hey my names Mat, Im from Australia and im 24 yrs old. I just got my first HO model train set two days ago, its only a LifeLike 1 but i dont want to spend alot until i know what i am doing. I have a very small area to work in so it should be interesting.
anyway i have never done anything like this before so ill probably have a lot of questions to ask, I am happy i found this site as it has helped me understand a few things.
Is there a beginners guide on here or something that might give me a bit of info? also is 18’ curves the sharpest you can get?
First off: [#welcome] to the forum! Good to have you aboard! [:)]
You mention that you only have a small area to work in. How big are we talking? Is your LifeLike train set HO scale? (I’m assuming so, since you were asking about 18" radius curves.)
Mat, don’t worry about never having “done anything like this before”. All of us here on the forum have been in that boat at one time…and have learned and grown in the hobby. And, that usually comes by being willing to ask a lot of questions. ([whispered]Psst…EVEN ones that may seem kinda dumb to you. Ask them anyhow. [:)] [Back to regular voice])
Mat, Chip Engelmann (Spacemouse) has a nice beginner’s page that should help get you started. Here’s the link:
You can get 15" radius curves but they are really only useful and navigatable with VERY short switchers or Shays. Most locomotives can negotiate at least 18" radius curves. Some of the larger steam and diesels need at least 22" radius or larger to work well. Most rolling stock will handle 18" but will look and operate better on larger curves.
Mat, we hope that you’ll come back and visit us often.
And you’ll find there are a lot of modelers from OZ. Many of them chime in here. Take your time and learn the basics first, and play with trains all you want. It’s a great hobby with many different avenues to explore according to your own talents.
In adition to the good advice above, get some beginners books. The MRR people have some.
When I got back in a couple years ago, I read magazines to get my ideas.
In spite of the fact that I have been doing this for 60 years, almost everythinmg on this layout is new to me. I am expermenting with strange ideas everyday. That is what I love. I am on a tree kick at the moment.
Ask your questions here and we will all learn together.
Welcome to the forum. In addition to the sound advice given above, reading some of the older posts here can provide a lot of good information for the beginner. I spent a good deal of time searching specific topics when I started here a year-and-a-half ago. It got to the point where I just started at the end of the archived posts and read forward. It helped me create a vision of what I wanted to do in the hobby. Really a good knowledge base here.
Welcome. I have started back to HO layout a few months ago and the people on here a Great. They will help and also have some great ideas. Always remeber. If you dont know ask. I do. [:o)]
“There is only one stupid question. It’s the one you DIDN’T ask when you needed information and didn’t have it.” (anon)
I’m not exactly a new modeler - but most of the new techniques I’m using have come from these forums. Even a really old dog can learn a lot of useful new tricks here.
If you’re willing to stick with very short cars and locomotives, it’s possible to go down to 15" radius curves or less. The way I test for minimum radius is by using a decreasing-radius spiral of track on a piece of plywood. Mine was laid with flex track, but you can get the same result with sectional track by using sections of decreasing radius connected together. Mine starts with a 42" radiius, but it could have just as easily started with 30" or less. I have some very short rolling stock and locos that can handle 12" radius, but most passenger equipment is unhappy on anything under 18" (24" in the case of one class of DMU.) Certain freight cars are embargoed from my steeply graded short-radius route, but are happy on my main line with its 24" minimum radius.
Don’t let the folks with ten miles of track and a gazillion locomotives and cars intimidate you. Odds are, they, too, started with a train set and a simple loop.
Above all, enjoy yourself. That’s what it’s all about.
thanks for the welcome, I will be relying on this site a fair bit as there is only a toyworld (not even a proper hobby shop) which has very limited bits and pieces and they arent very helpful when it comes to train modelling, i bought my first Model Railroader magazine today so that will also help. Yes i am using H0 and i am using a 1.8m x 0.9m bit of wood (sorry i dont know what that is in inches) my track already hangs over one side, but i sorted that out, anyway like i said thanks for the welcome
From your username I gather your a HSV fan/driver?
this is a great place for inspiration and it’s generally a great bunch of guys, sure we have our differences, but we all get along find. [:D]
Enjoy the hobby, the world’s greatest hobby!
By the way, matt… If you want to flick the life like set, I suggest visiting a few of the hobby shops ‘online’ in Oz to purchase some better quality.
www.casulahobbies.com.au - located in Sydney
www.perthhobbycentre.com.au - located in Perth
there are also trainworld (www.trainworld.com.au) and a few others who you can mail order, there you’ll see a wider range of quality products, Atlas, Athearn, Proto 1/2000, Walthers, Broadway limited etc etc.
thanks James, not so much a hsv fan as i use to be, but its my username for everything i use so i just keep using it, I live in Coffs Harbour and am an ex-Qlder so i get up to Brisbane fairly often, this is where i was hoping to purchase my bits and pieces, I think its called HobbyOne? is there any hobby shop you can recommend?
For a large range of model trains, your best bet would be Austral Modelcraft, at Mt Gravatt. They have very reasonable prices and have just about everything available, if they don’t have it, they can get it. Hobbyone I find is very expensive, so I strayed away from them, one shop I was a fairly frequent visitor to was Hobbyrama at Stafford, they quite often have good deals on locomotives and are pretty well priced. There is also J&J hobbies at Acacia Ridge which has about the same range as Austral.