Getting ready to say goodbye

After years (literally) of planning, scheming, pondering, I finally realized that the old layout I have is just way too different than what I want to do nowadays.  I tried hard to incorporate that into various new designs, but in the end a fresh start is the only way to go forward.

So, next time I have some free time, I’ll be tearing this baby apart.  It’s hard, because it is the very first N scale layout I ever built on my own.  It also has been moved, without damage, from Michigan to New Jersey, and then from New Jersey to the west coast.  What I’m saying is I’m emotionally attached to the darn thing.

Anyways, I obviously will save all the structures.  I’m going to save the major land forms (hills etc) as well, in hopes that I can reuse them somewhere.  The track is going to be sold as is, since I decided to go with code 55 for the next layout. 

Here are a few pictures of the final state of the layout:

In its place, I’m planning a double deck (disjointed) layout.  The upper deck will be loosely based on the Alaska Railroad.  The lower deck will be much larger and will be loosely based on UP in the Cascades. 

So long old friend, and thanks for all the good times!

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