I am a Beginer. I am building a small 4x8 layout for ho scale. Any advice?
Welcome aboard! There are many track plans available, as others more qualified may well detail, but Atlas’ web site is probably a good place to start. More basic however is your answer tot he question “What do I want my railroad to do?” Do you want to see trains running round and round, eating up the miles, or do you want to service industries, dropping off cars, and picking them up for transport elsewhere. (the “elsewhere” by the way doesn’t have to be on your layout. Many plans provide an interchange track where you can put on and take off cars as required. And if the plan you like doesn’t have an interchange track, you can probably work one in. It gives so much more flexibility. (I notice that I’ve sort of assumed a freight biased rather than passenger service biased road, and I haven’t a clue what you like!)
Next, there is a temptation, hard to resist, to pile on track rather than leaving space for scenery. Less is so often more, as in so much of life.
Where is your road to be set? Mountains, Prairie, Coast? What you plan will be affected by these geographical “themes”.
On a 4X8 in HO you don’t have much room for wide curves. Asa comprimise, it may be better to stick to shorter rolling stock for the general look and performance of the train in the curves. If you are able to increase the four foot dimension by six to twelve inches, please consider doing so for the sake of the greater possibilities that extra real estate opens up when planning.
I’ll let others add to this, it’s just the first thoughts off the top of my head.
Remember, it’s your railroad, for your enjoyment, and nobody is going to make you take a test! If someone says that XYZ Road never ran that type of locomotive, you have the living proof they did!
Have fun.
“I am a Beginer. I am building a small 4x8 layout for ho scale. Any advice?”
Yes, and I include this for others who are new and would like information. The more specific your request, the more likely you will have many respond. So I would say to the above poster, what stage are you at and what exactly is puzzling you or you feel you need help with in that stage?
Wondering how to best use your space?
Looking for a track plan?
Wondering what kind of track to buy?
Wondering about how to wire the layout?
Wondering what brands of engines are best?
Wondering about how make a mountain or make a tree?
You get the picture now.
Maybe don’t use a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood. That size is fine if all you ever want is an oval, but 4X8 layouts are not usually expandable. They are always destined to be an island as they are too wide to reach the back of if placed against a wall. A better alternative is a switch layout or a HO version of an N-track module. 30 inches seems to be the ideal max width to allow access to the back of the layout. There were lots of plans for small layouts in the MR magazine and the NMRA has a great service for beginners at http://www.nmra.org/beginner/.
There have been many recent posts asking for beginner’s advice - can’t tell you what all to do, but can point out some pitfalls and what NOT to do. (tips from from the SOHK)
- Don’t place turnouts under mountains unless they are lift-off scenery sections.
- All track should be accessible for manual cleaning - again use lift-off scenery, and access holes.
- Make sure your turnouts are perfecly flat and straight - have seen several Peco N scale out of the box whose stock rails were bent upwards at the points. Slight rises like this cause derailments, the loco is lifted slightly on approaching the points and the front pilot may not hang low enough to track the points properly.
- Make sure there is a loco length clearance between a turnout and start of upgrade so tilted body mount coupler trip pin doesn’t catch on frogs or point rails. For same reason if placing a curve on a grade (itself not advisable) use a long vertical easement section so body mount coupler trip pin cannot drag on the outer rail.
- If using uninsulated frog turnouts (recommended for block power routing) be sure to use the auxiliary switch contacts in the switch motor, or if manually operated add a linkage to a undertable microswitch to duplicate the point’s power routing. Otherwise you will be constantly cleaning the points. Bad enought to have to clean rails.
- Add wire connections to the frogs and point rails. Solder to the rail undersides so the wires are not visible under the ballast. Be quick so as to not melt the plastic, use an alligator clip or needle nose pliers with a rubber band around the handles as a heat sink. On the point rails the connection should be close to the hinge just ahead of the frog for the least wire movement. This eliminates any future electrical problems due to dirt and corrosion in these hinges, and allows separate power feed to the point rails from the auxiliary switch contacts.
- If mixing different manufacturers track and turnouts, railtop heights ma
Read, read, read. I recommend The HO Model Railroad Handbook by Robert Schleicher and Track Planning for Realistic Operation by John Armstrong. Pick up a copy of Model Railroader to get an idea of what’s out there–you might check your local library to see if they have back issues you can check out.
Gary
rsn48 forgot ask the other half
Don’t start a project that is too big. It can overwhelm you and make you give up. Start small projects and take it one step at time. As your skill level increases you can get projects going that may take months to do but it is the best feeling in the world to be able to say, “I made that boxcar, building, etc.” Hope this helps!!! Have lot of fun with the railroad you build!!!
Add to the list of don’ts… avoid s curves esp. coming out of a #4 turnout as it derails and unhooks couplers. Avoid curves under 30 inch radius… hard to do on a 4 X 8, but big equipment hate them.
I am a Beginer. I am building a small 4x8 layout for ho scale. Any advice?
Welcome aboard! There are many track plans available, as others more qualified may well detail, but Atlas’ web site is probably a good place to start. More basic however is your answer tot he question “What do I want my railroad to do?” Do you want to see trains running round and round, eating up the miles, or do you want to service industries, dropping off cars, and picking them up for transport elsewhere. (the “elsewhere” by the way doesn’t have to be on your layout. Many plans provide an interchange track where you can put on and take off cars as required. And if the plan you like doesn’t have an interchange track, you can probably work one in. It gives so much more flexibility. (I notice that I’ve sort of assumed a freight biased rather than passenger service biased road, and I haven’t a clue what you like!)
Next, there is a temptation, hard to resist, to pile on track rather than leaving space for scenery. Less is so often more, as in so much of life.
Where is your road to be set? Mountains, Prairie, Coast? What you plan will be affected by these geographical “themes”.
On a 4X8 in HO you don’t have much room for wide curves. Asa comprimise, it may be better to stick to shorter rolling stock for the general look and performance of the train in the curves. If you are able to increase the four foot dimension by six to twelve inches, please consider doing so for the sake of the greater possibilities that extra real estate opens up when planning.
I’ll let others add to this, it’s just the first thoughts off the top of my head.
Remember, it’s your railroad, for your enjoyment, and nobody is going to make you take a test! If someone says that XYZ Road never ran that type of locomotive, you have the living proof they did!
Have fun.
“I am a Beginer. I am building a small 4x8 layout for ho scale. Any advice?”
Yes, and I include this for others who are new and would like information. The more specific your request, the more likely you will have many respond. So I would say to the above poster, what stage are you at and what exactly is puzzling you or you feel you need help with in that stage?
Wondering how to best use your space?
Looking for a track plan?
Wondering what kind of track to buy?
Wondering about how to wire the layout?
Wondering what brands of engines are best?
Wondering about how make a mountain or make a tree?
You get the picture now.
Maybe don’t use a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood. That size is fine if all you ever want is an oval, but 4X8 layouts are not usually expandable. They are always destined to be an island as they are too wide to reach the back of if placed against a wall. A better alternative is a switch layout or a HO version of an N-track module. 30 inches seems to be the ideal max width to allow access to the back of the layout. There were lots of plans for small layouts in the MR magazine and the NMRA has a great service for beginners at http://www.nmra.org/beginner/.
There have been many recent posts asking for beginner’s advice - can’t tell you what all to do, but can point out some pitfalls and what NOT to do. (tips from from the SOHK)
- Don’t place turnouts under mountains unless they are lift-off scenery sections.
- All track should be accessible for manual cleaning - again use lift-off scenery, and access holes.
- Make sure your turnouts are perfecly flat and straight - have seen several Peco N scale out of the box whose stock rails were bent upwards at the points. Slight rises like this cause derailments, the loco is lifted slightly on approaching the points and the front pilot may not hang low enough to track the points properly.
- Make sure there is a loco length clearance between a turnout and start of upgrade so tilted body mount coupler trip pin doesn’t catch on frogs or point rails. For same reason if placing a curve on a grade (itself not advisable) use a long vertical easement section so body mount coupler trip pin cannot drag on the outer rail.
- If using uninsulated frog turnouts (recommended for block power routing) be sure to use the auxiliary switch contacts in the switch motor, or if manually operated add a linkage to a undertable microswitch to duplicate the point’s power routing. Otherwise you will be constantly cleaning the points. Bad enought to have to clean rails.
- Add wire connections to the frogs and point rails. Solder to the rail undersides so the wires are not visible under the ballast. Be quick so as to not melt the plastic, use an alligator clip or needle nose pliers with a rubber band around the handles as a heat sink. On the point rails the connection should be close to the hinge just ahead of the frog for the least wire movement. This eliminates any future electrical problems due to dirt and corrosion in these hinges, and allows separate power feed to the point rails from the auxiliary switch contacts.
- If mixing different manufacturers track and turnouts, railtop heights ma
Read, read, read. I recommend The HO Model Railroad Handbook by Robert Schleicher and Track Planning for Realistic Operation by John Armstrong. Pick up a copy of Model Railroader to get an idea of what’s out there–you might check your local library to see if they have back issues you can check out.
Gary
rsn48 forgot ask the other half
Don’t start a project that is too big. It can overwhelm you and make you give up. Start small projects and take it one step at time. As your skill level increases you can get projects going that may take months to do but it is the best feeling in the world to be able to say, “I made that boxcar, building, etc.” Hope this helps!!! Have lot of fun with the railroad you build!!!
Add to the list of don’ts… avoid s curves esp. coming out of a #4 turnout as it derails and unhooks couplers. Avoid curves under 30 inch radius… hard to do on a 4 X 8, but big equipment hate them.