Hi, I am a new member in the chicago area. I am a 50 year old kid at heart and up until recently never had a place to make a layout. Currently I am building a home which will give me around a 26X15 space. I plan to go HO as I have some stock already (I almost had a layout place about 10 years ago.) Anyway, two questions if anyone has time. Is there a place to look for local model railroad clubs? Eventually, I want to do a full blown DCC with computer control layout. But since I have no experience with anything but old style (non-dcc) railroading (no scenery exp, no Dcc exp, no electrical exp, no layout design exp, no benchwork exp), I am thinking of just getting a 4X8 sheet of plywood and making a basic DCC layout and experimenting with DCC, wiring, occupancy, computer control and scenery. Who knows I may find out that a 40 year fantasy is not what I though it was cracked up to be. Am I over or under ambitious with this idea?
Jon, Welcome to trainboard, this is the place to come to for information, there are lots of members here always willing to lend a hand. I think you are correct in building a 4 X 8 layout first to gain experience then look at your dream layout. If you eventually decide on DCC then you may not require computer control considering operating trains is half the fun. If you want to find clubs in your area you may want to try our search site Railseek Hope you enjoy our site and look forward to more of your posts.
Welcome to our bunch of die hard kids here on TrainBoard! I was once where you are, so you can ask anything, and it wont embarrass me to provide an answer. All of us will help you any way we can. OK? I am in Texas, so I am not aware of any clubs around Chi town.
Welcome to Trainboard. You are not overambitious. Just go slowly, a section at a time. I would suggest that you completely finish a 3x9 or so section first, with scenery, etc., before going on to the next phase. In that fashion, you will become more familiar with issues, tips, and techniques that will serve you better than doing the full gazillion feet of benchwork and then six miles of wiring and THEN scenery. There are so many aspects to this hobby and making a layout of which you will be proud to run and see that you will be surprised.
JonP- Welcome To TrainBoard! Other places to look for local club information, are at hobby shops, and train shows. Use your phone book for hobby shops. Visit them. Look there for bulletin boards, ask the shop help questions about groups. At train shows, look for the modular layouts. Go talk to them. Look at what they're doing. You may not want to do modular work. But all the techniques they use, are applicable to your future layout. Keep used posted of your progress! Good luck! Boxcab E50
Hi, and welcome to the forum Jon. Great info and even greater people. Just started myself so any and all questions benefit us all. Enjoy.
Jon: Welcome to Trainboard. DCC is fun and very rewarding in any scale. If you need help with DCC let me know. Stay cool and run steam....
Jon, Welcome aboard! You can find the clubs in the Chicago are by clicking on the following link: http://www.railserve.com/Models/Clubs/North_America/Central/ GM
Welcome, JonP! You will find we ALL are kids at heart here . Funny thing, tho. That doesn't seem to count when it comes to train show admission fees (kids enter free)...
Hi Jon! I'll add my welcome to the forum as well. This is definitely a good place for you to learn. We have some fine, master modelers here. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
WELCOME TO TRAINBOARD!! I also do not know any clubs in the Chicago Area might want to take a look here though Club Listing for IL - NMRA.org Dont be too shy to ask questions. The only stupid question is the question not asked!! Again, WELCOME ABOARD
I want to thank you folks for being so friendly to a newcomer. Thanks to your information I have found several model railroad clubs in the Chicago area, 4 of which are HO! Of course now I have to decide where I belong among the four... I am guessing I'll try and visit a few before I jump in. Finding people you get along with and can have fun with in your interest area makes it so much more than just something to do with your idle time. Even so, with full time work, finishing up a bachelor's degree, selling our condo and planning our move to the new place, I'm just guessing I'll more likely listening here on the sidelines for a few months, and asking stupid questions now and again, before I can get too active. Thanks again, looks like I found a great group of folks! John
John, I'm happy that you are enjoying this site, I suggest you look through some topics especially those in here and The Inspection Pit forums, they are a wealth of knowledge waiting to be rediscovered.
