Last year I wrote about the 5-20-5 minute idea and how much I enjoyed running regular, albeit short, operating sessions on my last layout. How much can you do in twenty minutes?

The above video was shot on the Claremont-Concord at West Lebanon. The video runs just under eight minutes in length. It has been edited from its original length but is a terrific record of just how long each movement takes and the pace of working a simple yard. Why not use the video itself as a measure of what can be accomplished in that same period of time on the model?

I’ve mentioned the “5-20-5” concept before and the more I think about it the more I like it. The idea itself refers to three distinct blocks of time totalling thirty minutes and representing an acheivable length of time to either build a model or operate your model railway. It’s based on things like the length of a typical television program or time we might otherwise spend surfing around on the internet and asked if this might be enough time to invest in this great hobby. We often complain that we simply don’t have the time to build a model or can’t imagine having enough time just sit down and run a train.

The first block of time is about five minutes in length. Take five minutes, get out some tools and a model and get ready to work on it. Obviously building a dozen turnouts might be out of the…