A re-birth (of sorts)

When I first started this layout I knew some of the things that I wanted to be a part of it. I must admit that I don't know really too much about railroad protocol, how they're designed, why they do the things they do when planning them. That has always been my Achilles heel. I get moving along, laying down a bunch of track, envisioning what the scenery will be like around it ( because that's my favorite part!) & after doing all of that & having sceniced a good portion of it do I realize that the track isn't doing so well, that the plan is flawed & it makes me want to scrap it & start over. That is very expensive! My plans before have always been about continuous running, a circuit, I've never given thought to a point to point railroad. What would this look like if it was on a map?? The fatal flaw has creeped up once again. I'm content w/ the current city & how it's turning out, but the train has gotta go somewhere. A lot of the previous trackwork is still in place & it's clogging my brain. I went to the library & got a book by John Armstrong on building railroads similar to the real ones. Real railroads don't tend to run in a circuit. Then like a light bulb it dawned on me! This is my problem. I added an upper deck to a section to add distance for a passenger train that I purchased, but I had made it part of the circuit, not a destination to get to. It pains me to think that I'll have to rip up stuff that I've already done. It took so bloody long to do it, the wasted materials.... Grrrrr! But if it doesn't work both physically & mentally what good is it. I must begin again. New ideas abound. A re-birth has begun.

I've included some overview photos of the whole area for your purusal.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jgotts1/OverAllViewOfTheEmpire?authkey=Gv1sRgCPiV_K_N4vys6wE#