Yes it is. Sorry for not mentioning that earlier.
I think one reason people start, and rarely complete, layouts, was because of poor planning. Give careful consideration to what kind of layout you want. Someone else commented, “start small”. I did just that. My current layout started out taking up 10x12²’. Since that time, it has expanded to 27x29²’, and, although that’s smaller than some layouts, think about time spent on maintaining the layout. You want to enjoy it, not spending most of your time cleaning track, dust removal, etc.
Another consideration is how many operators are you planning to have? Mine is DC and wired for multiple cab operations. One can run trains on the lower level, another can run them on the upper level, and yet another can do switching operations from 3 different locations.
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I am assuming this is the answer to “Is this your first layout”.
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If it is your first, and I know this is not a popular answer…
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Just build something knowing it will hit the landfill very soon. No oatter how well you plan, your first layout will not be what you want. You will not know what you really want until you build something.
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Just build something simple. Learn the basics or DC or DCC, track laying, wiring, etc. Throw some scenery down, run some trains.
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Then figure out what you really want, read, learn, and start over.
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Do not let the flood of information at the beginning stall your enthusiasm. Get something, anything, built and run some trains.
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-Kevin
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I always admire how helpful people are in this forum to give a novice a good start, but sometimes I find the advice overwhelming to a newbie.
How to get a good start? That´s simple!
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Get a beginner´s book. It´ll give you a lesson on what to expect and teach you the lingo of this crazy bunch of folks calling themselves model railroaders.
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Watch the online video series of “The World´s Greatest Hobby”. The videos will walk you through building a typical beginner´s layout.
https://www.youtube.com/user/dkswans/videos
That´s all you need to get started!
Don’t bite off more than you can chew…
I mean that in the sense that even though you might have the space for a massive layout, you might not want to build one because:
-It takes too much time
-Track, scenery, e.t.c. costs a fair bit of money
-Maintinence
Also, don’t buy too many kit buildings at once. I made this mistake, and it was just annoying looking at them all and thinking, ‘ugh, I’ll do it some other time’.
Look if you want to have a specific railroad, location, time period, e.t.c. and try to follow the general rules of each qualification. Or, if you’re like me and own a 4-4-0 general and a 2-8-8-2 Y6B and everything in- between, you can create a flexible layout, (figuratively), that can look like it could belong to different time periods.
Also, trainshows. Go to trainshows if they are in your local area. They give you tons and tons of inspiration for layouts, people to ask questions and talk to, and sometimes really good prices for locomotives and rolling stock.
Overall, though, be reasonable, and don’t forget to have fun of course!! [:D] [;)]
Some of the advise I would give would depend on how much space you have. So let us know and then the info you get can be somewhat filtered. What you can’t do is also an important part of planning. For instance, all my curves are over 30". Too small for some of the rolling stock I have purchased over the years to look good and /or operate well.
I tend to stay away from books on the subject as it is all online now and for free.
Op seems to have never returned to the topic.
Here we are talking among ourselves. Does this seem like a familiar situation here at MR forums? [D)]
Just sayin …
How about that weather?[(-D]
He was back once, on Friday Jan. 11th.
Didn’t make much difference.
C’mon you guys who start threads needing help, interact!
That would be ideal, but they have no such obligation.
I had a friend in another forum who use to write: “I love my computer because all my friends live there” That’s cute and sad, all at the same time.
As a society, we haven’t figured out how to balance real life and social media. Evidently a good part of us are addicted to our cell phones. I didn’t get that gene, having to wear a beeper 24/7 I no longer want to be in instant contact with anyone at any time.
We see people in this forum post with unfamiliar names and on closer look, they have been members for 5 or 10 years and only made a handful of posts.
Actually, I belong to other forums, in other areas of interest, where I had to join to see a picture, ask a question, or to search a topic, and have only made one or two posts.
Not everyone is consumed by model railroading. It is their loss.
Maybe we should view our answers to newbies as loss leaders, something cheap to get them in the store. Some customers come back, others are just looking for the next losss leader.
Some are genuinely seeking advice.
Some are simply overwhelmed by the answers - also to questions they have not asked.
Some just like to “stir the pot”.
We can´t win them all.
@ xboxtravis7992 I am running a small 6 foot by 4 feet. Also have 18 radius curves.
Thank you to everyone who has responded to my question. I did not expect this many replies. And to address the people complaining about me not responding, I am sorry but I am really not on my PC much at all. I am also relatively new to the forums and don’t really know the, for lack of a better term, “unwritten rules” when it comes to replying or not replying. Also, the majority of the questions asked to me take a little bit of pondering for the best answer. I am sorry for any inconvenience I have caused anyone. -Nathaniel Nagel
Hello Nathaniel,
I suggest you look at the top right of this page and you will see an area called “messages” . A PM is a private message and I have sent you one which of course you have no obligation to answer. However the article I have copied can potentially help you and there is no cost now or in the future.
The same goes for anyone who PM’s me with their private email address because this site does not allow attachments,
Cheers from Australia
Trevor
So, As another new feller wanting to start a layout for the (well, since high school many years ago…) Im in the process of running wiring in my “train room”. I have approx 11x6 L shape. I hope to build a large shop/servicing terminal. I dont really care to run trains, but play in my shops. spotting shop, fuel tracks, powering OB trains that dont exist etc. I love the advice I’ve read so far here. What would the old heads recommend for lighting, how many outlets/amprage do i need to plan for? I hope to have a sizable fleet of sound units, I would rather have a larger fleet of unpowered units with sound but no motors and gearing, but from previous posts I have gleaned they really don’t exist. Even if Im not back right away, I promise I will read what advice is given. Thanks!
Don’t worry about it. Some find it hard to believe not being on a computer all of the time.