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After spending some time with my new layout, finalizing the center peninsula, and discussing our basement requirements with my wife, I decided to redesign the layout (see plan below). The new plan would have more towns, proper order of scenes from Farmington (staging) to Strong to Phillips to Redington to Rangeley (staging), and an F&M branch from Strong to Starbirds to Kingfield to Bigelow. Those familiar with the SR&RL probably notice compromises, but they will also notice the improvement over the previous plan. For some time now (2-3 years), Jim Stewart and I have been working off and on again on our layouts. We schedule a regular night, and go about working. Over that time, we have had a few others join us. Additionally, I have been part of the Eastern Loggers, and our HO/HOn3 Pennsylvania logging layout is nearing completion (after 20 years), so I thought it would be good if the members of the Eastern Loggers started working on home layouts. Anyway, I invited the members of the Eastern Loggers to join Jim and I and others in the construction of my layout, the idea being to start a round robin group. Besides, it would take Jim and I too long to get the layout running. I have big goals for the layout (ie..to host an OpSig operating session during the 2005 NMRA National Convention here in Cincinnati). Not all of the Eastern Loggers have joined us, but we still have a crew. On that first night, the follow attended: Jim Stewart, Paul Miklos, Don Rigling, Jon Barker, Bret Lane (a neighbor), & Tom Brueggeman. They ripped out the old-new layout and helped me rotate the carpet and cut it in around a pole and a pipe. Seeing the layout or no layout was a bit odd. Later Jim Stewart would say he felt a bit of loss, as we dismantled his, our work. We did not dismantle it all, and the frame structure around the walls is to be integral in the new layout.
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