beginner

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

hi my names malcolm,i’ve just become a member of model railroader,i live in the uk,nottinghamshire to be procise,any info on starting a layout would be most appreciated,
all best wishes from nott’s county

2

it’s kind of hard to tell someone where to start… i guess three things i can offer would be

  1. know the era you want to model
  2. know the terrain/area (ie desert, hilly, plain, mountain, etc)
  3. compromise what you want to do with space available
  4. (OK, di its 4 things…)HAVE FUN with whatever you’re going to do
3

I’ll add to that list.
4. Considering the space available one needs to decide what scale they want to model in - 1, G, O, S, OO, HO, TT, N, or Z.

Since the question is coming from UK and most of us are US perhaps another thing would be what country is going to be modeled?

4

My best advice is to start small and don’t bite off more than you can chew. My 1st layout was 150 sq feet and I never reached a stage where I could operate my trains! I just started my 6th layout in a new apartment, a 2 1/2’ x 5’ N scale module that can be expanded in the future, and I have more completed on it in just one month than I had on my other layouts in years. Being able to get trains up and running quickly , even if its only through white plaster mountains, is very rewarding and keeps your motivation going. Good luck and have fun!

5

Get mrc power & you BETTER have fun or else…

6

Here’s my advice for the beginner… Some of it’s geared towards the USA but most of it applies to all… Good luck and welcome…

http://www.rolleiman.com/trains/clinic2p1.html

Jeff

7

If you’re totally new to the hobby you can even start with some basic information available on the Model Railroader Magazine home page. Here’s the link to their ABC’s of model railroading:

http://www.trains.com/story/story_list.asp?idMenuCategory=3&idMenuSubCategory=31&idMenuMinorCategory=3107

And check out the menu items down the left side of the page. Not all of this will be applicable or interesting to you. But you can pick up some info here:

http://www.trains.com/maghomepage/maghomepage.asp?idMagazine=3

Regards

Ed

8

If you can find a club in your area, go hang out with them! The members probably have lots of different types of layouts, levels of expertise, etc., and, no doubt, LOTS and LOTS of ideas and opinions . . . a few of them might even agree on something now and then!

9

Hi Malcolm,

As another UK member [#welcome] to the forum. Which part of Britain are you interested in modelling and which era - steam, diesel, electric or modern? With the choice of British liveries and rolling stock available, a trip to your local hobby store (abbreviated on here to LHS) would be a first point of call. Then checking out these sites would be the next:
http://www.bachmann.co.uk/
http://www.ehattons.com/
http://www.thesignalbox.co.uk/
http://www.brmodelling.com/main/default.asp
http://www.peco-uk.com/rm/rm_home.htm
http://www.chatham-mrc.com/

Hope this all helps
Ian

10

Have a look on the MR web site. There are loads of downloadable resources to give you some good planning ideas such as benchwork, trackwork, electrical and layout planning. I have found some pretty interesting information for my layout here.

Just remember, a model railroad layout takes a little time to build, so don’t be too eagre to get it up and running.

All the best and have some fun.

Eddie

11

Have a look on the MR web site. There are loads of downloadable resources to give you some good planning ideas such as benchwork, trackwork, electrical and layout planning. I have found some pretty interesting information for my layout here.

Just remember, a model railroad layout takes a little time to build, so don’t be too eagre to get it up and running.

All the best and have some fun.

Eddie