Beginner

I have been out of model railroading for about 40 years and due to a recent automobile accident I needed a new hobby. I am hoping someone can give me some direction as I am currently very confused.

I orginally thought I was going to model N scale but after a trip to my local hobby store have decided that it is just too small of a scale for me. I now have decided to go with HO scale, hence my questions to this forum.

Since I am totally starting out, I need some advice. I don't have any engines nor cars at this point. What should I consider for a starting point? I was loooking at the Wooland Scenes kits and was wondering if I should start with that or design my own layout? I have some ideas there, mainly want to run multiple trains, not sure I am into operations just yet. What about choice for track, pros /cons? Space is not a big issue as I have almost a full garage to work with.

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

1) Select a layout size. If you're going with something small, I suggest either a hollow core wood door or the 'standard' 4x8 sheet of plywood (only go with the door if you're envisoning 4-axle diesel units and short trains, or are planning on building a switching layout where there is no loop).

2) Design your own track plan, particularly if you're not imagining something too large. Part of the fun of this hobby is coming up with a finished product that is unique to you, and designing your own plan can go a long way in accomplishing this. Additionally, small layouts are, as a rule, typically fairly simple as far as track work and scenery are concerned, so you shouldn't be overly daunted by the task. The only things you need to keep in mind are where cars are entering and leaving the plan, how many tracks you need to assemble and disassemble trains (you'll likely need a run-around at a minumum, and a small yard if you're doing something a little more bold), and where your industries are and how your engine will place cars at them/withdrawl them later.

3) Get DCC-ready engines and buy a cheap-but-flexible DCC system like the low-end one made by MRC. DCC is easy to use and adds a level of depth and enjoyability to the hobby that you simply cannot get with DC. Additionally, should you choose to run engines with sound, DCC will allow you to control things such as whistles, bells, steam exahsut, brake releases, etc. It's really cool stuff, and wiring non-DCC-ready locomotives for it later is a royal pain.

4) Blue foam insulation (the hard-packed stuff you can buy in sheets at Home Depot) is a wonderful medium to model scenery with. It has excellent sound dampening quailities, isn't rigid like plaster (so if you have to move the layout one day, it won't crack), and can be cut and laid out in a similar fashion to a contour map. Once you do that, all you have to do is use a rasp or a hot wire cutter (keeping in mind that the fumes ARE POISONOUS, so you will need to use a mask and do it in a highly-ventilated area) to cut the terrain into realistic looking shapes.

5) Your goal should be to lay track (and be running trains) sooner rather than later. Typically with a new layout, I will build or buy the base, lay down some foam, and glue the track down within the first few days. Sometimes you need to be able to just put the modeling down for a bit and drive a train around, so running traisn should be step 2 or 3, not 200 or 300.

6) Learn how to solder. Get a cheap soldering needle (a 10 or 15 wat one), some flux and some solder, and sit down with some scrap track and practice. This is a fairly easy skill to pick up, and it does wonders for keeping your layout running smooth for years with a strong electrical current everywhere. Rail joiners may seem like 'enough,' but in my experience using them alone will eventually lead to trouble. Soldering is quick and simple, although you will eventually burn yourself (and, if you're me, you'll burn yourself a lot... but I am a clutz).

7) Establish an era and local. Is your layout set in the wild west? Is it present-day New York City? Is it a New England shortline in the 1980s? Doing this will keep you honest when you're buying new engines, rolling stock and buildings. Yes, that Big Boy or Acela sure IS cool, but did it run in your area and during your time frame? HO is a massive scale with thousands of options readily available, and as modelers our eyes tend to be bigger than our wallets. Pick a place and a time that you can live with, and stick to it.

8) Use code 83 track. It's far more prototypically accurate than code 100 for most eras and locations, and it looks a lot better, IMO.

 

Wow what great responses!

BoxcabE50 - The injury is to my lower back as it can no longer take the bouncing from running, riding horses, etc. It will not limit my ability to sit/stand, run power equipment. Good question concerning area - I was thinking of rural as I have been thinking about industry ideas such as coal, lumber, grain and gravel. Really like the latest gravel layout in Model Railroader.

KaiserWilhelm - What a great list. I was thinking about a L-shape layout as I can get some long trains to run. Maybe even a double track with a yard, though it will be quiet empty for awhile . Yes I want to go with DCC, thank you for the advice, I will look into what they have to offer. I was planing on building the base with 1x3 with the blue foam insulation. Do all Home Depots carry that stuff? Where should I start to look for trains and engines? Any specific manufacture to stay away from? I understand that if I don't get track laid out and trains running, I could run into bordom. Its been awhile since I used a sodering iron, guess I better find it in my garage. I think the one I have is an actual gun type. Era is something that I am still thinking about. Do you base that on what type of engines you want to run? Any perticular brand of 83 track I should be looking at? I was researching Kato track and since it included the roadbed, was thinking that might a less expensive way to go.

 

Good idea. If I had the room, I would have gone with a loop design like this myself.

Yes, but they only carry the multi-inch-thick stuff in colder parts of the country. Here in Texas, I've found that they only carry some very thin stuff, which means lots of extra initial cutting work for me :/

http://www.some train store.com/ I really like this website. When I first switched into HO, I ran a lot of price comparisons between about 6 or 7 different websites, and these guys were sometimes way cheaper, and sometimes just slightly cheaper... but they almost always offered something in the way of a good deal.

Not that I know of, but I don't deal in engines older than about 6-7 years. I like everything to be at least 'DCC ready,' if not already coming with a decoder inside.

Oh, and for rolling stock, I've found that you can get extremely cheap, reliable stuff just in need of a little love from model train conventions. I wound up getting about 50 cars for about $100 a few months ago without breaking a sweat. Just make sure that you buy wheels and couplers (if needed) to swap out, as these tend to show their age in the older cars.

Yes, generally. You pick an era based on what you want. For example, cabooses are rare today, but go back 2 decades and trains are still fairly modern (IE, ditch lights, intermodal trains, etc) but also have a caboose bobbing along behind them. If you want to run steam outside of excursions, then you really need to go back to the 1950s or early 1960s (the so called 'transition' era). Technically, it's your layout, and a 4-6-4 can tool around leading a consist of banana cars and Amtrak superliners if you like, but most folks tend to try and be slightly more accurate, which is why they pick an era.

I wouldn't go the snap-track route... but you can if you like. Most modelers lay sub roadbed (cork or foam)... or they don't (I skip this step) and then alternate between flex track and switches. Flex track is marvelous to work with, but you will need to be prepared to do some track cutting to get everything right. You'll also need to ballast... which I find to be a fun step, but other people detest.

As far as brand, Atlas code 83 is cheap, generic, and sold just about everywhere. Peco code 83 is slightly more expensive, not available everywhere, but also has offerings like curved turnouts and such that Atlas doesn't trade in.

 

Because I don't know how much the OP knows about trains, lets save him some trouble by steering him away from Tyco, Bachman, and Life-like trains. Personally I stick with the Athearns myself, all wheel power pickup and all wheel drive. While not top notch brass, they are the "small block chevy" of the model train world. Train shows and swap meets are excellent places to pick up used loco's and rolling stock for fair prices, and many times the original owner has already gone to the trouble of installing the kadee couplers and weathering them.
Atlas track works well and is availiable everywhere, and yes I 2nd using the code 83 as it looks more realistic.
You will find that you never have enough space to do what you want, so before building your layout do some research on benchwork and find what will make the most effecient use of your space. While many prefer the typical 4x8 sheet, I find it hard to reach the center, and you always have to have access from all 4 sides which is more wasted space. If I was dealing with using part of a garage again, I would employ a dog bone shape "bent" to fit the avail space with a sub-terrainian staging yard on a lower level. Although I'm much younger, I have nearly no L5 disc left in my back, and I've found that even my 2' wide benchwork could stand to be 16"....

 

Bachmann's Spectrum line is really quite nice... why would he avoid it? I have 4 Spectrums and an Atlas and I've never had any issues.

 

Kaiser, not sure where you are in Texas. In Austin I found the 4 X 8 sheets of blue in 1 inch thick. It was either the Lowe's or the Home Depot on North I-35 in Austin. Texas is a big state and I'm not sure where abouts you are, but it can be found if you're lucky.

 

Sorry I forgot about the Spectrum line and nothing bad to say about atlas either.
Just research before you buy is the best advice given....

I happen to live in one of those colder places, and problem is in the winter when you want to work on your layout sometimes all the foam is sold out

 

Welcome to Trainboard
For rugged reliability the Athearn Blue Box locomotives are hard to beat. Converting them to DCC might require some work. I'm in DC so have no experience with DCC.
The cheap Bachmann, Life Like and Tyco stuff is a MUST AVOID at all cost.
Bachmann Spectrum is OK the Life Like Proto 2000 and Proto 1000 lines are excellent and Atlas is excellent too.
Freight cars again avoid the cheap above mentioned stuff. I prefer to build my equipment. I use standards as well. The NMRA standards are good and conforming to them will save a lot of grief. All my equipment is weighted depending on car length and everything is equipped with Kadee couplers and trucks.
Track Code 83 is the rage right now. There are several ways to go. The Atlas line is good and fairly reasonable in price. Walthers has some more variety in turnouts than Atlas. Keep your curves as wide as possible on your mainline.
Layout. Plan your layout to make use of the space and still allow access for construction and maintenance. The home layout here is a shelf layout that is sixteen inches deep and goes around all four walls of a room thirteen feet square.
(There are photos in one of my Threads "Espee in the Basement")
Planning is the key then excellent construction on your roadbed and track. This should make for a long time in the model trains hobby
Good Luck

 

Engines, rolling stock, what railroad you're a fan of, etc.

An L-shape in a garage is a pretty good (not huge) space. For general use in almost any era, I'd recommend you keep mainline curves to 30" radius. Even if you won't immediately be getting large equipment, it's good insurance for possible future plans, and you have the space.

You'll soon discover (though I don't know what you think of as a long train) that a fully-functioning HO classification yard will be HUGE. Not in width, but length.

 

After having furthers dicussions with my wife, looks like I don't have as much room in the garage as orginally thought. I now get to occupy a 4'6" x 10" space. Should I considering going back to making a N scale layout? That was my original scale before I saw how little things can be.

 

I'm new to this myself. I got on Trainboard to ask advice and one gentleman hit the nail on the head for me. His question is simple: "What about model railroading do you find most appealing, modeling or operations?"

Also, don't be afraid to spend some money on a cheep box set to figure out where you want to go, what you like, what you don't like - you can always donate it and make someone's day when you're done with it.

I've been at this for two months. Done a ton of research, asked questions, stop by every hobby shop I can. I found my answer to the question. Hope you do too.

Let me know how things come along and happy railroading,

Mike

 

For a 5X10 space you can do plan L39 from the book here:
http://www.trainplayer.com/Site2/101 Track Plans.html
I'm considering doing something close to that plan. Yeah, you have to buy the book to get the full image, but its a good investment. They also have other plans. that are 4.5X9 and 4X8, etc. I'll end up putting mine on casters so I can wheel it out from the wall when I'm working on the layout or running trains... so I can access the back of it. Then push it up against the wall when I'm done. This is going to let me have a little more width.

With a 4.5 foot layout you're going to be restricted to about 25 or 26 inch radius curves if you run a loop on the edge of your layout. Any curves inside the layout will be tighter than you could get away with if you had more room. This means you might want to reconsider investing in longer cars (passenger cars, auto cars, longer engines with 6 axles).

I think if you model 1940s/1950s or anything before... which used 40 foot cars, etc, then you'll be fine. The newer prototype has longer cars and might not look as nice (or work as nice) on the smaller radius turns. You'll also probably end up having more #5 and #4 turnouts on a smaller width layout. (The smaller the number of turnout the sharper the turn - the more problems you can have with longer cars and the slower you should run over them).

You can still do HO, you'll just be limited. Sounds like you're working with simliar space to what I've got. Take a look at Mystere's layout here:
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=104664&page=39

Someone also pointed me here:
http://www.cke1st.com/m_train2.htm
These are for N scale, but are 2 foot by 4 foot. You could sort of double that to figure for a 4 by 8 foot layout I think... with some tweaking and shifting with turnouts.

 

I can only speak for myself, but N was a failed direction. If you like running steam, you can count the number of really viable engines in production today for N scale on one hand. Diesels are far more numerous and reliable, but their numbers still pale in comparison to what's available in HO.

If you're married to long trains, then you are probably getting close to the point where you can't really do that anymore. However, if you like switching... well...

Let me put it this way: I used to think continuous running was the only way to go. Then I watched this video ( http://blip.tv/file/1553867/ ) made by Wolfgang, one of the frequent posters on this forum, and realized that realistic switching could be just as fun. My own efforts in this direction are coming along smoothly, and here is the plan I settled on, which is built onto a hollow core wood door with a small leg off to the left for additional capacity.

 

If I can convince my wife to let me have more space, what would be the best L shape size to allow me to run a continous two track loop? The only reason that I would consider going back to N scale is the ability to have more track and scenery. I am concern that if the layout is too small, I will loose interest.

I was considering going with the DCC Controller - Prodigy Express. Would that be the best choice for a layout this size? I am thinking that I would like to eventually have a passenger train running, a freight train running and then switch yard where I can run trains around.

I have decided that I am going to make a freelance layout that takes into consideration a coal mining operation, a lumber operation, a stock yard and a small town that supports this. I have looked at the different structures available and there are some really nice looking ones that support this.

I really like the look of the deisel GP series engines. I am kind of tied to the Southern Pacific railroad because of family, so I would like to run those engines on my line. Given the fact that I like the GP series, which one should I purchase for my very first engine?

Since I am going to run the model via a DCC configuration, what type of switches should I use? I have decided to start out with code 83 track since it seems to be the best choice for cost wise.

For the boardwork do I put the blue/pink foam board directly on top of the structure or do I lay plywood first? I like the idea of being able to move this around the garage, so I am going to consider adding some wheels to the structure legs. I really can have as much room as I want, but will need to move it into a corner so others can use the garage.

 

This is just my take on it as a rubber scaler.

Scale is always a tough call. Does your accident impede your ability to model in a smaller scale?

The real question is, do you want to model close up or at arms length? Ho would give you more detail up close in exchange for an easier panorama effect in N scale.

People argue back and forth what is better as a scale. Having messed around with a large variety of scales throughout the years, I'll tell you a little secret. It all comes down to what scale you seem to have a natural affinity for. I know that is a vague answer. It seems like people "get used to" a certain size of model.

N scale offers a great deal of steam these days. So if you want to do N scale and do steam, I say go for it. Yet, you will lose detail with N scale steam. Look at some pictures of LifeLike Heritage steam in HO. The tender even comes with linked chains. That type of detail will not exist in N scale.

Sound... as a predominantly N scaler these days, I'd still tell you to go HO scale if you want sound.

With your space you could build magnificent canyons and valleys for your trains to traverse with N scale. You will be able to run 50 car coal trains. Yet it may not capture what you like about trains. Perhaps a smaller more detailed HO layout? I'm not going to tell you what to do here. Just saying the reality of it.

It's hard to be myopic when starting out. You kind of want to do everything. Run Diesels with long trains. Fast passenger trains. Run shorty steam trains and locals. It's a phase one almost has to go through when getting into model railroading, or even returning. Yet a layout tends to cause one to gravitate toward a specific era and prototype.

One thing to really consider with model railroading is your own temperament. What do you like to do? Are you a model builder? Are you a scenery guy? Do you just like to watch 'em go roundy roundy, no shame in that either. I like to sit and just let them roll for hours.

Craftsmen kits or off the shelf models? I found that for myself and my ADD personality, about one hard kit a year is enough. Having to build an entire string of hoppers would make me switch hobbies. This is supposed to be fun right?

One universal rule that everyone has already stated here is that one really good loco is worth twenty crappy ones. My experience is that the less reliable units stayed in a box on the shelf. My N scale layout is strictly Kato and Atlas. I'm selling all my unreliable locos off these days. If I did HO scale I'd probably be a Life Like, Atlas, Kato man. There are other good brands but these are the readily available ones.

Another good idea that most of us do not follow, myself included, is to build a small starter layout. You are going to make mistakes. You may want to switch prototype and scale and era. Most of us seem to anyway. Why not build something as a learner platform with training wheels?

There is also the reality that model railroading is cheaper than most hobbies, yet it's not cheap. If you buy smart from the start you will reduce later regrets.

I guess I missed your last comment so some of the above may not apply.