I am fairly new to the train scene. I have a 4 year old son and his step grandfather got him started with a Lionel O scale beginners set. This prompted me to get involved, but I am looking to build an HO layout for myself (I have had a couple HO beginners set for about a year now) and have a U shaped 11x11 room drywalled and ready to go. I need advice on paint color for the back round and the names of some track layout software out there that could help me out. Also, any other advice anyone can give is appreciated as well. Thanks.
Layout software:
Xtrkcad, http://www.sillub.com/ , there is a link halfway down the page to register for free. Do the demo/tutorial under the help menu.
There was an excellent foum clinic run earlier this year on the forum that covered back drops and other elements of scenerly construction. Here is the link
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=1&TOPIC_ID=32122
I used to have 4 year old train nuts. They are now 6 and 8 and are really involved in my HO scale layout. It is a great hobby for kids to get involved in and far better than the PS2!
The color to paint your ground and backdrop are going to depend on the area you want to model and the kind of weather you are going to have. Lets start with the ground first. I started modeling a Pacific Northwest region, That is where I grew up and the ground is a dark to medium brown so I painted everything that color even before I put the “grass” down and the results were really good it did look like home to me. Now if you are going to say model the South West region were there are alot of grassey plains and desert you may want to go with a light brown to tan. The US deserts tho are full of alot of colors from brown to grey, red, green and you cant forget that deep blue sky. So decide what area you are going to put your railroad in and find out what kind of colors the soil is there and start with that. Now the sky on your back drop is a little different. Your modeled weather will play a huge part but even a rainy day has different shades of grey in the sky. I do my blue sky by painting the whole “sky” a little darker color than you would think to see in the sky then I take some white and starting on the bottom of the back drop (while the blue is wet still tho ) and “wash” the white up a little to simulate a haze on the horizon and also to lighten the blue a little to make a more realistic look. add a few clouds with an airbrush or by dabbling with a brush or sponge and there you go sky. Rainy days I paind the whole sky a light grey and add some dark bottomed rain clouds and again some haze (darker grey than the sky in this case) just like with the blue sky. Also it is a good idea to paint your backdrop before you put any tracks or scenery down it is alot easier when there is no stuff in the way.
I hope this helps and good luck building your layout
Is this going to be a permanent layout or just something to play with for awhile and then tear down? If its permanent we might have to get into another discussion of DCC.
Thanks for the responses. Right now we plan on being in our house for 15-20 years so I am thinking permanent. I also was going to make this DCC. I have heard it is a lot more fun and easier than DC. Again thanks for the helpful input!
The southwest skies around metropolitan areas USED to be deep blue. [xx(] That’s one of the reasons my wife and I moved to the country in the midwest. She treated me to a 1st class train trip (large sleeper compartments) for my birthday this year. We went to a beautiful little town in NE New Mexico: Raton. The train passes through the only tunnel on the route, the Raton Pass; elevation 7200 feet. The train enters the tunnel in Colorado and comes out in New Mexico. I got to see some lovely scenery and even more ideas for my home HO layout. Want to enhance your model railroad empire? Take a train and a camera! Wooooo Woooooooooo!!
Welcome to the forum! [#welcome]
The good news is that you came to the right place to get all sorts of information.
The bad news is that you came to the right place to get all sorts of information - and asked for general advice. [;)] It’s going to be like trying to take a drink from a fire hydrant.
My only advice in general is that as you are new to the hobby; try to keep your first layout on the simple side. For many it’s easy to get real ambitious the first time out - especially after being inspired by the many fantastic layouts that many members here have. What is not always apparent is that it took years and countless man-hours to build them. The last thing you want to do is to start something you will get overwhelmed with and stop before you start to enjoy it (not that any layout is completely finished). And that’s the point of having a hobby – enjoyment.
Good luck and have fun!
I have to agree with MAbruce. You r first goal should be to get atleast some benchwork done a nd some track laid…get those trains running!!! And then move on to the next section…I have found this keeps my interest peeked instead of doing one thing for a week at a time or longer you are mixing things up so you dont get burned out too quick. The best thing I can tell you from my experience is that if you do get burned out is to wlak away for a day or two or a week or two however long it takes. When you are burned out your not enjoying yourelf nd that defeats the whole purpose of the hobby
Do not plan to fill the room with layout on the first try. Instead, build a 4x8 or a shelf along a wall. (You will still want to paint the room, carpet the floor, &c as if you were filling the room with railroad.) This will give you something to do while you decide what to put in that space. This may turn out to be Phase 1 of a bigger plan. If so, good! And if not, you can still cannibalize the smaller layout for parts and stuff.
I use old postcards off ebay that I copy and paste, scale out to just under ho and I print out for backdrops and also gives you ideas for scratch building. Also you can find all kinds of signs you can copy.
here are few signs I found and you can size them from a poster to a billboard size.
You are about to spend a great deal of money on lumber for benchwork, track, turnouts, electrical components before you get to a single movement of a locomotive. This is kind of like building a house without plans. Step back and do some research. The forum sponsor publishes some really great books. Some are overkill, but none are low quality. Within the last two years, Model Railroader has published articles on preparing a layout rooom and building that big layout. MR’s project railroad series walks you through complete step-by-step planning, building, scenery, and rolling stock. Even though they are in N scale, the Clinchfiled project book from around 1980 and the Wisconsin (something) project book from around 1990 teach all of the required skills in a single book. If you can’t find them in a library, they are usually available in the magazine boxes at train shows. Dave Barrow’s domino planning ideas are worth their weight in gold. A woman named Linda Sands has written a number of articles that mesh with Barrow’s ideas. She has a cool web page with great ideas.
I like computer design tools, but at this stage your best tools are magazines and books with lots of photos and a photocopier. Use your computer to download photos from existing web pages maintained by clubs and individual modelers. In a short period of time you will begin to see what works and what looks good. Also at this stage condsider minimal operations or at least operating interest for your track plans. Visit model railroad web pages to see how modelers have borrowed or created a purpose for their railroad and built and outfitted the lineside industries and the rolling stock to serve that theme.
Join a local model club of any scale, or at least hang out someone else who plays with trains. Spend a day at the nearest train show and talk with everyone. We’ll talk back and share everything we know and have learned the hard way. Many experienced modelers are retired and some will even drop by the house to help you build s