Just saying hi,
I’m new to the forum but have loved trains since I was a kid. Grew up in s.e. Wisconsin in a Lionel family that graduated to ho layouts in the sixties. The Soo Line- Milwaukee Road intersection at Duplainville was within walking distance of my house so I had awesome contact with those two lines everyday. I’ve been out of modeling for a while but can’t wait to get back in, I’m amazed at the all the new dc/dcc stuff available.
Thanks for the cool site,
olguy
[#welcome]
Welcome to the forums and back to model railroading.
As you h ave noticed, there are many new things available. I suggest you get a couple of books on scenery, electronics and other subjects that may interest you before you start spending and building. If you can get to a train show or find a model rr club near you, seeing and asking while you are looking at are great ways to learn. You can find both clubs and coming events by going to the faded lettering on the thin gray line at the top of this page. Click on Resources, then on the appropriate subject.
DCC is a big change inwiring and operating trains, but there are many new materials and techniques for other things too.
Read the forums, ask questions, this a great place to ask questions from a very knowledgeable group of people. You will get many varried suggestions. Often times you will have to try several to see which best suits you and the situation you have. There are some things that work better in one situation and something else in another, yet similar situation.
Have fun,
Welcome! I must say, I got started when my childhood Lionel stuff, stored away in a box (or several boxes) was stolen in a move. It served as a blessing in disguise as I was so taken by the appearance and performance of HO scale equipment that I didn’t really know what to do with the Lionel equipment that I had.
A word of advice, if you have the urge to start collecting, I would start with track. I know that’s not the most interesting thing to collect but decent track and turnouts can be very expensive. What’s more, if you don’t have track, you don’t have anything to run those trains on. A locomotive or a piece of rolling stock or even a structure kit here and there are good to start collecting just to keep your inspiration up, but you need the infrastructure first - track. The pre-collection advice above is good so that you know what your likes and desires are for that first layout. I did just that before I started collecting; I bought books on layout design, track, wiring, scenery and, of course, benchwork. The main thing: have fun!
[#welcome]
Good to have you aboard!
Don’t be afraid to post questions or share your experiences as you get back into the hobby.
Post your questions in the proper forum for the quickest response.
Many things have changed as you already know. The suggestions of getting a few Kalmbach books on various topics is a good idea. FOr instance they have books on DCC, which controls each loco rather than a track block, and there is the extruded blue or pink foam based layouts over the old plywood ideas.
[#welcome] back to the hobby and ton’s o’ fun!
Be sure to stop over to the “Elliot’s trackside diner” thread in the general forun to tell us more aobut yourself! It, and the beer barn are the only threads in which you can talk aobut your life and be [#offtopic] or rant [soapbox] about life and not be train related!
Have a great day!
Welcome back to model railroading! I strongly suggest that you get into DCC. Many of us “Ole Timers” are converting from DC to DCC, since DCC offers so much more than DC. If you can afford it, go for radio controlled DCC. Post a scale diagram of the space available for your proposed layout,showing entry door/s, windows, obstructions,etc.Get help from Kalmbach model railroad paper-backed books before you invest time and money on the layout. My 24’x24’ layout Isthe result of 8 yrs. of preplanned construction in four phases of expansion. I built each phase with dead turnouts located for future expansion. Let us know, if you need advice as how to Post a scale diagram. Bob Hahn
Hi olguy and 
[#welcome] to the Forums, new guy.
As you have already noticed, there is a lot of new stuff out there for Model Railroaders. Do yourself a favour and start off with DCC right from the start. An NCE starter set will set you back anywhere from $140.00 or so on line up to around $190.00+ at full retail. As your layout becomes larger, you can boost it’s 2 Amp output that will run 2 or 3 trains in HO Scale or 3 to 5 trains in N Scale. ALL AT THE SAME TIME. The joy of DCC is that you only have to run one pair of 12 to 14 Gauge Buss wires around your layout and drop a pair of short 18 to 22 Gauge wires from the track to the main buss every 3 to 6 feet. No switches to wire in to control the power to separate blocks. The track is fully powered all the time with about 12 to 14 Volts of AC power. All you have to do is access the small decoder in the DCC equipped engine and control it. All other engines stay put on the same track until you access THEIR decoder.
Whichever way you go, (DC or DCC) just take your time and have fun. Get yourself a few books and do some reading and ask questions on the Forums, OR, go to the “Search our Community” box down the right hand side of the Forums page and type in a few key words of what you would like to know about and then hit search.
Good Luck.
Blue Flamer.