As much as I love running my trains....

I with you Keith! The creative process that comes with building a layout is a lot of fun!

I like building,scenery and changing it from time to time. I love running my trains though I just like seeing them run, no operations needed. I also like diesels more than steam.
I like the modern era and running modern era freight like intermodal, auto carriers , tank cars.
The main thing is I like being creative but I have no talent what so ever but I do keep trying and eventually it seems to work out.

Dave

For me it is mostly about the process of the layout from inspiration through execution. I once saw a video from Hennings Trains in Lansdale PA of a very elaborate and finely executed permanent layout; very prototypical. The owner said that his least enjoyment ( not any just least) was actually running the trains.
I am afraid that I echo his sentiments.
As long as it took me to put together my Halloween themed layout, I am itching to start the teardown and get going with Christmas.

I like doing it all. I don't really design, I think about for a time then start whatever project I was thinking about.

I think you may have missed Chuck's point, Dave. He's not Jonesing for a permanent layout, he's just much more into the design and build process, like those hobbyists he was commenting upon.

IME there's a fair number of us who honestly get more out of building rather than operating our layouts, and for such hobbyists, dashing from temporary layout to holiday layout to demonstration layout may be perfectly satisfactory in and of itself, in a way endlessly operating the same old layout just wouldn't be. IMHO I think most of us are somewhere in the middle, tending to endlessly tweak and extend our layouts in an effort to scratch that 'creative itch' . . . and when the current layout is truly finished, immediately beginning to envision the *next* layout! 

I'd love to be able to just get some track laid so I could run some trains, but between taking care of wife and my neuropathy it's either time or pain holding me back. 
I'm at the point I want to get two standard gauge loops and two O gauge loops and sell what will not fit on that. 

I think you're right, CJ. I've been 'playing with trains' on and off (mostly off, truth be told!) for seventy years or so now, and unlike some who've stuck with the hobby throughout their lives, my involvement has been episodic, mostly depending on my own youth or that of proximity to our children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren of the right age.

My most recent intersection with the hobby over the past several years is the first that has also included a "social" component, with on-line or in person contact with others in the hobby, and it has given me a much wider perspective on the many ways other model railroaders have found to enjoy the hobby. Other than an overly-ambitious foray into HO as a teen, I've stuck with postwar O scale (and still have and run most of my childhood Marx stuff), spending most of my efforts learning to landscape and add animation to the layout. Getting and keeping consists running on all four of the main layout's loops at the same time is a challenge (sorta like those old plate-spinning acts on the Ed Sullivan Show!) and a visual spectacle for the kids and other visitors, but just "running the trains" has limited appeal to me. I've never attempted (or been attracted to) simulated operations, nor have I any interest in just accumulating rolling stock, or cataloging prototype or model info (other than as relevant to building or fixing things), but I've learned to appreciate those who do so with enjoyment!