Yo, In my introduction thread, in2tech asked to see the growth of a railroad from starter set to completion, (as if they are ever completed). So, 2 weeks ago, I did not own a single piece of track, loco, or freight car. Then, for reasons outlined in the introduction thread, I bought a starter set; pictured here: The description of the set was: Streaking through the golden wheat fields of central Canada is the Harvest Express. As it hauls colorful hoppers bursting with grain, its powerful EMD GP40 engine ensures a bountiful harvest is swiftly delivered across the vast Canadian landscape. This ready-to-run train set includes: •EMD GP40 diesel locomotive with operating headlight and all-wheel drive •three Canadian 4-bay cylindrical grain hoppers •body-mounted E-Z Mate® couplers •47" x 38" oval of snap-fit E-Z Track® including 12 pieces of curved track, 1 piece of straight track, and 1 plug-in terminal rerailer •power pack and speed controller •illustrated instruction manual Here, in all it's glory, on the living room floor, I present the birth of The Who-ville Railway:
A perfect beginning, reminiscent of mine 70 years ago. Like John, I'm looking forward to where yours leads.
Hi Grinch! Welcome to the addiction! I hate to say it but you be pushing them quads through the golden wheat fields of Alberta! Short hood forward! That’s why BN had “F” on the front of their locos!!! Welcome to the hobby! I look forward to seeing your progress! Dale
That is an excellent start....... You have a theme upon which to expand upon......or change..... a Railway.... and have connected with a bunch of very knowledgeable, and helpful people! Go for it!!! Jim
Alot of us started out this way, just a simple train set in a box, that grew into an empire!! I remember my first one, layed out on the table, a Kleenex box for the station, a Ritz cracker box and some paper towel rolls for the grain silo, and some old Lego trees for the forest! Imagination is a wonderful things as a kid!!
I actually had a Kleenex box for a station, coffee tins for oil tanks, and some Pringles tubes for grain silos in the shot, but figured people would laugh and took them out. I'm no longer a kid, but I do still have some imagination left! Maybe I'll get brave and put them back for the next photo.
I did this with my Lionel trains, so very long ago. What anyone else thought, was of NO consequence. I was having fun with this hobby. Nothing else mattered. Your situation is the same. Just have fun. Ignore the nitpicker/fun killer types. As time passes, your skills will evolve.
Hi Grinch, When you get time, come on down to the HO Forum, there are some really great folks there who are always happy to answer questions, there are some threads on layouts down there that are truly amazing. Seriously though, welcome to the hobby, you will have a great adventure. Hope to see you soon in HO! Dale
Thanks for posting this Grinch, I thought you forgot I bought my N Scale Bachmann High Roller set in the late 70's or early 80's, and had the original box for years, till after a few moves it disappeared, meaning probably got thrown away! Even on my current layout I use empty toilet paper rolls, a stack of post it notes, and whatever else I can find to imagine they are something else Like someone said, it's your layout and do what makes you happy, and no matter our age most of us have some kid in us, we try to let out once and awhile! I can't wait to see what this turns into. If you start a Who-Ville post in the HO area, or the Inspection Pit let us know! I am already watching this thread! What is your dream for your next move? Plywood pacific, expand the carpet/floor pacific for the time being ( watch the carpet fibers getting in the engine), or an entire room empire? Your gonna have a LOT of FUN!
Who-ville RR, day two: On day 2, I went back to the local hobby store to check out their stock of railcars and track. Even though their storefront is a 1 story tall mural of a locomotive, the store is 3/4's full of RC cars. I guess the sons have taken over the store. My first find was a car that fit both my needs, a Great Northern grain hopper by Bachmann. It is one of the RR's from the 'Rail Baron' game and its a grain car: Finding no other cars with 'Rail Baron' logo's, I picked out 2 cars with CN logo's to go with the locomotive; an open top hopper by Walthers and a 50' boxcar by Athearn: Looking for track, they only had 3 switches in stock. They had open boxes of track, so I grabbed a handful each of straight and curved. After playing around to fit the space, the Who-ville RR now looked like this:
Now you're getting somewhere, nice configuration. I see you used it to run the engine around the train to run short hood forward as suggested by dalebaker.
Nice, now we are talking, and it only took you one day to go back to the hobby shop, guess you are hooked Looking forward to more photo's as you progress! Most important have fun! And I guess you are browsing/shopping online and looking at YouTube video's already? If I can make one suggestion? I went way overboard when I decided to build a plywood pacific, picked a plan way to big and complicated, spend a ton of money on things I did not need, and only learned after a few mistakes and only have an area usable now for two 2' x 4' bases for my scale. Of course it will be a bit different for HO, but go simple and as small as you can, until you find out if you really, I mean really, enjoy the hobby! And you will be able to spend money on locomotives, stock cars, track, buildings, scenery, etc... You can have a great looking layout in a small space even in HO. Look at some of the diorama's people make, and are amazing! Good luck, can't wait to see your next idea's!
That's a really nice trainset. I don't think I've ever seen a Bachmann set like that. Usually they give you a group of cars that don't match even the era of the engine. This one has a locomotive and cars that would be in use together. Very good find.
