Today I picked up my first train set! My wife and I thought it would be nice to setup a train around our christmas village this year. Before I forget, “Seasons Greetings everyone!”
We went to our local hobby store to check out the train sets. I don’t know anything about this hobby so I stood at the counter and waited to be helped. A clerk came by and asked me if I needed help. I said I was interested in a model train set. He questioned what scale I was interested in and I said I had no idea. The clerk pionted to an aisle and said, “They’re down the middle aisle.”. That was the extent of our help.
My wife and I went down the aisle and viewed many different shapes and sizes. We dicovered small trains, size N, and medium size trains, size HO. We also fancied over some very big train cars, but we did not see a scale size for them. We soon decided that the N scale was too small for us. The large scale trains were definitely too big. The HO scale seemed just right.
Starting with a prepackaged set seemed the best way to start so we started comparing sets. We had no idea what the differences were in quality from one manufacture to the next. I hoped that once my wife and I decided on a set that the clerk would beable to tell us a little about it. Again, we did not get much information from him. After looking at many sets and comparing pieces, costs, and type of loco, we settled on a 200 piece set from Life-Like Trains called, “Super Power Charger”, and headed for home.
Once home I got straight to work. First I found the biggest hobby table in the house that I could use for this project and set it up in our living room next to the window. Next I opened the train set to take a look at all the pieces so I could get an idea of what I was dealing with. After browsing the instructions, and a little measuring, it soon became apparent that there was no way I was going to beable to setup the 86" figure eight that came in the bo
Sounds like you and I had the same type of beginning, though mine was years back. Don’t want to discourage you, but yes you did get what is normally viewed as a “toy set”, but you can work with it if you’re willing to spend a some more money.
First off, the HO proto series locomotives are much heavier. The motor, trucks, gears are of much higher quality. The body is well detailed. The current draw is low and running is remarkably
Thank you for replying! I did look at the price of some of the Protos and some look very affordable. After looking at some of the locos I found myself drawn to the Heritage Steamers. Though, these did not fall into the affordable category. This will have to be something I work towards. I did see some Protos I could definitely work with for now.
One day I would like to do the scenery thing, but that will have to wait til we buy our next house.
Thank you for all the advice! I plan to stop by a hobby train store today that does nothing but trains. We stopped by there first yesterday, but they were closed. I am sure the assistance I get from them will be much better.
I hope to stick around and thanks again for the help!
Welcome, Off the Track.
You have found the most informative (in my opinion) place for train information on the web.
Good luck on your endeavors.I don’t think I can add or subtract what Antonio said. Keep us informed.
Off the Track, I’m glad you found the info helpful. There are some guys on here that could give you far more. Some important things I forgot to mention.
Keep your track clean! A clean cloth with alcohol does the trick for new track.
Here’s a problem that you’re going to encounter as you run your train(s).
The plastic wheels on your freight cars build up grime and deposit it directly on your rails. Part of the grime is from the plastic itself. Hence, the cleaning requirement.
Quick solution:
Replace the wheels on your frieght cars with metal wheel axle sets. Proto 33" wheel sets come in packs of 12. Very easy to install! With metal wheel sets you cut track grime down greatly! Grime is the one thing you don’t want your locomotives to pick up! Grime from the track will work its way into your locomotive’s gears and hamper performance. Worst of all it hampers electrical pickup on locomotives.
Athearn and MDC make decent freight car kits that you put together yourself in just a few minutes. A have a bunch of these. In the past two years I’ve replaced the wheelsets on about 90% of them.
If you wi***o keep the plastic wheels on the cars and replace them later, no problem. Look into purchasing a Kadee Electric Locomotive Wheel Cleaner. Very simple device that attaches to your track with alligator clips. Does a great job of cleaning grime & gunk on locomotive wheels in just a few seconds. Costs about $14 in most model railroad shops.
Speaking of care. In the instructions it mentioned to keep the loco oiled. It had a very simple picture of them prying off one of the wheel bases with a screwdriver, but thats it. it doesnt show why they are prying it off, or were they would oil the part once they did pry it off.
OffTheTrack:[#welcome] to the forum! Yes you can always upgrade to Proto 2000 (P2K), or Proto1000(P1K) on your track, in fact you can use any brand of HO scale trains. Nickel Silver track conducts electricity better than steel, and doesn’t get that layer of corrosion that inhibits conductivity to the locomotive. Try a different LHS if there is one available, sounds like that one didn’t really want to help you. Have fun, this is a great hobby.
The metal cover plates on the bottom of the trucks can be gently pried off with a small flat blade screwdriver (#1 or #2). When you go to the model railroad store, have the counter rep take a Proto 2000 unit (most of us call them “P2K”) out of the box and let you examine it. Use a lightweight oil like “Labelle” which is readily available at hobby shops.
Don’t worry though… P1K and P2K locomotives are lubricated at the factory. You won’t have to worry about lubing for a long while. Anyone can jump in and correct me if I’m wrong, but rule of thumb is to lube your locomotives once a year if you run them regularly two to three times a week. For modelers that run their units almost daily, inspections every month to 2 months are the way to go. Lube only if necessary. If you “Over-lubricate” your locomotives, the oil can actually smear out onto your track.
The Life Like Proto Series is great, but don’t think that’s all we have out there:
Atlas Model Railroad Company: This company manufactures VERY NICE and smooth running O and HO scale locomotives. www.atlas-rr.com
Athearn Trains: This company has been around since the beginning. They offer very easy to build rolling stock kits, and affordable, good running locomotives, in N, HO and O scales. If you’re looking for a REALLY nice piece of equiptment, check out their Genesis series. www.athearn.com
Bachmann Model Trains: This company makes model trains in N, HO, On30 (O scale trains that run on HO track), and G scales. They have three different lines. The Standard Line is pretty much what everyone calls “the toy like trains”. Although, that is not always true. The Silver Series line is a bit better, though still not as nice as most of the stuff out there. The Spectrum Line is one of the best manufacturer of N and HO scale steam locomotives in the bussiness. www.bachmanntrains.com
Broadway Limited Imports: These model trains are the cream of the crop. They come with sound! VERY DETAILED, VERY REALISTIC, VERY SMOOTH performence. But watch out! These locomotivesw are very expensive. www.broadway-limited.com
There are more, but those are typically the main companies in the model train bussiness.
Thank you everyone for all the information! I went down to the Train Hobby store next to my house this afternoon . I had a look at everything you all mentioned for me to look at. From the nickel/silver tracks, to a new transformer. I drooled over a Bachmann Steamer. The gentleman was very nice. He gave me last months issue of Model Railroader and an Atlas track catalog.
Big Boy has the right idea, look into all of those brands! The three I run now, Atlas, Broadway Limited (BLI), and P2K serve me well, and run nicely with nice detail. My experience with Athearns is that they are noisy and annoying when they run, but other people will tell you it just depends on which one you get, some are the best locos you can have. As for rolling stock look for something with metal wheels and delrin axles, these are high quality trucks, and probably come only on high quality traincars.
Welcome!! Great to see new folks enter this great hobby! I would agree with everyone that has responded to your posts. I think one of the biggest challenges that newcomers face is being able to slow down a bit. While you undoubtedly have this great urge to jump in big time right now - take some time to do some research. Get some of the books that are out there on trackplanning, scenery etc. Surf the net and check out the various manufacturers to see what is available. Spend some time going through the various threads on this forum. Subscribe to some of the magazines. In short - become an informed consumer. One of the frustrating things that faces some newcomers is when they go out and spend a bunch without a plan in place or an idea of what they want to do. There are so many possibilities in this hobby - the key is to find out what you like, what your limitations are, what areas of the hobby you think may interest you and what you want to get out of this great lifelong hobby.
The bottom line is that there is more good stuff out there than one can shake a stick at. But don’t get in a hurry or anything. The products are only getting better. Unlike some people, I recommend buying cheaper things until you figure out what you really want. Then later upgrading and throwing the cheap one away doesn’t hurt so bad.
I mean don’t run out an buy Kadee box cars for $40 each when Athearn blue box kits at $5 will suffice, build up a fleet quicker, and introduce you to several aspects of the hobby.
Well, I disagree there. I’ve found my Broadway Limited (steamers at least) lack in good detail. I prefer the Proto Heritage Steamers, and I would rate the Trix as the cream of the crop.
I suppose Trix would be the cream of the crop, Texas Zepher. But considering all their models are $500.00+, I’d rate BLI as the best quality and afforability, compared to Trix.
i would recommend an Athearn blue-box kit for a loco they are dirt cheap,last forever-don’t be intimidated by the word “kit” all that you have to put on are the handrails and number boards- you can run them w/o even bothering to assemble those parts if you want-- Proto 2000 is very expensive- Proto 1000 might be a good choice as well-p1k and p2k use a much better driveline than the reg. L-L-- reg. L-L uses a small motor w/ only 1 truck drive - P2K &P1K use a large motor w/ flywheels and driveshafts to transfer power to all of the locomtives wheels- blue-box driveline is similar to P1K/P2K
Hi and welcome to you. This is a great and hobby and wonderfully addictive. Does your wife know or share your budding interesting in model railroading? There are so many great manufacturers out there and if you stay in the hobby long enough you will become familiar with them. Again welcome to the “Worlds Greatest Hobby”.[#welcome]