My name is Doug and I'm from Wisconsin. Looking forward to meeting new Railroad enthusiast here on Trainboard. Starting the first of the year I will be quiting smoking and figured it was time to start my model railroad layout, I have been wanting to do this for many years so I figured this would be the right time. I have a 20ft x 15ft room that I am going to start my layout. I was wondering, would it be wise to start with a 4ft x 8ft section first and then add on, or go ahead and layout the whole room? If you have any suggestion it would be nice to hear from you. Thank you Doug
Welcome to TrainBoard! Your potential room size should allow a very nice empire. We have some excellent minds here when it comes to planning. You might wish to check out our Layout Design Discussion forum. Bounce some possibilities off those guys. I'm sure they will really be an asset to you. Do ask questions, take your time and you'll be glad for it. Doing so will save you time, money and avoid possible frustrations. I see a Milwaukee Road avatar! Cool!
Hi Doug, Welcome to train board. There are many things you could do in a 15x20 room. It doesn't have to be entirely filled with a layout. Do you have a comfortable area to work in? Do you have any model rr experience? I would sugest starting out small. What scale do you plan on using? There are many other options besides the standard 4x8 for a beginers layout. You could start out with a small switching layout jsut for fun. It is good to do something simple first, get something running, see what aspect of the hobby you like best then go from there. Many times people start out biting off more than they bargan for and the railroad languishes. If you really want to do a big layout come up with a plan and build a small section first. This site is a great resource. Do some homework, ask some questions and have fun. There are many aspects to this hobby and many ways to have fun. Just my two cents worth
Welcome aboard the Trainboard Doug. It sounds like with your room size you'll have lots of options on your Model railroad choices. Scale and size of layout is fairly open. Starting small as stated earlier is best and build as your hobby knowledge grows. There are definitely some great hobby minds here to aid you as you go. And I must add that they are very friendly and helpful. Enjoy it's built right in.
Hi Logging loco thank you for some info. I don't have a lot of experience, when I was a teenager I had a basic beginners train set, it was nothing big. I'm wanting to do HO scale, it seems to be the most popular scale and that's what I had before. The room is very comfortable with heat and air, it also has room to expand out to make it a larger room. I do lots of wood work so the bench work is no problem and the landscaping. I'll probably run across problem with the electrical part of it. Is there a link that I can download to draw up a plan? Thank you Doug
Welcome aboard Doug. You will get lots of help from people on this site. I suggest you start small (4x8) and "grow" your layout. If you start too big, too fast, it will become overwhelming and you may give up the hobby. Also, starting "small" will give you a chance to hone your skills that you will need later on in your dream layout.
The Layout Design Forum should be able to help. http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/forumdisplay.php?183-Layout-Design-Discussion There are also tons of plans on the internet. Just do a search for model railroad track plans, http://www.gatewaynmra.org/project.htm http://www.railserve.com/Models/Layouts/HO_Scale/ http://www.modeltrainguide.com/index.php?mode=displayarticle§ion=3&article=3 http://www.thortrains.net/4holayx.html As far as a program for drawing a plan your asking the wrong member. I've done pencil and papper track plans for myself in the past, but cringe at the thought of learning a track planning program for the little bit I would use it. I've got another member helping me modify a plan I saw on the intenet. http://www.eldoradosoft.com/ http://www.model-railroad-infoguy.com/track-plans.html
