well, i married just once.
and, after 34 years, i must say that was one of the few things i did, that were no mistake.
**.**Fred Mills said:
Getting married can be the biggest mistake in anyone’s life…or the best move, if the man and woman are truly in love and both are willing to give 150% IN THE PARTNERSHIP…
I couldn’t agree more Fred. We have managed 51 years together, children and grandchildren as a legacy
The only addition to you comment is;
“don’t go running to lawyers after your first row”. Their interest lies in making money not making marital happiness.
Only just noticed the name change Fred.
And how did we get from track mistakes to marriage? …sheesh…
To get back on track, I’ll expand on my “not having enough room for sidings, and access to the parts of the railroad where switching takes place” comment.
Those of you that have been here, or seen pictures, are familiar with the colliery complex at Majestic. Here’s a couple year old picture, but it shows the problem.
There are now three tracks under the colliery. The distance between the bridge in the foreground, and the back of the benchwork that the colliery sits on, is about 11 feet. The benchwork itself is about 30" wide.
If I were to do it over, I wouldnt put Majestic here, because there isnt enough room for the tracks I should have here (note there is only on industry siding (front), it only can hold one 30’ car, and you can only get about eight cars under the colliery before it gets crowded.
Also, there’s no good access around the colliery to couple/uncouple cars. Ideally, Majstic would be about 20 feet long, and maybe five feet wide, with access ‘steps’ between various tracks, and around the buildings.
How did this go from track to marriage issues? All I know is a Happy Wife makes for a Happy Life. My wife is great and very understanding. The only thing she complains about is that before we were hitched I didn’t disclose my TRAIN Addiction/Obsession.
Along with my previous comments about wishing I had used wider radius curves and switches from the start like Bob I will add that I should have made some sidings longer.
My biggest mistake was from being too eager to get trains running. I should have loosened the screws holding the ties to the rails of the Aristo track to get both rails butted together at joints, rather than having one rail with a gap. The noise from the gaps wouldn’t be noticeable outdoors, but indoors is unpleasant. So I have spent a lot of time filling gaps with Bondo and sanding it smooth. Expansion and contraction isn’t a problem indoors, so the Bondo works well. Also, I should have taken time to get the rails and frogs of switches and crossings even before installing them, but naively expected them to be OK as received.
Bill -
Sharp idea for filling in gaps specific to isolated sidings, etc. The plastic insulated track connectors do leave a rail gap – automotive catalyzed fillers, such as ones with fiberglass bits as additives (e.g. Tiger Hair brand) would also work outside eliminating the “clunk” gap.
I once built a tunnel that ran down-grade…when it rained it became a storm drain for the upper end of the layout.
Cale Nelson said:
I once built a tunnel that ran down-grade…when it rained it became a storm drain for the upper end of the layout.
That sounds like a feature…
Cale Nelson said:
I once built a tunnel that ran down-grade…when it rained it became a storm drain for the upper end of the layout.
“Do not flush while train is in the station.” 
My biggest mistake was not burying one of the pipes connected to my roof down spout. Now every time it rains I have to put out my so called track pipe layed across several track. Then it drains into the yard instead of on my RR. Later RJD
My biggest miatake where track is concerned was not staying in Ontario where we had 560 ha to lay it in.
Plus the occasional bit of farming as well, of course…
tac, ig, ken the GFT & The Wooler Farmhand Boys
biggest error ---- actually believing i needed something more for all track joints, vs the stock aristocraft railjoiners.
SplitJaws ARE great for turnout removal for service but otherwise AC joiners work fine with no problems (+13yrs/ trackpower/walkocc. on track ) .
doug c
YYC
Bob McCown said:
Cale Nelson said:
I once built a tunnel that ran down-grade…when it rained it became a storm drain for the upper end of the layout.
That sounds like a feature…
yep, a bad one
“By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If not, you’ll become a philosopher.” – Socrates
Bob,
What’s all the green stuff in the background with chairs. Looks like an expansion area to me. 
Biggest mistake… not buying more track back in the early and mid 2000’s when Aristo had their buy so many boxes get one box free!
David Russell said:
Biggest mistake… not buying more track back in the early and mid 2000’s when Aristo had their buy so many boxes get one box free!
I second, Thrird and Forth this ^^^^
Luckily I just got 250 feet of brass track for 500, sucks it was because a fellow largescaler died though
So far the biggest Oops was when I switched my layout from desert to harbor and added the transfer float dock which necessitated shifting some track, the result was that the lift bridge was shortened by 2 inches, doesn’t sound like a lot but it meant completely rebuilding the lift bridge, hinge points and all, and cutting the track to size, it still needs about an 1/16 inch of rail on one side to be grinded off, brass is such a headache to shape, otherwise the lift bridge sticks and is tough to snap in the down position. I haven’t been working much on that layout until I can clear a bunch of junk out, back to it this summer!
Road bed. For several years, I used strips of exterior foam for road base, which did work well. Kept the track level well. But after a few years, if the foam was not carefully covered with ballast to protect from sun damage, it would fall apart in crumbles
Now I’m using strips of concrete counter backer (Lowe’s and HD), cut with an old saw blade (DON’T use a new blade or it will become an old one rapidly!). Stuff works well, holds ballast, is strong and stable. I’ve used it under switches
For some time with good results to. I cut the strips 4 1/2" wide and as long as the boards are…usually 3-4’. I’m redoing everything this spring that I haven’t already put down. Also fixing grades like everyone else has too as well. Winter here has been mild, so hoping I can get out early and get everything put back together.