Buying a full layout

[M. Matthews]

I’ve no experience of buying a full layout or any intention to. I’m interested to know if anybody on here has?

I see plenty of layouts for sale that look like they’ve been built specifically to fit a certain room or space. Especially layouts that are built up against the walls on the outer edge of a room.

Obviously people would look to buy one that fits their room, but they come in so many shapes and sizes, finding a perfect match seems highly unlikely.

When buying these layouts, is the idea to modify it in some way to fit your space? Or is it more about stripping it down for parts?

[Topcat2018]

@MM

I wouldn't buy a second-hand layout for various reasons:

1. It's someone else's vision and I have my own for my layout.
2. As you say it probably wouldn't fit your room/shed.
3. If you stripped it down, how much would be usable, since the track would be fixed down, ballasted and probably difficult to remove without damage? Landscaping would probably be damaged at any joins between baseboards. Maybe bridges, tunnel entrances, buildings, signals and other fixtures, vehicles, people, animals could be salvaged?

I acquired a fairly small layout from a friend whose father had died and the above were the sort of things I was able to salvage.

[M. Matthews]

@MM

I wouldn't buy a second-hand layout for various reasons:

1. It's someone else's vision and I have my own for my layout.
2. As you say it probably wouldn't fit your room/shed.
3. If you stripped it down, how much would be usable, since the track would be fixed down, ballasted and probably difficult to remove without damage? Landscaping would probably be damaged at any joins between baseboards. Maybe bridges, tunnel entrances, buildings, signals and other fixtures, vehicles, people, animals could be salvaged?

I acquired a fairly small layout from a friend whose father had died and the above were the sort of things I was able to re-use.

 

 

All very good points! I guess this is why second hand layouts don’t appear to be worth that much compared to what has probably been spent on them.

But surely there’s a large enough market of people that just want to run trains rather than building themselves?

 

 

[96RAF]

Another problem often seen with S/H layouts especially ones that have had to be split into individual boards for transport is the electrics. Many layouts never get their wiring documented adequately enough for a future owner to confidently understand it, hence unless it is sold as a fully working layout with controller(s) then a rewire in part or full may be required to get it up and running.

[Topcat2018]

@MM

I'm sure there are people who don't want to build their own layouts, but as you yourself, 96RAF and I have said, dismantling a layout and reassembling it to fit in the space you have is problematic if it's on multiple boards. Probably buying a second-hand layout is feasible only where it's a small layout on one board and/or in a small scale such as N-gauge.

[ModelerXYZ]

I would never buy a full layout because for me, building the scenery and controls is the important thing.

XYZ

[Bulleidboy]

Looking at the prices that are being asked on ebay, I would think many sellers are trying to recoup their original set-up costs?

[Rana Temporia]

Some famous layouts have been sold and re-purposed and appeared in their new form in the model railway mags. Personally I wouldn’t buy a layout other than as a collection of parts with the assumption that most of the materials are probably scrap.

There is another way to look at this, at some point in the future I am going to have to dismantle my dad’s layout which he spent years making. I’m not looking forward to it at all but it has to be done. It was built to fit the space so it’d be no use to anyone else as is, it wasn’t made to be dismantled and the track has all been ballasted so mostly unrecoverable. I could get someone in but would they give it the respect I think it deserves? Probably not as they will need to justify the time for their business. I could put it on eBay as buyer dismantles and collects but would anyone want it? Probably not.

Years ago I was given a layout on a 6x4 board and didn’t mange to recover anything useful at all off it. It had been stored in a garage and all the track had rusted, I ended up simply taking it to the tip.

I think we have to understand that unless we are building something on a professional basis we are building for ourselves and whatever we do only has that value which is massive to us but not to others. At the end it’s served its purpose and anything that can be recovered is a bonus.

I suppose an offer of a layout with stock would be different. The stock can be used on any layout, wheel standards permitting, and the layout could be recycled if need be.

[threelink]

I have never bought a full layout but I have dismantled some I made and am with RT and Topcat on the fact that dismantling them leaves little of use - destruction would be a better term. I would say that if you are looking for a complete, ready to use layout then buying one that is self contained might work but only if it genuinely is self contained i.e. not built to fit a specific location and therefore not needing to be dismantled.

[Gordonvale]

This layout ended up stored in a shed in Tropical North Queensland.

http://www.009.cd2.com/satanicmill/front%20page.htm

It was in a sorry state, when gifted to our local club. It has since been restored to its original glory by our esteemed club members.