Hey Everyone

My Name is Stew.
My family lives just outside of Hartford CT.
I am getting back into the hobby after a good 30 years of being out of it. My 10 yr old son is DYING to get a train set running. He has loved looking at my old trains/buildings etc. since he was at least 5 and I have been holding off until he was old enough to handle it and his younger brother (now 8) was old enough not to trash what we did.
I have done a TON of research on the internet involving model trains and your web site pops up a lot when I do searches. For that reason, I decided to join so as to be able to drink up some of the vast knowledge that you all have. Kuddos to all of you on what you have here!
Bench work is done. I am a carpenter and it was not much of a big deal. I am sure that many will say that what I built is overkill, but I like to be able to jump on whatever I build. :teeth: Table is 5' 10" X 10'. It is designed to be able to be split into 4 pieces. As of right now it is the garage (will have to design some sort of cover) because we do not have a basement and no spare room at all. When we do an addition (we hope to be able to do an addition) it will have a basement and I want to be able to move the track down there.
I have a BUNCH of questions and will be posting them in the appropriate sections later. Most involve modern DCC (which obviously did not exist when I was playing with trains), wiring (which my father did all of) and layout (as I am trying to maximize what he can do on the layout while still leaving him room for buildings/town/streets).
Gauge is going to be HO. Code 100 so that we can use some of my very old rolling stock and some of my old bridge work. The 10 year old (and thus I) are not worried at all about the track not looking prototypical. I am sure that will drive a purist or two here nuts, sorry.
We have a double, interlocking figure 8 mainline. It was originally designed for a 4'X8'. We expanded it so that the radius of the inner curves will be 22" to be able to accommodate the larger passenger cars that my son is dying to get. That will still leave about a foot on 2 sides to set up a rail yard which wraps around the main line. It is quite a busy layout, but I remember being bored with how simple mine was at his age.
Glad to be here.
Thank You!
Stew

 

Hi Stew, Welcome to the TrainBoard, glad to have you and your sons on board. I'm sure you will get lots of ideas and help from TB members, which we will be glad to share. Though, a word of caution...be prepared for your sons' imaginations to get carried away once they start seeing all the layout photos posted here. <gr>

 

Thanks for the warm welcomes guys.
Hytec........too late LOL. that boy has spent countless hours on You Tube watching videos of other people's tracks already. We have also been to a few train shows. The good news is that his dreams are tempered by his finances. Anything train is going to be bought by him or received as a gift. That teaches him the value of a dollar and keeps him grounded.
Ironhorseman........I have posted a photo of our remedial track plans in the layout section. The only other thing I could show right now would be the empty bench work. I am full well expecting to hear that I made it too heavy or strong. I am a carpenter who believes that if it is worth doing.....then it is worth over doing!
Thanks again for the warm welcomes!
Stew

 

Yes, welcome to Trainboard, Stew. It sounds like your 10 year old is really into it. Please keep us advised with your progress, and I'm sure you will find plenty of advice here.

 

Very glad to be here.
Thank you for all the warm welcomes!
Little man says hello also! LOL
Stew