Yes, we moved. Again!

Moving residence again requires compromises but allows for a better configuration and environment for my HO scale switching layout modules.

You would think that we would learn our lesson. About moving, that is. Since we have been married we have more more than 15 times. Sometimes because of a necessity, sometimes because we were looking for “something better”. I guess this latest more, in December 2018, falls into the latter category.

Not that I really wanted to move this time as I was quite content with the apartment we were renting above one of the shops in town, with the 1:1 scale mainline trains roaring through at all times of the day a mere 100 metres away, and room for almost all of the model railroad.

But there were a few things that made that apartment not so good. First was the heat! It got really hot in Summer. Second was the general condition of the place – it wasn’t overly well looked after before we started to rent it. And there were other domestic (that is, non-railway related) reasons why it was becoming unsuitable. The main reason why it was unsuitable from a model railroad perspective was that it was just a bit to dark in the room where the layout was, but also the Dolton Junction corner module couldn’t be used due to the space available.

With our move to a house away from the centre of town into a very pleasant part of town, I was able to use the Dolton Junction module again in my HO scale industrial / switching layout which represents the Riverdale / Dolton / Calumet City area of Chicago in Illinois, USA. The house we recently moved to also has a room attached to the garage, approximately 15 x 10 feet, which is somewhat insulated (which means it doesn’t get quite so hot as outside in Summer). The room also has interior walls painted almost the same “sky blue” color as the backdrops on the layout. And the lighting is also a lot better, meaning I can engage in some layout photography if I desire to.

Alas the 1:1 scale mainline is now almost a km away. I can hear the trains roaring along the mainline, but there is no way I can see them from where we now live. Some compromises, however, are worth it. And having the model railroad layout set up in it’s new home, where the layout is in a better configuration than it had been for the last year, where the lighting is better, and the walls almost blend into the backdrop (or should that be the other way around) is worth it. In the previous place we lived, I didn’t operate the layout very much, but already since completing set up of the layout in it’s new home, I have had 3 operating sessions which I must say have generally been more enjoyable than in our previous home.