Hi all!
It has been quite a while since I have been on the Lionel forum, so I thought I would reintroduce myself. I have been working with O scale trains for about 13 years, and about four years ago I built my first tabletop layout. I went through many different setups, looks, and themes before getting it just where I wanted it (a result of poor planning). When I finally got the track plan down, I made an attempt to rewire a portion of the layout and I basically ruined one of the main scenery projects that I had worked on for months. The damage was so bad that the area could not be salvaged. So, I began tearing apart the whole layout and rebuilding from scratch. I used a similar track plan of two loops and a switch yard, and I am very happy with the way it is looking so far. In reflection, I wish that I had built my tables around the walls of the room, because a 12 by 8 surface in the center of my room limits the ability to spread out. When I get the majority of my main layout to a certain point, I am planning to begin building a set of small modules that I can work on individually.

My collection currently consists of about 20 engines, just over 100 pieces of rolling stock, and just a few buildings that will eventually make their way on to the layout. I have an even mixture of steam and diesel, but my hope is to collect a lot of steam engines.

I will post pictures as soon as I can get the train room cleaned up. I welcome your input, and would love to hear about your layouts and collections.

Thanks,
Troy Reid