Club Layouts
I've talked to members of other clubs quite often at shows and have found that the length of time it takes to produce an "Exhibition Standard" layout varies from less than six months to about six years or more. I put the exhibition standard in quotes because some are far from it IMHO. They are though, a reflection of the members of their club, who all have different backgrounds and skills.
The essential thing is that it was a club project because when you are involved in one of these layout projects you tend to learn more in one night than you can struggling at home on your own for months...
Yeovil Model Railway Group have balanced "having fun" at the club nights with a very high standard of exhibition layout. There is nothing quite like the pride you feel whilst at an exhibition and running the club layout, when praise comes your way from the public. The team aspects and camaraderie are just two of the pleasures you can get from this lovely hobby of ours.
We have a number of club layouts - why not take a look at them and see the diversity of projects. Normally the statement from older members is "we don't do stations" because the club tends to want to build exhibition layouts that continuously run and keep the public interested. Yeovil Town is a major deviation from that historic approach but as it is DCC and and has many features and sections of track then 3 or 4 operators can be keeping the show going somewhere or other to meet the same end target...