Sunday 8 November 2020

Replacing a Scandinavian model


For no particular reason Svanda was pulled out of its corner and set up. This was before it was twigged that this was its first glimpse of daylight for a year. The last being an outing to Wycrail. A quick wave of the track rubber and all worked perfectly. There are small questions - much as there are about any exhibition layout. Svanda is slightly different in that it has lasted; a quick bit of digging found that it was started in 2010. That's almost unheard of with layouts that I have had a hand in building, but then in a lot of ways it's my favourite to operate. Smooth-running Heljan, Roco, NJM locos and stock with finely tweaked couplings usually see to that. My only thought is that it looks a little tired. Is it time for a complete refurb', or time for a replacement?


 

4 comments:

  1. Don't knock it. Wish I'd had a layout I wanted to hold on to for 10 years.

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  2. It is surprising how time catches up with you and some layouts. Thinking back to, "it was only a short while whwn I built that", only to discover it was a decade or more ago. I find this with the show layouts, there is a flush of exposures when new then nothing for quite a while, then more showings on a less frequent basis. I now write the construction start and such dates on the layouts as I go. It may help with the inevitable "How long did it take to build?" Especially when asked and the ture time being some years in the foggy past.

    Andrew K

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  3. I suppose the question is how does your mojo feel about it? There's a suggestion in your post that for whatever reason this layout has had a stronger appeal to you than most so maybe give a bit of thought as to why that might be and then follow through on it.

    Colin.

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  4. Chris,

    I saw the layout for the first time at Wycrail in 2019. I thought it looked good and worked well.
    Perhaps a refresh of the scenery might be in order - perhaps a change of season (but not snow).
    My shunting plank layout is on a basebaord built 40 yesrs ago. The current track has been down for over 25 years. It still provides enjoyment.
    Regards,
    Geoff

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