It’s time once again to set some goals for the year. I find that goals, as opposed to New Years Resolutions, make it more likely that I’ll continue to aim at achieving the things I decide to prioritize. With 2019 upon us, it’s a good time to look back at some accomplishments and set some goals for the year ahead.
2018 saw some significant work accomplished toward getting our layout up…. And then because of choices I made to re-use materials or to make-due with things, saw the layout, and those materials, go away. It really is a combination of factors there, struggling with my vision, having close to but not exactly the tool to do what I wanted to do, making some mistakes in calculations of weight (remember, the layout was going to roll), and finally, the wrong materials and reused materials that just weren’t up to what I was trying to do. I did learn a great deal, and had fun to the point the layout got. In the end, the saws-all cured the issues and the trash truck hauled it away.
There were good things in 2018 too. I managed to complete close to 20 freight cars, amassed a large number of cars to work on in the coming months, and discovered the N&W in Cincinnati, which will now wind up being the first part of the next iteration of our layout. Lots of research was done, structures were chosen, and plans are being made.
It was a good year in modeling.
2019 should be as good, if not better, in terms of hopefully having a layout to show for the effort.
So, my goals for 2019 are:
- Complete the benchwork for a 3’x14’ section of layout, including backdrop, sub-roadbed, sturdy legs, and straight cut lumber.
- Build as many freight cars as I can, two at a time, from start to finish. The rule I’m setting for myself is that for each boxcar I build, I need to also build some other type of car.
- Build 3 structure kits.
That’s it. I should be able to accomplish those goals, more guidelines, in 2019. There are other things that I would “like” to do, like finding a shay, building a helix, laying all the track… but some things come faster once the bigger things are done. Benchwork takes me FOREVER to build. By setting my sights on getting the benchwork up and in place, and not pushing myself to get all the track in, maybe, just maybe, we’ll see trains running in 2019. That would really be fun!
-JD
