While I ahe many years building platic car kits with the odd large scale aircraft thrown in here and there, with lots of kit bashing experience, I know NOTHING when it comes to model railroading. I bought my girlfriend an N-scale beginner's kit for Christmas but we decided that was too small when it came to setting tracks and rolling stock on the rails and have decided to jump to HO scale. I am looking for easy to read, noncomplex information. Growing up, I had an O gauge Lionel with the transformer that could make the train go forward or backward. Now, it seems the world is electronic with decoders and transmitters and receivers and quite frankly, it seems all very complex. We have an Nscale book on how to get started but I am looking for more resources. I also have a paper (13th edition) of Walthers "Basics for Beginners A Guide to Model Railroading' 134 total tips" but this explains nothing about all the decoders and etc... Can anyone help two old youngsters (49 and 59) get started with some simple reading resources? Thanks in advance!
What are your goals, or what is your objective? A simple train set of some quality in the scale of your choice will have instructions, and you can have fun with that. If you really would like to 'invest' in the hobby, both in terms of learning and then getting the most out of that and your expenses of all kinds, including time, reading might be a good start if you can turn the heat down for half an hour. There are many books, such as the late John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" that was actually used for basic training of real railroaders no so long ago because of his unique and valid way of explaining how railroads do things, and how modelers can enjoy doing much the same notionally. Mostly, he taught us how to look at track layouts and make them both fun and interesting at the same time. The big error lies in too much simplicity...an oval with a depot on a siding with a turnout (switch) at each end will become horribly boring within a couple of hours of watching the train do what we call 'roundy-round'. A more complicated roundy-round is what we call a spaghetti bowl track plan...or a dog's breakfast, or something the dog's stomach rejects. Complicated, but not complicated once you have used it for a bit. Kalmbach Publishing offers that book, and others that get you started. The are also websites that teach us how not to make the basic, classic, and cardinal errors that have us tossing it all in the garbage three hours after our first setup. http://ldsig.org/ That should be enough from me. Others will soon join the conversation and offer tips and other links. Good luck. Go slow...please. Try for a more concerted layout effort nearer to Christmas when you know more, maybe have found some good bargains in rolling stock and tracks, and have a better idea of how to make this a longer term hobby foray.
Welcome to the hobby. It is one that has kept me occupied and interested for more than half a century. It is a hobby that has so many facets that it would take pages and pages to even begin to list the interests you may find fascinating. Main line, branch line, industrial, mining, logging, you name it, a railroad was involved in it. That's before you even get to the number of crafts or hobby skills you may find interesting; electronics, electrical, carpentry - this is also a long list and most people find one or more that they like to pursue. What I personally advise most new starters, is what attracts you to trains in general? Is it the memory of your nearest railroad as a child, teen-ager, young adult. Was it a long, very fast freight that held you at a crossing too long. Passenger commuter trains that seem to run on city bus schedules - this list is also endless but I've found most fans have some thing, some trigger that attracted them to trains or railroads. For some, it's a beloved relative who worked for the "AB&C" railroad - again, endless. And Crandell offers very good advice. Go slow, take your time. You'll find one or more "triggers" and an awful lot of good basic information for same on on the internet. That'll give you a start.
So far, so good... Since you guys have given some great material for thought, let me tell you a bit aobut myself and my girlfriend... first of all, we love trains... and we live near the Tehachapi Loop so trains are a part of our daily lives. We want to have an hobby that we can share and expand. We want to make it modular enough to move when we relocate from one rental house to the other; we would like to have it int he garage; and I have a background in not only EMS but display carpentry so I can find my way around tools. We are thinking that 4' x 8' might be fun to start with and in display work, I learned about carving foam and the like for terrain. As I said, I have been builidng 1/24th scale cars and 1/32nd scale airplanes with some fair degree of quality for about years now, so I know aobut painting, accuracy, detailing and the like. Where I get overwhelmed is with all the electronics. We don't really want to spend a gazillion dollars on the finest but want to have a reasonable layout with a tunnel or two, a roundhouse with maybe three engine shed and some sidings and the like. I pretty much know how to do research and have a ton of tools from MicroMark and from modle building. Is there an EZ guide to electronics? Or a "Modle Railroading for Dummies"? Or "An idiot's Guide to Model Railroading"? Thanks for your help already! Winter is coming and we will be looking to replace our outdoor tanning and yard time with some garage time building a basic layout this winter... if we got track down, that would be a good start! Thanks again!
Try the web sites for Kalmbach Publishing and Carstens Publications. Both are major model RR magazine producers. They both should have a rack full of "how-to" or "getting started" type booklets. Take your time. Read, ask questions. Doing so will save you from wasting efforts and money, plus avoid potential frustrations.
Basic information is best gained asking questions on a forum like this actually. The basic 4x8 is a good way to start, but there are many other configurations such as an around the walls set up that leave you more space to use for regular things. I've built my layout on shelves and it leaves space in the middle for chairs and a table. I may be repeating what others have said, but buying good locos and cars will add a lot to your experience. A cheap loco that runs poorly will ruin your experience. You might start by purchasing some model train magazines, not for the articles, but for the advertisements and product reviews. No matter what you do you're going to make mistakes, so don't get too obsessed with perfection. Build a little layout and have some fun. Chances are, as you get into this more, you are going to end up tearing apart that first layout and building another. And now my shameless plug for HO and OO garden railways: http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/
Welcome to the HO scale world. As nicely stated above enjoy you'll learn as you go and perfect doesn't exists any more in Scale model railroading no more than it does in life. Read up some good information publication listed above and on this forum and you'll be having a blast in no time.
Try here. http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/dccprimer/index.htm Basically, you will need an absolute minimum of two wires making contact with the rails, one on each rail. Unfortunately, it is likely to be more complicated than that. It depends on the turnouts (switches) that you use, gaps in the rails, how good your joiner connections are between lengths of rails, how long your rails are, and so on. The longer the power has to travel, the thicker gauge of wire you should use to prevent voltage drop. Directly to the rails is usually 20-22 gauge. If you need a run of heavier wire under the layout, and the 22 gauge feeders off that heavier wire bus, then the heavier wire should be about 14 gauge, or even heavier if the runs are over 25 feet or so. Just ballparking, nothing absolute.
Believe most beginners think about that good ole' 4 x 8 foot is the way to go. If they ask me first I always recommend against it. Several people have commented on shelf-type layouts, and to me, that is the way to go. Think about it, a 32 s.f. chunk out of too many rooms that have 120 - 144 s.f. max. And that 4 foot reach, don't even think about it. I'm in HO my layout is built on hollow-core doors, 4 ea. 30" x 80" and a 24" wide door. Now that it's complete my question is "why didn't you build it on all 18" wide?" Also you mentioned N scale, which if you use it, gives you even more latitude as to width. The ability to easily handle a layout and its' sections become even more important as one ages! As for control(s) for the layout, while the simplest (block wiring) may at first glance look intimidating, it is in fact not so. And conversion to DCC at a later date, even that is not a problem with block wiring. DCC, love it but with ~90 engines (and I love evryone of 'em) it would get a wee bit expensive for me. If you're gonna model the steam era (1 locomotive per train) might make sense to start out with DCC., if you want multiple unit diesels, possibly not.
And keep in mind - you don't HAVE to start out with DCC. All depends on what you find interesting and what you find fun about the hobby. AND your budget! I've been modeling with plain old DC since I started back in the hobby and don't feel like I'm missing out on anything - but that's just me. I can sit for hours watching a train meander around my layout from 20 different viewing angles. I spend most of my time detailing rolling stock or making buildings. I'm not into operations like many are. Best advice I can give is to head into it with an open mind and follow your interests - being aware that your interests will change or evolve as you get further experience. Have fun!
