I am a new guy. My interest in trains started somewhat by accident. One of the Cub scouts in my Pack has a love for trains, he knew I was a scale model builder(for twenty plus yrs) and asked me to help him build his “train city”. In the process of doing research I have been “bitten by the bug”
I have watched what seems like every video on youtube concerning model railroading and the like, leaving me with (honestly) more questions than answers.
So, we’ll go like this … Here’s what I know…
I’m thinking of doing my layout in HO
I have very limited space and a rather limited budget.
So here’s my answer to those issues… I am thinking of building a layout in very small sections in my hobby room and connecting them with bridges and such. My thought is/was that with small layouts on small tables connected together I can build as I can afford vs. having a vast unfinished area for a very long time. With small “island-like” layouts I can change the area and the purpose of each. When not in use the layouts can occupy corners of our hobby room still leaving most of it useable space for the majority of the time.
I am still doing research on how exactly may be the best way to begin this new adventure.
What do ya’ll think?
Any and All advise is encouraged and very welcomed
Well, when the LION was a little cub, a cub scout you might say, I had gotten an American Flyer train set for Christmas, and that was very amenable to being set up on the floor. Dad did build a table that could be lowered from the garage ceiling. But eventually I switched to HO and had a 4x8’ table in my room.
Eventually I sold the trains and bought a printing press, but while in the NAVY I began to buy more trains again. Well, when I moved in with my parents, a train table was no longer an option, so I just built two train yards each on the top of a book case, and there was a single 90 degree curve between the book cases on two walls. And that was it and no more!
When I joined the monastery, I asked the Abbot if I could set up my trains, and he gave me permission, the Prior suggested that we had several old ping pong tables, as if I might take one, (I took two) and was off to the races. Check me out at broadwaylion.com
Sounds like you want to do what are commonly called “modules.” There are three basic types.
Free-style, where your modules are to your own standards or can only be connected in one way.
NMRA standard, which simulates a high traffic main with 3 tracks, with an optional branch line. The most widely use, it’s considered a little too look alike because of the 3 track main, which is relatively rare on the prototype, and because they’re designed to be built to specific sizes and shapes. An example:
Free-mo is the new kid on the block. It concentrates the action on a single main and the standard basically addresses that interface and the electronics. Everything in between the modules interfaces at the ends is more or less free-style. Meets set up different layouts every time. There aren’t as many Free-mo groups in the US yet (it’s HUGE in Europe) but I think it will eventually come into just as common use as NMRA modules. Here’s a link:
Building a layout in sections that connect directly to each other, and then can be removed for storage, is quite common. These are called “Sectional” layouts if the sections are not built to a particular standard and “modular” if they are built to a standard so that they can be interconnected in a variety of ways and/or with others who have built to the same standard. It’s one great way to do model railroading Free-mo is a popular standard in HO and N scale, but there are others.
A slightly different (and much less common) approach is building sections of the layout in fixed positions around the room and then connecting these fixed sections with temporary bridges. This has been proposed a few times, primarily by a fine designer named Iain Rice. I have not yet seen a layout built exactly this way, but hundreds of layouts have been built with various removable bridges. The only challenge is building the removable bridges so that they will be reliable in operation. One of the members here has an excellent discussion of techniques for building these removable sections online.
Welcome PC! Feel at home among fellow victims of the railway bug!
Limited for both size and budget? Look at N scale, DC operated. HO is great (it’s my scale), but N is far easier to fit in smaller area, and sticking with DC (at least at first) will keep the costs down for you. There are lots of good starter sets out there for a reasonable price; check out www.modeltrainstuff.com for just about anything you can think of.