my screen name tells all. my wife and I want to get our two boys 11 and 9 into model railroading. we just bought the burlington nothern coal train set, tipple and a few books. we are turning our basement into a “true to scale” coal mining town and all that goes with it. I was needing pictures, book recomendations and any other info that my help us. thank you for all your help
Sounds like fun! There are many good books advertised in all of the model railroading magazines (Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, Trains,etc.) that would provide a lot of help in getting you going. Also, there’s lots of good websites out there. An example--www.rr-fallenflags.org is a good site to access photos of BN locomotives, freight cars,stations,etc. These forums here also come in handy for picking up lots of tips. Good luck!
Since you are starting from scratch,I suggest you give a good thought to DCC systems,they may seem pricey at first glance but all the hardware needed for DC isn’t that cheap either.DCC will offer you much more operation enjoyment at not much more if not less,in the end.It can also be expected that you will eventually swich to DCC some time in the future,even if you start with DC now.So why not save all the expense and complexity of DC right away?It’s your option.
You can find excellent information on DCC systems at these websites:Loy’s Toys,Digitrax,NCE and Atlas.Choice is a matter of personal taste as I feel that all these systems will perform so I won’t suggest any in particular.
Books:Atlas has very good books for starters,which you’ll find in most hobby shops at reasonable prices.They pretty much cover all the basics to get started.Another book I recommend is Model Railroader’s “48 Top-notch Track Plans”…a great publication.You can also find a wealth of great infos on these websites:NMRA,Gateway NMRA,Plum Loco of Colorado,Da Trains and a whole lot more if you just type “Model Trains” on your search engine,and all for free.
I also suggest that you meet other model railroaders in your area,by visiting a club if you can locate one.If not,hobby shops usually have “regulars” that they will help you to get in touch with.Most modelers are great people who will generally be glad to help you getting started on the right foot.Hope to be of help…
Welcome to the hobby. Coal trains are the bees knees. What scale are you modelling? I may be able to send you some good caol mine designs
Allen,
wow I’m from Pittsburgh too! we are going “O” scale due to the size of room we have. we went with the lionel burlington nothern coal train to start also bought the lionel coal tipple. we are looking to do a big and what will be complicated to us layout. I have always paid close mind to detail. any help you can give would be great. thanks!
In the past 2 years, Trains magazine has featured a few great articles on coal mining railroads. Look thru the back of a Trains magazine for past issues with coal mining articles. Or let me know if you can’t find anything and I can sent you a few magazines that I have with some coal train articles in them. Model Railroader also had a modern N scale coal layout that you can build featured in on of their 2002 magazines last year.
Pete
I’m big on BN and BNSF, so I have quite a few magazines with modern coal mining info in them if you need!
Pete
Buy a couple books/magazines on model railroading. Kalmbach sells several good ones aimed at beginners. One on electrical and wiring would be especially helpful.
Get a subscription to MR, Model Railroading, or (gasp) RMC, Railroad Model Craftsman, two good generic model railroading magazines. (the MR january issue is always pointed at an overview and has something for beginners). Start simple and work up.
Dave H.
truebeliever
my dad grew up in a pensavaina coal town,he has
helpin me to develope a coal town coal town are
very big. He told me what is in , he said as you
monsy hollow a mile out of town was the coal
comming into town you saw the compy, a generl
store will do real good,you have to make sure that
also has a the post office in it,because the comony
store was also the post office,then you have the one
school house, that also serves as the church.
Add some compony houses, and you have a real
coal to
one thing though this steam era add alarge scholl and fire deparment and you got yourself amondern coal town just set for deisel, i dono know what you are running for locos soi set you up both ways so you would have deisel and steam ways to build.Good luck ,and i hope i have hleped you. Also do not let anyone tell you this is not this come from three diferent two of whom are coal minners,the third is my who grew up up around it. signed scott brunnet[^]
I will given you any help you need basicaly you
a coal tiple one mile
a general and post office
one room school houseor
larger school
compony houuse
fire department
the larger school is for deisle only
the same as the fire department
this is maby alittle simpler to read than my other
one. this coal town was buit under the supervistion of thre
men who know what they are two minners, and my dad who
grew up around it
aany of the Model Railoading books from KALMBACH PUBLISHING are EXELLENT!! They’re avaible from a number of dealers, at your LHS (Local Hobby Shop) if you have one nearby, or from Kalmbachs web site at WWW.KALMBACH.COM/BOOKS As for websites, ther’s a LOT of them out there! This one, for instance and ATLAS has a great one at WWW.ATLASRR.COM Also, try the website of the N.M.R.A. at WWW.NMRA.ORG (NMRA is the National Model Railroad Association)