Modules VS. Layouts.... Which do you choose to model?

[Trucklover]

Hi guys,

im curious to see what all of us prefer to model on, Modules OR Layouts? Maybe a little of both? Tell us what you currently do.....

:hey: After you vote, tell us what you voted for and why you choose to model that way

[Trucklover]

Right now, i model on mostly Modules.

I had a shelf layout that i had started a little while back, but i recently tore it down to make room for more modules. Ive gone through 3 layouts in the past 4 years lol.

My current plans are to model the M&ET in Free-Mo Module Style. I also have 2 other modules already built, one with trains (my photo diorama) and one without trains (CAT Rental Module).

I also plan for a Steel Mill Layout somewhere in the future when i get myself a nice big house with a large room for it lol

[Russ Bellinis]

I only run trains at set ups of a modular club right now. I plan to build a layout as soon as this house remodel is done so that my wife and I can move out of what is to be the model train room and into the master suite. I would add that being part of the modular club for probably almost 15 years now has really focused my interest. I discovered what I really like most about the hobby and what I don't care much about. Learning what you like to do and don't like to do can go a long way toward saving money, and keeping a person interested in the hobby.

[Roger Hensley]

I model on a layout. It has been a long time getting to where it is now (1983 to date), but I can say that it is the same layout, just expanded. Now I am beginning my conversion to DCC and I have a couple of other plans as well.

[Puddlejumper]

I prefer a layout, though I haven't had one in a few years. I also am remodeling my home with hopes of a train room included when done. For right now, though, I am going to build a module to FCSME standards to work with modules some friends are building.

[jim currie]

I belong to a modular club and also have a home layout. the modular club is a great way to take the hobby to the public.
every year after the county fair (where we set up) we get several new members. also there at least 9 members of the
club that have home layouts some N , Ho, O and G
Jim

[Sumpter250]

I don't have 44' X 52' to build a layout in, but when I add my three 2' X 4' modules to the rest, we have a 44' X 52' layout to run l o n g trains on.
Being on active duty, I had to be able to move every three years, so, my 8' X 16' layout was modular. each module was 24" X 3' 10-1/2", so they would fit in a crate made of two 4' X 8' sheets of 3/4" plywood. That layout was finally "de-constructed". I don't have any place for it now.
There was this:    
From fifty years ago!

[MasonJar]

With no permanent space in the current house to install a built in layout, the possibility of future moves, plus the availability of a great local modular club (<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hotrak.ca">www.hotrak.ca</a><!-- w -->) I choose modular.

I have designed and am building the modules to operate as a sort of shelf layout when at home, but the will not be installed as such. The will simply be set up much as at the club, with the added avantage that they can be stored away if guests come and want to use the room...

Andrew

[ray_m]

I am working with both.
I am working with the Mountain Valley N scale group who have been building and displaying an N scale Modular railroad.
I have a small one piece N scale layout, a 4 piece sectional N scale layout that I am restoring and a sectional HO layout. I find the sectional layouts nice because they are able to be moved if necessary but you aren't limited to modual size or track arrangement.

[LynnB]

I've always built layouts but I'm quite interested in one day doing a small modular scene that is none rail functional but done up as a nce scene.

[Tom]

I have a layout, but I am in the planning stages for a new layout. That new layout will be built modular due to 3 reasons.

#1 - I can start now while living in an apartment. I can store the modules down in the garage and pull them out, bring them upstairs one at a time and work on them, and can also take them outside to do photos.

#2 - The new house will be a rented house, so I don't want to build a layout that will be fit to a particular space if I move from there. It also needs to be freestanding yet still around the room.

#3 - By building several of the modules to the standards we use at the museum, I can take a module or two to the museum when we assemble the modular layout for the public at away from museum shows, or special events at the museum like Railroad Days, Santa Trains, etc.

[iis612]

While I have always been fascinated with modular layouts, I have never built a module. There are no modular clubs near me, at least that I can find.
I have built at least 3 HO layouts, and I am working on my 4th. While there are several parts of layout construction that I don't care for, I take the good with the bad.

Matt

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I think an operating layout is best, at least to start from. Its one thing to build models, but its nice to run them to. after that, i think modules are a great way to build on and add to the layout.

I don't like the idea of modules for the sake of modules. If you got for modular construction, at least make it so that you have space to put a few of them together so you can have some sort of operating session. I mean, we don't spend hundreds of dollars on trains to let them sit! they have motors and gears for a reason!

I will build a module, only if it can be added to my current set up, and only if there is a realistic way to run through it.

[Russ Bellinis]

I think the only reason to build a module is if you belong to a modular club. For a home layout, sectional works a lot better like Dave Barrow's dominoes, but only if you are modeling a railroad located in the plains. Modules (other than fremo) are just too restrictive to be really practical for a model railroad. We do have one club member in the modular club who has built a module that fits into his home layout, and occasionally pulls it out to bring to a modular set up, but the need to have two mainline tracks at a specific location on both ends of the module would be too restrictive for a home layout to be built entirely to modular standards.

[RobertInOntario]

I dabble in both. I currently have two small HO (or British 00) layouts -- one is 4x6 and the other is 3x4. I have a thread on this (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=380">viewtopic.php?f=46&t=380</a><!-- l -->).

I've just spent the last several nights trying to fix & improve the larger one -- so far, I've resolved about 90% of the derailment problems. The 3x4 is simply a side project that I might consider expanding later into a 3x6 layout. Alternatively, if we ever move house, I could join these two layouts together or simply add other modules to them, especially to the 3x4.

I basically have small layouts due to lack of space -- we live in a small post-war bungalow in Toronto. The reason I'm into HO (and not N) is mainly because I inherited a large HO model RR collection from my Dad. If I were starting from scratch, I would probably have chosen N, simply for space reasons.

Cheers,
Rob