To me, one of the most important things that makes the Model Railroading hobby great is sharing it with others. With this in mind, I’ve been all over the internet looking for good places to exchange ideas and information but sadly I haven’t had much luck.
There seem to be plenty of blogs, “how to” sites, and a plethora of sites trying to sell you something, but unfortunately most forums or other communication venues appear to have very little activity. It’s always the same, you sign up, create a post, and it just sits there. If you’re lucky, it may get a nibble or two but that’s about it. In short, they’re slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanutbutter.
Perhaps I’m missing something but things just don’t seem to be the same as they used to be. Is the Model Railroading hobby dying? Or is it something else?
I would have to aggree with Eric97123, I’m very new at the hole model railroading thing and have had nothing but great help from everyone here. I’m still in the planning phase and couldnt ask for better advise and help with it all.
The conclusion that our hobby is dying just because you don´t get an immediate answer to your question in a forum appears a little far-fetched to me. If you look at how fast some of the threads move in here, I´d say it is alive and kicking!
I have also heard of some model railroaders actually spending some time with their layouts and not in the internet.
I detect a note of sarcasm there so I will respond accordingly. As I recall, it was not a conclusion, it was a question. And I never expect an “immediate” response. In fact, I have often waited weeks, if not months in some cases.
I have a great deal to contribute and when the time comes, I’ll do precisely that. You have to realize that I’ve been away from the hobby for about 15 years and have some catching up to do before I start giving advice or opinions to others.
Besides, I’m currently in the track planning stage of designing my own layout which consumes nearly all of my free time. When I have a plan, and as construction begins, I plan to share my progress, including lots of pictures since photography happens to be another of my hobbies. As my knowledge is brought back up to speed, I also plan to help others because thats what this hobby is all about.
I get what you are saying and in most cases would tend to agree, but in this case I’m faced with having to create a track plan for the entire layout and unfortunately it isn’t small or simple.
I have been a member of this forum for 7 years and I can assure you that this is the place you are looking for. I am a member of several other model railroad forums but I rarely go there anymore because I have concluded that this forum meets all of my needs. I can ask questions and get them answered. I can give my opinions and advice on issues where I have knowledge and experience. I can throw out comments for discussion and get that discussion even if there is no question involved.
So, my advice to you is to get going and post if you have a question or comment. If the model railroad hobby is dying, it isn’t evident here. After I post this reply, I am going to take a look at your activity to date on this forum to see if there is some reason for your expressed concern.
I don’t detect even a hint of sarcasm here. Sir Madog is one of the most respected and knowledgeable members of the forum, and his observations are dead on. As Ulrich suggests, relax and have fun!
I went through your short history to date on the forums, and you have only created 3 posts so far. So, I think your concerns about this forum are premature.
Your first post, Layout Design Ideas has 805 views to date and 14 replies. Hardly a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.
Your second post, Posts Awaiting Moderation, didn’t get much response, but I can tell you that posts aren’t normally awaiting moderation, they get published immediately, unless your past history warrants moderation. So, put your fears and concerns aside on this issue.
Your third post is this recent one, and it has already received 102 Views and 10 replies. No tortoises in a Jiffy jar here.
My best advice to you is to continue to participate as you have done to date and stay loose. Don’t let your experience on other forums adversely affect your participation here. Give it time, and then come back with an expression of your concerns if they do, indeed, materialize.
I didn’t mean to sound like I was trying to “start something”, for lack of a better description. And despite the way I worded my post, I also didn’t mean to sound like I meant that all forums are “bad”. Obviously, some are more active than others, but that is simply the nature of the internet and we have to take the good with the bad.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, I don’t know. In any case, what I do know is that I am simply frustrated, extremely frustrated. I’ve been trying to figure this track plan out for weeks and have been getting nowhere fast. I need help.
I think the core challenge is that you want to do this fast, instead of taking an incremental approach.
Draw your mainline as you have envisioned. Define train lengths (in cars and in inches), start adding sidings (long enough for a train to go into the siding, with clearance).
Think about how many train lengths you want between action scenes. Think about what you want to be able to do with your trains.
Most likely, when you start looking at specific train lengths, you will realize that you cannot fit as many and as large scenes as in the prototype, and that there is only room for a few branch lines.
Nothing magical about it. Your first couple of plans are not going to be wonders that will get people to go ooh and aah. Post them, ask people to point out challenges and things that ought to be changed.
It is a lot easier to get comments on a track plan you have posted than it is to get someone else to draw an entire track plan for you.
In short - take a step back and relax. It is supposed to be fun. It will take years to build and scenic a layout that size. What’s the hurry? Why do you need to “get there fast”?
Your advice is sound and I won’t contest a word of it. In fact, I’ve done everything you suggested and more.
The short version is that my layout planning project began over a year ago. I conducted exhaustive research into the prototype I plan to model, where I obtained detailed valuation maps, diagrams, charts, notes, etc… Using the maps, one of the first things I did was to determine the length of passing sidings, tipple tracks, and branch lines and used them to estimate the length of actual trains, then converted that length to HO scale for reference. I quickly learned that running full length trains that were true to the prototype would not be practical and found a compromise that would still provide an acceptable level of op
I would argue that it’s just the opposite. If anything the hobby as a whole is growing more and more, in large part thanks to the internet. Same with the Toy Train side of the hobby. It was the internet that ultimately led me back to hobby, and it’s what keeps me interested in it.
Any hobby will have forums that have little or no activity, so it’s not uncommon to not see some nibbles on them. This is pretty much the ONLY forum I visit for this hobby, as it provides enough information to keep me satisfied and motivated.
This forum has a great group of modelers who are always willing to offer help. If your subject line question is more specific, you will get more responses.
As you observed some forums is very slow and can go weeks without a topic or reply.
However…
There are many active forums that one can get several solid replies in less then a hour to their question(s).
There are two things to keep in mind…
No two forums are alike and on some advanced modeling forums beginners question may be completely ignored because they don’t fit the protocol of the forum or its members.
Visiting forums may not be a top priority for many members or many may visit two or three times a day as time permits and answering the same old question week after week can become boring and thus the lost of interest…
Of course there are some fairly personal questions mostly question like “Should I buy a Atlas or Athearn locomotive?” or “Which track should I use?” While fun to answer these questions border on a Ford or Chevy or should I marry a redhead or brunette? type question that can only be answered honestly by the person that as
Since your concern seems to be about finding a track plan that will work for you, I will offer you some information that is sometimes forgotten or over looked, then a rundown on how I design a track plan that may help you.
First, a railroad is a transportation system. As such, it is designed to move goods, usually from one place to another over a long distance, and not between buildings in the same town, but from one town to another. So a model railroad should at least try and look like it does this. A model railroad is not just about a lot of tracks going all over the place, or trains wizzing along the mainline.
As a transportation system, a railroad has to move it’s loaded and empty cars in a way that makes the most sense and is efficient. This is the part that the modeler should understand if they are going to build a model railroad. This also defines what the track plan should be and how it should work as a model. I hope I am not going to bore you with these basic things, but here goes: The RR picks up a loaded car from an industry, takes it to a yard where it is put on a track for another train to pick up (classification) that i