Overcoming the Slog: Let me list the ways…
I understand why there are so many “Plywood Pacific” layouts* out there. Mine has been largely in that state for a while. (Although, since I’m using foam and ceiling tiles, it’s more of a “Tile Pacific” as the photo below shows.)
Starting a layout is easy. You have grand plans. You’re excited. Trackwork and wiring, assuming you’re not hand-laying track, may not always be easy, but you progress relatively quickly. There are noticeable results in a short period of time. If you do it right, you can even run trains!
To my mind, after that, the real work begins. Structures. Details. Composing scenes. Determining where exactly all the elements will go. None of these things go particularly quickly. At least not for me.
And then there’s scenery. I don’t know why, but I always procrastinate on scenery. It’s probably because it’s the aspect of model railroading that I have the least experience with. But let’s make that the topic of a different post.
So back to the point of this post. Once you get past that initial build and the layout is a Plywood Pacific, that’s when the slog begins. You probably know what I’m talking about:
- Everything slows down
- Progress seems to come in smaller chunks
- Noticeable gains take longer to achieve
In other words, it seems like nothing is actually happening on the layout.
When the perceived “wins” on your layout become harder and harder to notch up, it’s easy to get frustrated and lose your motivation. And that’s why I think there are so many Plywood Pacifics (or nearly so) out there. Heck, the layout at my previous house was a Plywood Pacific for years before the move forced me to take it down.
So when nothing seems to be moving, how do you maintain your momentum? You’ll often hear people (including me) talk about trying to make time every day (or at least once a week) to work on the layout. Even if it’s only a few minutes. It then becomes a habit, and you’ll be surprised how those short sessions add up.
But recently something a little more concrete reminded me that the MCTD was actually making steady progress. It turned out to be a side-effect of keeping my crew updated: keeping a list. After each modeling session, I collect the sticky notes we use to track projects and (usually) send an email summary of what had been accomplished since the previous session.
It so happened that I had gone a number of months without sending said summary. So I created a big one that covered about 4 months. Months where I thought virtually nothing had happened on the layout.
And you know what?
We had actually finished a s**tload of tasks.
Some had taken a lot of time, but didn’t have an in-your-face impact (like weathering track). Others hadn’t taken that long but would pay long term dividends (like assembling and getting rolling stock track-ready). Others were in the middle (building out new areas; weathering rolling stock). But each and every one contributed to the progress of the layout.
Suddenly, a period of time where it seemed like the layout stood still now reflected a nice chunk of work. A motivation-building chunk of work.
It even motivated me enough to start on some scenery that wasn’t a structure (see the opening photo).
So the slog continues. Things will continue to seem slow. But I’ll also keep those lists so I can remember the progress that’s been made.
* For the uninitiated, a Plywood Pacific is a layout that has benchwork and track, but no scenery. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to refer to “an ocean of plywood” or if it’s just a clever play on prototype railroad names like Southern Pacific, Western Pacific, etc.
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