Well me and my dad are going to start Model Railroading becuase we both like it, We are pretty much decided on HO, considering that we have a loco and cars for it and becuase he think’s N would be to small. I’m almost 14, with good eyes so i am fine with eather scale. i’m using Right Track Software to design a layout, we are thinking it will be a modern era ( like 1960’s-present day or late 90’s) In a city on between 2-3 sheet’s of plywood with a dubble track going around the outside for a mainline, and a good switching yard to store cars and a termnal/station. The track would be for a tie between look’s and opperation. what i need are ideas such as:
What makes up a good Switching ground?
What is the best way to have a termnal?
What is the best way to make a relistic city scenery?
Is there a cheap way to get sound into a layout?
most important-# 5. WITHOUT going bankrupt!
BTW: we are going to use DCC unless you people think that there is a better way of wiring for not to expencive.
I would suggest looking at peoples web pages. Often links can be found at the bottom of thier posts… I don’t know what your operating budget is, you can spend as much or as little as you like… Some pretty good suggestions, or at least I thought so, were given to your same question over on the layout forum… If you have specific questions other than “what’s the best way to model City Scenery”, we can help you a little better… Honestly, you can build sky scrapers from cardboard boxes and paint if you are crafty enough, or you can spend 100s of $$ on kits… The choice is yours. Volumes have been written on these subjects here in the forums, searches may help you find some of it… It would help if you spelled the words correctly in your search though.
Although I understand the simplicity, I would ditch the Atlas software and download the XtrkCad from here: http://www.sillub.com./ … Same price, Free… More of a learning curve though. Make sure you register it or you’ll be limited to 4x8.
You can also hop on eBay and find some good deals on Athearn Blue Box stuff, and go to model train shows as well. Also, if you have the time, go to estate sales. Also, begin small, but plan for expansion. You can make a 60’s layout using rural areas on your layout, and fill them in just like the real world has done and continues to do. Where I live used to be rural, now it is becoming suburbia.
Thank’s, i already dloaded the XtrkCad, but went back to atlas becuase i couldn’t figure out how to use it. and i posted this one becuase people were telling me i was on the wrong fourm. sorry for the repitition.[:-^]
Spacemouse is right about the Xtrkcad tutorial/demo. It is under demo on the help menu. It takes a while, but it really helps you learn the program. One thing you are going to learn really quickly is that this is a hobby for the long haul. To do a good job requires patience. The good thing is that that speads the expense out! Which helps with the bankrupcy part. I’d really recommend that you read John Armstrong’s “Track Planning for Realistic Operation” and probably one of his layout books. It will help guide you into understanding what you want, and how to get there. After that, it is just a bunch of individual steps. If you try to look at the finished product it can be intimidating, but when you see each step done alone it looks easy. So read, read, read, maybe find a video or two, and maybe do some experiments. One of my sons is working on a four foot long section of track just to display a train. But he is making a mountain, ballasting, and landscaping. And not getting intimidated by trying to do a whole layout.
For a city/industrial/commercial type layout with lotsa street trackage and all that good stuff you might want to look into the Union Freight railroad if you go for the 1960’s era.
Related to the New Haven RR, it had all of the above sites and in the 1960’s they borrowed some NH ALCO S units. Before that they had little GE 44tonners.
If you ask at the forum at www.nhrhta.org you’ll get much more info from the folks there.
My problem with the XtrkCad was laying track, i tried to put normal track down and then put another peice down but when i clicked the next peace up in the item bar the first one disapeared. and i went throught the demos, THERE LONG, so i found out how to make other things like a drag of stright track and curves-(sort’a) and circles. if you have any tips or things i’m missing let me know, thanks
Every question you ask is going to generate more… That’s not a bad thing, just keep asking… The answer to your question will depend on what you want to do with your ‘switching ground’… Do you mean a yard where trains are stored, sorted, setup for other destinations? Or do you mean a switching type layout where cars are simply moved from one industry to another?
If you mean a yard there are a few simple rules I follow, and these are just my opinion, not hard set in stone, must do’s…
First, a yard should have a lead. For space reasons, yards are usually single ended on layouts, especially the size you are considering. From the lead (the track that the loco uses to move cars from one track to another) there is what is referred to as a ladder… The ladder is simply a stack of tracks connected to the lead via turnouts (switches). If you’ve run through the demo on the xtracad, you saw one being set up… There are also a couple plans included that may get some ideas flowing… Load up the Timesaver if you want to see an example of just moving cars from one industry to another…
Second, Leave an escape… This is a cross over track that the loco can use to exit the yard after it has pulled head first into the yard, leaving the train in the inbound track. If you look at track plans, you’ll often see in a couple places of the yard where there’s just a short stub of track at the end of a pair of switches (which is in the middle of one of the yard tracks) that provide a crossover… That crossover can also provide for a runaround track that will aid in moving cars around the yard.
Third, NEVER foul the main with the switching lead… Sometimes, it may be unavoidable but it’s poor design practice to use the mainline as the switching lead. You don’t want to block the main while
thanks for the link and the info baldwinjl. rolleiman i guess i was thinking of having both sort’a, in my question i ment yard, but i didn’t know there was a diffrence and what each was for. Thanks
My dad is starting to think that N scale might not be that bad, so we might use N. and later expand in to more HO.
You might want to consider a small table to work on your buildings, rolling stock and engines.
Mine is a 60 dollar computer desk about 5 feet wide from walmart with a small stack of shelves plus a cabinet parts holder (Home depot nuts and bolts holder)
I think about:
Couplers
Metal wheels
Lubericants (Spelling?) Labelle plastic compatible for example
small tools that are non magnetic
etc
You might find that you would need paints and flat finishes (Dullcote)
If so, you might want to think about odors, fumes (Some chemicals are flammable or damaging to the human body in a variety of ways) and how to vent it away and have a safe area to run trains.
I encourage you to think slow, work slowly and go slower. Ive been in this 30 years or more and only now just got some of my particulars settled. =)
In general no, but…
with N you can fit more in the same space, and longer trains look better, so you may well end up wanting more and hence spending more. Some things cost more, some things cost less, some about the same. I think that in general, cost is not the reason to choose one over the other.
