourself. You've come up with several nice plans/themes over the past few months. Any one of them would have at least provided a reasonable amount of operation and kept your interest, and ideas flowing, even if you never got any further than to have it operating and no more scenery than some structure mockups.

As Ralph pointed out, there is NO perfect track plan and there may be many things you'd like to include, but just can't because of space, time, financial considerations, etc. Actually being able to operate something will show you were you might need or want to change some things including the entire theme of the layout. But most importantly, it will give you something to do while you think things out in your search for that "This Is It!!!" layout.

Even though the track is just temporarily pinned to the bench work, I've had an operating layout for several months now and have made numerous changes to the basic plan/theme; some major, some minor, but it really helps to see what may or may not work and is getting me closer to the time when I'll start actual construction of what I hope will keep me busy for some time. Most of all, I enjoy being able to operate something when the mood strikes and that, more than anything else, keeps my interest alive.

Don't worry so much about what theme you want right now, but rather go back and look over the plans/themes that you've already come up with - select one - put the track down temporarily and get it running - put together some structure mockups - and then you'll have something to keep your interest up while you continue to plan. If, after a few operating sessions, you don't like something, then try something else. A switching layout theme may not even be your cup of tea, but you'll at least have something to keep you entertained, while you plan that larger layout with a different theme for the time in the future when you can build your dream layout.