My own 'Transition Era' with new diesels and cars

 It's been a long few months since tearing up the old 2018 layout--yes, I went through with it. Part of the reasoning was that we got new Unitrack for our 6-year-old and new trains to go with it, and needed the table. So in the interest of catching up on half a year's worth of stuff, I'll start with the new purchases. 

For Christmas we got the 6-year-old this fine Atlas Susquehanna #4004 Dash 8-40B, along with a bunch of freight cars, to go with his new Unitrack. 

Here's a quick video run-by I finally got around to uploading. It runs very nicely, especially for a used engine.  Then again, I'm not used to running diesels, or any locomotives that have so many points of contact on the track. It's so nice to not worry about choppy power supply to the motor. 

The other new engine that we got was for the 6-year-old's birthday this spring. He's been wanting a passenger locomotive for a while, since we have the 25-year-old Amtrak double-deckers. The old Amtrak EMD F40PH was beyond repair--at least for me and time--so I got him a new one from KATO. It's easily the best engine I've ever run. We took it outside in March on a warm sunny day. 

That's about it for the modern additions to our collection. I also found a big, cheap lot of freight cars for the Susquehanna engine, and added another switch and more track to the tabletop layout. 

The next update will be back to Civil War era trains, as I've worked on some new cars, figures, and buildings. Stay tuned. Hopefully it won't be another five months until then. 

End of the line for the 2018 layout?

Since the holidays, the Civil War layout I started back in 2018 has been moved to accommodate space for the new Unitrack setup and modern trains we got our 5-year-old. He's very happy with how nicely it all works, and so am I. Frankly, it really has illustrated how bad the old sectional track was on the layout. My guess is a combination of tarnished metal, lack of soldering, and only one feeder wire for the whole thing. Beginner mistakes, for sure. 

Current situation for the 2018 layout.

During this time, only the passenger station remains on the layout, due to that being the only building glued into place. Everything else—all figures, buildings, etc.—was put into storage boxes for safe keeping. 

I wanted to make one more nice video of the layout by now. But life has been not so kind to my free time. Now that the layout isn't in presentable condition, I have to make a decision. We're planning on moving this year, as early as June, but definitely before the start of next school year in September. I'm not taking the layout with us, no matter what. Do I reassemble the entire layout, with dozens of figures, tents, wagons, buildings, fences, walls, and track that's in desperate need for a thorough cleaning if I hope to run anything on it, just to make that one last video tour? Or do I just take this as a sign to move on and put this layout out to pasture? I don't think I can sell it. It's not good enough for that, especially the trackwork quality. Demolition would be the only option. The trees are salvageable, as is the trestle and station. 

At least I can continue painting miniatures, engines, and rolling stock, even without a layout. If I get the itch to run any Civil War stuff, I have the Unitrack, which is much more enjoyable anyway, even if it's not authentic to the time.

It's not an easy choice to make, but one many model railroaders have faced. This isn't how I thought it would go down. The layout is currently taking up an awkward amount of space on the floor in the corner of the boys' playroom. I want to start doing something soon.

I'll give it another few days.