1. Be patient and take your time at every step along the way.
2. Check and check again all clearances before making scenery. The same advice applies to testing the operation of your trains and accessories. It’s much easier to make fixes when there is no landscaping to get in the way or to be destroyed.
3. Provide adequate access to all hidden track and switches.
4. Place operating accessories within easy reach for maintenance and adjustments.
5. Color-code all wires and draw schematics of your wiring to make troubleshooting easier.
6. Leave switch covers loose for easy removal during maintenance.
7. Operate switches at 18 volts AC or higher from dedicated multiple transformer posts to ensure reliable performance.
8. Make scenery. The process of landscaping your layout will be simpler and more enjoyable than you imagine, especially if you have never done so before. The range of products on the market, along with the latest techniques, makes scenery easy and fun.
9. Personalize your layout by naming areas, towns, and buildings after your friends and family members. Make sure your layout reflects your interests and travels.
10. Continue to add details and upgrade scenes. No layout is ever really finished – and that, Carl emphasizes, is a good thing!
Excellent article on Carl Rygiewicz’s suggestions for building and operating a traditional layout. From experience I cannot agree more on number 4. Place operating accessories wishing easy reach. Also #6. Leave the switch covers loose on switch tracks. It can be very frustrating when a problem develops with a switch machine and you have to tear up a few sections of track to remove and repair the offending beast.
Another suggestion, if I may about #6. Leave track pins out on one side of a switch track. If the switch has to be removed from the layout, it’s a simple matter of lifting it up on one end and carefully pulling it away from the pinned end or ends. The same holds true for operating track sections.