i am new to the railroad scene.i have a 5 easy track plans book and was hoping to do madison central.but is there anyway i can make my own?my friend is going to help me draw it…he has been modeling since he was born.so what advice would you give me for making my own? thanks.
cheers,trainguy12
Trainguy12, Most modelers do choose to create their own plans. Don’t use a plan from a book. Chances are it won’t fit what you want out of your railroad. Spacemouse, another member of this forum, has written up some very informative articles for the ultra-beginner. I’m sure he will post with the link, but otherwise you can use his profile. Otherwise, pull out the graph paper and get cracking. The easy plans books will be helpful to give you an idea of how wide curves should be, etc. Some plan books, such as Atlas’, have plans that are very packed. On the other hand, the Madison Central has a good balance, and you could add more operational variety to it.
If your friend has really build some layouts, he(she) is your best help. To start a layout you need to know what you want. Reading magazines and books will help you know this.
there are some basic decisions that need to be made;
what scale
What space do you have available
What is your budget. Some things can be done for little money, others cost a LOT
What part of model railroading do you like the best:
running trains,
making models
building scenery - tunnels, mountains, cities, forests
switching trains and cars (opperation)
fancy electrical work
You can’t do everything first so its good to work on what you like
I don’t mean to get too complicated, but there is a lot to this hobby, and it is most fun to start out in a direction you enjoy and can succeed at.
Good luck and let the fun begin. Keep us posted, We love to try to help.
Trainguy12, here’s the direct link to Spacemouse’s Beginners Guide To Layout Design that Yoshi was talking about: http://www.chipengelmann.com/trains/Beginner/BeginnersGuide01.html
It’s a very entertaining read, as well as informative!
The late great John Allen [google it :D] made a model of his layout before making it. I suggest the same thing. I do it for many things, not just my layout but also furniture and houses etc to make sure evrything fits and I will enjoy it etc and to forsee future possible problems. I give a 'how to; on this if you wanna look at it [free]
I also suggest read a lot as well.
Enjoy
I hope that helps
i can’t tell you how much you all just helped me![:)] i talked to my friend and we have decided to get together soon.we are going to select the buildings of the area of time i want (50’s) and me and my friend are ging to draw and begin saving my pennies for my buildings and rolling stock1 thaks again!
cheers,trainguy12
If you go onto a few building manufacturers websites they usually will give you the dimensions of the building your interested in using. This will help you in designing your layout as well because you will know how much space you will need, especially in tight areas and when your laying track. I use DPM buildings mostly because they are easy to build and you can add a lot of detail to them.