Hello everyone,
I am new to the Forum and really new to Model Railroading, I have always been intrested in railroading but never had the time until now. I am looking forward to reading through the post here get some tips and Ideas.
Welcome to our world.
Hello and welcome! Read up as much as you can, and if you still have questions or get confused ask away. No question is stupid except the one you don’t ask. Unless, of course, it’s one that you could easily have answered by searching a little bit. Well, okay, that’s not dumb, just a little annoying.
And really, I have to like a guy who comes from a state named after my favorite railroad – NH.
Is it still snowing where you are? I got 6 inches today. April Fools Day snow.
New England weather is crazy. I went to Fenway Park for Opening Day in 2000. When we got off the bus, it, was 55 degrees, we got to Yawkey Way, the clouds came in and it went to 45 degrees. By the 5th Inning, it was snowing and we were shivering while holding hot chocolate. You’re not supposed to drink hot chocolate at a baseball game.
I guess that they’re right. If you don’t like the weather in New England, wait 15 minutes.
Welcome to the forums and to model railroading.
Don’t know what part of NH you are in, but there are two shows coming up in the Upper Valley that I will venture across the river to go to. Not huge shows, but I always find something interesting.
As mentioned above, do a lot of reading and question asking before spending and doing and you will take a lot fewer steps backwards as you go.
Have fun,
Richard
Welcome! I’m sure you’ll learn a lot from the people here! As for reading, I would start with something small and general, like Model Railroader, or something from World’s Greatest Hobby. I got a small WGH booklet with my first MRR magazine, and it gave a good and simple overview of many parts of the hobby, as well as somegood starting tips.
As for the weather, I was coming home with a pizza this evening, and there was a single dark cloud hovering over the city (and it was about 50 degrees outside). What was coming from that cloud? Slush balls!! Large chunks of ice were raining down and melting about 80% before hitting the ground. It was an odd sight indeed!
Welcome to the forums Dave. [#welcome] Kick back and have a look around. Feel free to ask any questions you have (train related of course)
F.Y.I: …Hooksett Lions Club 16th Annual Train Show upcoming on May 15th. This show would be GREAT way for you to learn more about the Hobby and maybe pick up an item ot two at their white elephant tables. And I believe they also have some interesting clinics on model rr-specific subjects. TTFN…Old Tom aka papasmurf in NH
[#welcome] [#welcome] [#welcome] !!!
Nice to see you aboard.
Do a LOT of reading BEFORE you buy anything is the best advice I can give you.
I had O/ O27 trains as a kid and some N scale in hihg school. I put them away for other life persuits. 5 years ago a nearby auction ouse had a “train auction” and My Other Half {MOH} and I wet to the preveiw. We were hooked, but didn’t see anything that we really wanted. I dug out my old N scale stuff, but wasn’t satisfied as i always wanted HO. SO I jumped into HO and bought 3 DC engines BEFORE I really read about this "new fangled’ {been around for a few years} thing called DCC. DC controls trains by controlling the voltage to the track, DCC contols the engine{s] on the track. I quickly decided I wanted DCC, That is ONE thing I recommend you read more about before deciding which operating method you’d like to use.
At teh Upper right sides of this forum site is a black tool bar with the link to “shop” and a gray toolbar at the very top right with a “shop” link. There you will find many books on MRRing {Model RailRoading} put out by our hosts, Kalmbach publications. ANy one of them on any aspect of the hobby is a good read.
Also at the lower right side margin you will see a section with “search our community” where you can type in certain keywords { like: ballasting or DCC or Digitrax or the like} and you will get a list of threads from the forum dealing with that keyword subject.
Also, in addition to reading more aobut MRRing in books, you can ask questions here on this site. SOme are a bit crumudeons aobut answering a often repeated ad nauseum neewbie questions, but most will take the time to share info and knowlege with you. Don’t let any crumudeons scare you off! SO don’t be afraid to ask anything here MRRing related. Everyone here has their own opinions and ways of doing things. When you first start this hobb
Ty for the warm welcome and advice everyone
Dave.
[#welcome] to the Forums. As has been said, do some investigative work BEFORE you start to lay track. Figure out what you want to do first, it saves a lot of aggravation later.
As for DC or DCC, DCC is easier to wire. Just two 12 or 14 Gauge bus wires around the layout and solder smaller 18 Gauge (thermostat wire) or even 22 Gauge (telephone wire) feeder wires every 3 to 5 feet from the track to the bus wire. ( colour code your wires for easier identification )
One other thing, if you go with Flex Track, (my preferred method) make sure to sand your cork roadbed smooth before laying track on it and make sure that your track ends go INTO the track joiners and NOT above or below. That way, you don’t have bumpy track. [banghead]
Good luck with your layout when you start and again, [#welcome] to the Forums.
Blue Flamer.
Welcome to the asylum. Good hobby choice. Lots of excellent advice here. As for the advice to do some research before spending too much money - that’s really good. But with the forum, my advice is to jump right in with both feet!
Hi Dave, Welcome!
I’m a Masshole, but the NH border is 300 yards up my street, so we’re neighbors… kinda. Im on the seacoast.
You’ll find lots of good advise on this board.
-Ed
Port Able? A long long time ago ther was an article in MR about the “Port Able” lines; I believe the owner was Bernie De LaTorre. This isn’t by chance the same layout, is it? If it is, it is a real survivor-like about 50 years worth!