I am recently have gotten back into railroading. Last night i visited someone who has been in railroading for probably about 50 years. We talked a few hours about different areas in railroading. He had a background of spending many years in the areo space industry and had a full track setup done when he was 15
Anyway, he showed my alot of things and gave me some good pointers. Things about lead in and outs from tunnels, making your own tree’s (and everything you need and differfent options) laying track and tools you can get, things he has learned about making sure joints are tight in-between 2 pieces of track (he suggests soldering), trains do’s and donts to changing tracks. etc The few hours talking with him and him showing me things would have taken me probably 4 to 6 months to learn on my own of trying to figure out some of the things I would need.
He said that if I had any questions I could call him and he would answer them and he would give me pointers on my layout and all. He say’s that he can tell rather quickly if a design is possible or not in working. He gave me a couple of places locally as well as a couple really great all raidroad places to go for supplies and where to look online.
I would suggest to anyone who is starting out to get together with someone who has expereince because in the long run it helps ouit alot.
You are lucky to have an experienced modeler near you. Experience is the best teacher and when the experienced are willing to share, the listener benefitsl
For those of us who do not have(or do not know of) an experienced modeler in their area, these forums connect us. We ask questions, give answers and all benefit from the others experiences. A long time modeler may have never delt with some new material or method. Someone new in the hobby may have worked with it right from the start and can give good information. Seems we can all help each other. Obviously face to face has advantages, follow up questions, explaining the meaning of your question and other such things are easier, but I find these forums hard to beat as a subsititute.
Many thanks to those who answer my questions and the questions of others. Their answers have increased my knowledge much faster than trial and error learning ever could have. I also hope that a few of my comments have helped others in their modeling.
You have a wonderful resource at hand. Being able to see in 3-D and discuss what you see is a great learning tool.
For us newbies, it is critical that we learn from the experienced modelers, weather it’s at our LHS, at a local club, meeting in person, or here on these forums.
I have learned a lot from all the helpful experienced modelers here who don’t mind explaining things to us. If it wasn’t for this forum I would probably have a horrible layout.
I posted an ad on craigslist that I was looking for a few supplies and that if possible i would like to trade out if possible. He responded and we started talking. I am learning alot in the forums here. It helps to also see things in person. Which for the way I learn things is a huge plus. I am a hands on/visual learner.