Wow, over a year since my last update. Well a whole lot's happened on the old CFRR. Ive added onto it and changed things around. But that's not why I'm here. There's been another huge change in my life. I got married and my wife and I bought a house. The house has a huge bonus room that's just begging for a ginormous train layout. You know what that means right? Bingo! It's the end of the line for the current CFRR.
The CFRR will be around for a few more months but will ultimately be either sold or dismantled to make room for the new layout. I must say the CFRR has been a great little layout. I ended up meeting all of my original goals and creating what was, to me at the time, the perfect layout. But things change.
Over the past few months my tastes in modeling began to change. For one thing I've come to the realization that freelancing simply isn't doing it for me anymore. When you build a complete fantasy railroad like the CFRR, you have to come up with a back story. Why was the line built? Where does it go? What does it carry? It's exhausting. When you model a prototype, you don't have to think about that stuff.
I'm also very interested in operating a model railroad. Watching the trains run in circles gets boring fast. But having a bunch of guys over and actually simulating the operations of a real railroad? Sound like fun to me.
When the CFRR was first built, I had four locomotives and a handful of freight cars. I didn't own any steam engines, long diesels or passenger cars. As such the layout wasn't really designed for them. I've since acquired some and they don't look good or run well on the layout. I'm looking forward to having broader curves and using Atlas' newer and nicer looking Code 55 track.
Also, since the layout was built in apartment, it would have to be portable and move with me every so often, which it did. Unfortunately during its most recent move, it took a beating. Nothing too terrible but still damage that's not worth repairing at this point.
I knowing I'm bashing the old CFRR a bit but I must say, I am proud of my accomplishment. I will be sad to see the CFRR become a fallen flag. But I'm also very excited about the new layout; I felt the same way starting Cherokee. I guess this entry's title sums it up; every new beginning comes from some other beggining's end. And in case you;re wondering, yes, the title is a reference to the Semisonic song "Closing Time."
So that's it for the CFRR. I'll be leaving this blog up for those who wish read it. But this will be the final entry. You can follow my new layout dpeciting the Pennsylvania Railroad here: www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
