Advice for the new guy?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

As demonstrated by the title, I’m new. I’ve been reading mrr for roughly two years, finally got a subscription last November. I’ve decided to go N scale, mainly due to space constraints.

Here’s what I have, then I’ll ask my questions.

Most of the MRR issues since December '07

N Scale Model Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby, by Marty McGuirk

Empire Builder and Explorer train sets from Bachmann plus two right-hand turnouts.

^^definitely want to change all the couplers on these models

After absorbing a fair number of mrr articles, kit-bashing, scratch-building, track-laying, and benchwork all seem fairly straight-forward. Once I have the chance to start all I’ll need is practice to harness those skills. The two areas that confuse me the most are wiring and DCC programming. An hour with an instruction manual for a DCC system should clear things up in that area though. So that leaves wiring. Are there any books that can help me out in this area?

I’m also wondering if the Cascade, Wash. layout in the track-plan database is too large for a beginner to build. I really like the arrangement and size, but I’m worried that if I start, I’ll get overwhelmed and frustrated, then quit.

I also have a Bachmann Centennial on special order, I won’t get it until early June though. I’m wondering, 1) is it a good model (should have checked this out before I ordered it) and 2) should I wait for it? I mean, I like the looks of Kato’s SD70MAC and AC4400.

That’s all I can think of for now, I know there’s more though, probably will come to me later.
Thank you in advance for any helpful advice for a newbie!

2

Oh, btw, I run a Mac, so I can’t watch the mrr videos. Unless this has changed?

Edit: I also have plenty of time and zero money.

3

Wiring for DCC is about as simple as you can get. Basically you have two wires coming from the console and one goes to each track. After that it is a matter of getting power to every piece of track.

Of course, there are some special instances, but by and large, it’s not worth slowing down your forward progress over. After people correct me here, you’ll have all the info you need to know.

4

The best wiring book (IMHO) is Andy Sperandeo’s Easy Model Railroad Wiring.

There are a number of track plans in the database with “Cascade” as part of the title. Are you talking about Ron Johns’ layout from the October, 2000 MR? If you have access to the two “backsides”, it’s buildable, but there are some flaws. The yard is awkwardly located and the switchback industry spurs would be found tedious and annoying by many after a short while. In that space and configuration, “twice-around” might be more interesting than the double oval. Check that, it is twice-aorund.

On the plus side, it does have staging, which far too many plans lack.

But overall, if you have space for that layout, there may be better choices, though a lot depends on what your interests are (and will become) and what you’d like to do on your layout. The grades and tight overhead clearances may a little challenging for a first layout.

[quote user=“Xaltius”]

I also have a Bachmann Centennial on special order, I won’t get it until early June though. I’m wondering, 1) is it a good model (should have checked this out before I ordered it) and 2) should I wait for it? I mean, I like the looks of Kato’s SD70MAC an

5

Start small. maybe a 1x8 or 2x8 foot shelf layout. You can get started and learn your skills. If something dosent look right, not much to tear out. If you like what you did, add the next 1x8 section. Also, post photos on the forums of your progress. Most of us will give you positive feedback on what you are doing.

You will be overwelmed if you start big and have problems.

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Constructive criticism, helpful suggestions, and encouragement would be more useful than cheer leading.

Mark

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If you’re talking about the videos in the weekly MR newsletter, you should have no problem as long as you have Flashplayer installed on your Mac.

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Yep, that’s the one

I was thinking about having it be free-standing, with just enough room between the walls and long sides for me to walk. As for the awkwardly placed industries, I was ignorant of that, I know nothing about realistic operations… I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Right now, I’m liking the big UP locos, but I didn’t have enough money for an Athearn Big Boy, so when I found out about the Centennials, I jumped for one. I didn’t mention (and I should have) that I most likely wasn’t going to use the location of that plan, I’m still searching for a good “great plainsy” place. I have no idea what time period I want to do, which is why I stated the Kato models as options (even though the SD70MAC doesn’t have a UP paint scheme).

[quote user=“cuyama”]
If you are completely new to the ho

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I have a Mac too, yet I have been able to watch every Cody’s Office.