Happy 2018! 

I’ve always found the New Year to be a great time to reorganize and reprioritize life goals.  Getting organized and setting goals within the hobby is important too, so I always take a little time to set new hobby goals and priorities for the coming year.

Getting organized is the first step to setting goals, so I spent a few hours on December 31st and New Year’s day doing a lot of cleaning, organizing, and goal setting in the layout room.  Below is a photo of what the layout looked like a year ago.  

Thanks in some part to goal setting, it looks a little better today…except for the little derailment thing…

I also maintain a list of current projects, including categories such as

• Kits New in Box
• Models Under Construction (with list of parts needed)
• Models Ready for Paint
• Painted Models Ready for Decals
• Decaled Models Ready for Finishing (Weathering, etc.)

Having a solid list of projects helps me organize the projects I want to complete, and organized how I can pay for certain things.  It also helps me to decide if I should or should not buy any new things. 

I also completed an inventory of all my rolling stock.  Establishing an inventory helps me decide if I want to sell anything, and/or what I want to add.  The boxes shown above hold 130 layout-ready cars; about another 30 completed cars are on the layout.  The layout can use about 35 cars comfortably, so as you can see I have more than enough cars.  With 52 or more or more rolling stock projects in the box, or under construction, I need another freight car like I need a hole in my head.

A few years ago I completed a very thorough roster of layout-ready freight cars.  Ideally the car distribution for my railroad should be a little over 50% box cars with hoppers and coal-carrying gons a close second.  I was pretty close to the target.  I’ll complete a review this in early 2018 and see how things are going.

I went through other boxes of materials as well.  In the photo below I was cleaning out and organizing a travel box full of track and wire, and switch machines and electrical stuff.   My cat Scooter decided to jump up on my shoulders and settle in.  He’s a great animal–he will often accompany me to the train room in the evening and follow me around, and try to find a way to get attention.    

After all the organization, here are my big goals for 2018:

• Complete the Ackley Layout (it’s at 90%)
• Complete 50% of on-hand rolling stock models (new kits and those already under construction)
• Rebuild and expand the “bump out” on the layout to add two industrial customers
• Consider building a new layout (A small switching layout, city/industrial theme)
• Start writing articles again

 

Final Comments on the Portage Project

Meanwhile my friend Mike Moore received the box I sent with the Portage Tower model, and tool houses, and a few other things.  Mike sent a few quick photos of the models on his layout.  Love those Burlington red engines–they’re among my all-time favorites.  Looks good, Mike!

Blessings to you and your families in 2018! – John G