Hello,
I’ve been wanting to collect model train/build layouts for the longest time. I have saved up some money and want to start this hobby.
I live in Montreal and I’d like to know where i can go get some info, buy starter sets, trains, tracks and so on
Thanks
ciao
Hi Marco. Welcome to the forum and the hobby.
The place to start is your hobby shop. There are a couple of good ones in Montreal. Get a book on starting in model railroading.
Go to a show or open house. (There’s a big one in Ottawa this weekend, but that may not be convenient for you.) Ask if there’s a club that you can visit.
Do you have a specific interest yet? I often suggest thinking about where you first watched trains when you were younger. Unfortunately, Canadian trains are often harder to get.
Read this forum; read a few other train forums (maybe the-gauge); filter out the more ambitious postings. Read the comments on various products.
Don’t buy anything yet (except books and magazines). Picture what it is you want to do. Some people build, some operate, some collect, most do all three in varying degrees.
Then start. Choose a size and buy a yard of track and a (simple) boxcar kit. Or buy a quality set – your hobbyshop will be able to guide you.
Don’t worry about mistakes; they’re part of learning. All you can waste is time and money and you may be able to get some of the money back.
Welcome!!
For starters, spend a lot of time browsing the Model Railroad Magazine site and this forum. If you can find one, get a copy of the late John Armstrong’s “Track Planning for Realistic Operation”.
As you can see, I am encouraging your approach. Please be patient, throw some cold water on the ‘bug’, and do a lot of reading. This is critical. Your future in this hobby is predicated upon the amount of upfront learning you do.
That is the best advice I can give you in few words.
I agree with everything David said but I want to mention John Armstrong’s “Track Planning for Realistic Operation”. It is a great book that describes how he real railroads do things and how we modelers can simulate it. While you are doing your home work pick up a small project, a building kit, and old car or to to work on, something to gain some hands on experience. You can always put and older building on your layout. Depending on the era you choose it will eather be state of the art architecture or an old wreck. The same would apply to most freight cars although they have a better defined year of origin. Have fun.
Hello marco_matteo, and welcome to the wonderful world of model railroading…
My advice to you is to start out small and take it easy until you learn the ropes. It helps a lot to have a talent for arts and crafts as they will come in handy as you go along.
You might start out with a train set that will be plentiful around Christmas time. I recommend this because it will have a loco, rolling stock, track, transformer, telephone poles, signs and possibly buildings and other items.
You might want to start by building a plywood table with a 2 X 4 frame. Then glue a sheet of one inch thick foam on the surface of the table with wood glue. After doing this, you can use stick pins to pin your track down and get your loco and cars up and running.
Once you’ve reached this point, it’s just a matter of putting in ground scenery, streets, buildings, people, etc, and wa la, you’ve got your first layout…
Always feel free to ask any question you might have. The members here are a great bunch of people, and are always more than willing to help if you ever need it.
Good luck, and happy railroading.
Tracklayer
Amazon has “Track Planning for Realistic Operation” for $14.93 US. I just got mine the other day. While I would highly recommend you have it in your library, it is a bit of a “heavy” read for beginners. You might want to throw in a couple of biginner books in with your order as well.
Hope this helps, Tom
Again, READ READ READ, absorb all the info you can. Get a subscription to Model Railroader Magazine. Instead of spending $5.50 per issue at Wal-Mart like i did. I’m a beginner too and this forum has helped alot for me. The people here are very friendly and helpful. Ask questions, there are no stupid ones. someone here can give you the answer. Good luck and have fun with the hobby. Ryan
Welcome to the Hobby:
As already mentioned…There is a lot to read out there and it is important to glen as much knowledge as you can.
In addition; Tracklayer as some great advice regarding, starting with a set, using the table with foam and so on…
Once you have “played” with different trackplan ideas (with the ease of moving anything/everything around with the pinned track on the foam) gotten some experience running the trains, related to how they operate on the track you have down and feel comfortable with laying track and turnouts, tried some scenicing techniques, move on to bigger and better…But still remember to start small. You can build a small module/diorama that could someday be incorporated into you “dream” layout.
No matter the size of those first incounters you’ll be having fun and learning/mastering skills…and if it doesn’t turn out the way you like, it’s small enough, didn’t cost a lot and you can take it apart and start over.
Puffin’ & Chuggin’, JB
Colvin Creek Railway
Hi there! The advice you have recieved so far has been excellent, so i’ll just throw in a few cents. I recommend doing a bit of both of the major ideas that have been presented so far:
Atlas is a company that many, many people got started with. Everything they make is good quality … track and accessories, and the trains themselves, and they make books for beginners, too.
As you read about something or a manufacturer, go to thier web site to gain more info. The internet really is the information superhighway.
Like everyone said, do your homework and read. You’ll start planning things in your head … your railroad. Its really a fun part of the hobby.
Salute
Jim
Ciao M_M,
First of all: [#welcome] to the forum! Good to have you aboard! [:)] A number of folks have already put in their 2 cents, so I’ll toss in mine, as well.
Like Ryan already stated, I would encourage you to pick up a copy of Model Railroader. Or, better yet, stop by your local library and look at as many back issues of MR as you can - if you have a library close by that carries them. MR is full of good articles, photos for ideas, and ads for seeing what kind of product is out there and what grabs your fancy.
This is just my opinion but if you are just starting out, I wouldn’t jump right into John Armstrong’s Track Planning for Realistic Operation…yet. It’s a terrific book (which I plan on getting my hands on a copy myself) but a tough read to digest right off the bat.
In Montreal, there must be some local hobby stores (LHS) around. Get your telephone book and check out ones that specialize in trains. Your LHS is a great resource of both product and information and should be supported as much as you can. Stop by a few of them, poke around and see what they have, and ask the propriators for their help and opinions to see how much they know about model railroading. Good LHSs are ones to hang onto and frequent.
As already pointed out, this forum is also a great resource of info. Almost daily there’s a newbie (like yourself) who’s asking how he or she can get into the hobby. Most of the folks here will bend over backwards to steer you in the right direction and help you get started. DON’T be shy to ask (what you might deem as) a “stupid” question. There are NO stupid questions here! The sooner you ask the “stupid” questions, the sooner you’ll learn and, in turn, be able to help others with their “stupid” questions. “With any learning, there’s the responsibility to teach.”
Ciao M_M, are you leaning toward any particular “size” or scale? Most of the folks here on the forum are probably in HO (i.e.
Ah…Tom? I don’t think his name is ciao, that’s Italian for goodby.
Thanks, Steve. [:I] It didn’t register until you pointed it out. I always had in my mind that “ciao” at least started with a “ch”. Man, trust I won’t make that mistake again. [D)]
Marco_matteo, sorry about that. I’ve been known on occasion to be osteocephalic. Here’s a good case for it. [
] As Bugs Bunny used to say, “What a maroon!”
Tom
Know what you want. Mountains? Tunnels and bridges? Industry and houses? Lumbering? continuos running trains? You can’t have it all, at least at first. Know what you want.
Hello and welcome…all of the above plus come to this forum as often as you can…there’s a lot of knowledge about the hobby here and just about all of us can answer questions you may have …some of the guys here have specialities like rrinker in electronics and joe fugate who is an expert in just about everything in this hobby…don’t be afraid to ask…we’ll try and help you out the best way we can…right now you need to do a lot of reading before you start…i’d suggest that you start with 4 -5 different books from www.kalmbach.com 1. a book on layout planning 2. a book on benchwork, 3. a book on wiring your layout, 4. a book on trackwork and 5. a book on scenery…some of the tricks of the trade in this hobby need to be noted before you start so you can build a well planned, reliable, and fun railroad layout…chuck
yeah selector…what gives???..I thought we just went through the “TROLL” thingy not to long ago!!..now be a good boy and play nice!..LOL…I just couldn’t resist!..guess it’s “pick on selector day”…LOL…just kidding…chuck
Hi and welcome!
First question I have is “Why”? — You might find it useful to sit down with pen and paper and work out your own bunch of “Why” questions. Doesn’t matter of they’re the “right” questions… just get yourself thinking. When you’ve figured all the whys you want take a look at “What”?
This is very basic but should save you some time / effort /disappointment/ money.
If those prove useful promts take a good look at when and where.
It would be really useful to spend time looking at different clubs / meeting other modellers / getting to meets/shows.
Do remember …just like any other hobby you get some really good guys, some right muppets, some weirdos, some EXPERTS etc etc.
Beginner beware… but don’t be put off.
The other answers tempt me to raise a thread on “What’s a good LHS”?
Something that I was taught by sargeent majors (just wish I recalled it more often)… keep your head down, your eyes open and your mouth shut (well, not too shut in this case)… funny how they never taught us not to volunteer… usually just volunteered us…
I’d say don’t bother at all with anything that comes as a set.
Then I’d say… get…
materials for a small baseboard… as long as you can up to 12’ by 9" or 12". then get enough plain track to run two starights, 4 switches to use in two crossovers and a fifth to make a spur with the track you don’t use because you put in the crossovers.
You want one controller / power supply to feed this.
Whatever engine takes your fancy plus a few cars.
Then you will have done the important thing… got started… everything from there is learning, practicing and improving. Start with something this basic and you can change your mind as you learn… but you will soon be able o do some “playing with trains”… or “Serious testing”.
have fun!
It’s good to see you here. Model Railroader is a good place to start. Before you get real specific you need to start to decide what you want to get out of the hobby. Some folks collect things, build very little. Some the other way round. Some like to run trains just to watch them, some like to operate in a ‘realistic’ manner. So before you spend a lot, read a lot. Do you want to model a particular time or place? Or does your layout include a time machine and a transporter? How do you want to operate? Do you like to build stuff? What scale interests you? All we have is questions! But, the folks here can help you figure out the answers to those questions, and can help you at every step of the way!
What the heck are you two talking about? What posts? [:o)]
WOW!
Thanks to everyone, honestly, i was not expecting this much help. I think i’m going to read up on the hobby first. It sounds the most logical to know as much as possible and then put into practice what i’ve learned.
Thanks again to everyone
ciao