New To Model Railroad Building, a few questions

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello! I’m new here, and this is my first post. I have a limited budget, around $300, and I have a few questions on how to get started.

I guess I’ll start with the locomotives first. I don’t know much about which brands are good or not, so I’ll name a few locomotives I get and their manufacturers. These are all in HO scale by the way.

  • Athearn SD40T-2 Kansas City Southern
  • Bachmann Alco RS3
  • Bachmann DDA40X
  • Atlas Trainman Alco RS36

I’ve heard bad things about Bachmann, though. Are they cheap made or something? I really want a decent SD40 in the KCS scheme(s). I’m not looking to spend over $150 on a locomotive. What would you reccommend?

And after I get the HO scale locomotive, what else would I have to buy? I’m not looking to make a really big track, just a small track that’ll go around my room.

Also, if I buy a train that has no sound, what would I have to buy? Here’s the link to the Alco RS36 by the way:

https://www.pwrs.ca/announcements/view.php?ID=13676

Any help is greatly appreciated!

2

Found another locomotive:

http://www.lombardhobby.com/Athearn-HO-RTR-SD45-w-DCC-Sound-Norfolk-Souther-p/ath65105.htm

What do you think?

3

Sadly, $300 doesn’t get you as far in the hobby as it used to!

I would suggest seeking out a local model railroad club – it’s a great way to learn about the hobby, plus you don’t have to wait to build a layout to start running trains (and your fellow club members may let you run theirs!).

Bachmann: Their equipment is a mix, some of the cheaper ones have detail that’s a little crude and noisy mechanisms, others are detailed quite nicely. I’ve found that their pulling power isn’t great, but I love the value (lower prices mean you can add more locomotives to pull your train!).

I have a couple of Athearns and I find the delicate detail can be a problem at our club, where stuff sometimes gets manhandled. I love the detail (and sound on those equipped) but I keep them in their original packaging when they aren’t on the club layout. I only own a couple of Atlas locomotives and they perform nicely. I like a bargain (maybe you can tell!) and I have had good luck with new (but old stock) Proto 2000 locomotives that I convert to DCC.

For new stuff, I often buy from Train World. They have good sale prices and often have free shipping sales.

I hope some of this helps – again I’d consider a club as a good place to learn. If you’re in Los Angeles, look us up – www.pmrrc.org .

Aaron

4

May I suggest you try getting a “critter” type diesel or a switcher off eBay, try Best Offer listings and offer about 50% less than Buy it Now and go up from there and also try getting some Accurail kits to build your rolling stock roster… Joining a club is a wonderful idea, most of all be willing to learn… good luck and welcome to the forums hope we all are helpful…

5

Welcome to the forums.

As mentioned, $300 won’t go to far, but it’s a start.

I would suggest looking at a small train set, both Bachmann and Athearn make them. Most come with a loop of track, power pack, locomotive and cars. Get a sheet of plywood and set your track up on that. A coat of cheap green paint, sprinkled with several different colors and textures of ground foam (my first layout used dyed sawdust) will make a great improvement over the bare plywood. Add enough track to make a loop big enough to come within 4" of the edge of the table. If you have a little more money, some switches and more track will add to your operation. As a little more money and gifts trickle in, you can add buildiings, vehicles, people and more rolling stock.

If you don’t have a hobby shop near you, Walthers, Modeltrainstuff, Trainworld and others all have web sites that you can browse and purchase. When ordering remember shippiing costs, sometimes it’s cheaper to get it all from one place, even though one or two items may not be the lowest price.

By the way,Bachmann products have improved considerably, but their past still darkens some viewpoints. I have a couple that do just fine.

EDIT: Some sets come with sound locos, but they will use up more of your $300. It’s up to you how important sound is, as compared to a little more in the way of scenery, rolling stock and accessories.

Good luck,

Richard

6

[#welcome]
If you’re a tinkerer I’d look at eBay for used locomotives. I’ve bought some like new as well as clunkers for a lot less $$. I’m heavy into restoring locomotives and look for clunkers, have done very well on eBay with clunkers as well as like new. Before you invest ask on the Forum, help is just a few key strokes away.

As mentioned above one can invest a lot of money in this hobby fast. Sound is one of the higher investments. Good sound requires DCC and DCC doesn’t come cheap, even on eBay.

Ask away and you will get grate advise on the Forum.

Mel

Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951

7

Going to or visiting a Model Railroading club is a good idea. You probably can use some of the club equipment for a while and you can find out if you are interested enough to pursue the hobby, and if so where your interests lie. The other option is to throw money at the options until you either run out of cash or find your niche. I personally have tons of stuff I’ll never use and and I’ve already sold the bulk of my engines on eBay.

8

Get the RS3. Small layouts should have smaller engines. Get 50’s era freight cars to go with it. Modern equipment is usually longer, and won’t look as good on the tight curves. And what do you mean by “around the room”? Do you intend to set up your track on the floor?

9

Welcome lazyfortress!

Bachmann has changed a lot! Don’t be afraid of their “newer” stuff, along with Athearn, and Atlas. All of them offer “DCC ready” locos. Atlas has locos with “dual mode” decoders, meaning that by rearranging a “dummy plug” you can switch back and forth from DC and DCC. It’s all in the instructions that come with the loco. Decent, well running locos can be had for your budget price. Sound is a liitle more of an investment.

Your track plan is up to you, there are tons of publications out there, and, if you are a subscriber to MRR magazine, there is wealth of track plans right here, on the web site. Look at the black bar at the top of the page, hover your mouse over “How to”, and in the middle column, click on Track Plan Database.

Have fun!

Mike.

10

Lazy,

Bachmann has improved but I would go with either the Atlas Classic or Silver-series. Atlas makes top-notch diesels that are really smooth runners.

I don’t know if you’re interested in other road names apart from the KCS but there are Silver RS3s on eBay - new - for less than the Trainman brand you linked to. There are also Trainman RS36s on eBay for less than the Silver. For the KCS SD40-2, I would go with Intermountain. Here’s one - new - with FREE shipping for $135.

That would leave you with $165 for a power pack, track, and a few cars:

  • Power pack - An MRC 1370 Railpower is utilitarian but a solid performer. Cost: $25-$40, discounted. MUCH better quality than the cheap-o power packs you get with a boxed train set.
  • Track -
11

https://www.micromark.com/Bachmann-HO-Standard-Line-RS3-Diesel-Locomotive-DCC-Equipped-New-York-Central-No-8295

12

[#welcome] lazy!

First layout, and a budget to follow… Yes, it can be done!

As Tom (Tstage) mentioned above, Bachmann is much better now then they were years back.

I have a couple of Bachmann units now, and, if funds work right, will be adding another in a couple of months, but that is only if it works out. (The Kirkland Ohio Railfest will be upcoming near my area, and there is always a certain dealer that goes there that I wil visit, and he usually has some great deals on Bachmann locomotives. So, if I can manage to make it, and find the right one, with the right price…)

You will save money by going DC (analog) operation, at least to start out with. A MRC DC power pack is much more affordable than even a starter DCC set up.

(DCC with sound, MSRP will be your whole budget on just the loco.) DCC can be added at a later date, if wanted. (That is the route I took, once I could afford it.)

For rolling stock, Accurail kits will be cheaper than anyone’s RTR (Ready To Run) stuff, to save some money. Also, don’t overlook used freight cars. They will most often be cheaper than new RTR ones.

A good place to find rail cars, and locomotives, as I alluded to above, is a model train show, if there is one in your area. Most people, especially on used equipment, will be willing to “wheel and deal” on their stuff. (If I pay cash for this loco, what’s the best price for that railcar with it? Type stuff.) If you do not like the price, do not be afraid to walk. (You need to know the going rate on what the item is for this to work.) Other good sources are already mentioned, like Modeltrainstuff, eBay, etc…

If you find one at the right price, an older Athearn Blue-Box loco will provide years of reliable service for a decent price. (I got an SD40-2 in CR paint, at a show, for under $55.00 very recently, and these units, so long as they have the newer gold-flywheel Equiped motors, are nearly bulletproof. eBay almost a

13

Something else I’d like to ad, we all have “budgets” for our model railroading, either documented, or just knowing about how much you can spend at a given time.

In the 80’s, kids and household took presidence, but I still knew I had a little bit, even just the change can in my truck, that I could stop and spend. A new, still in the original box Athearn or Atlas, off the LHS shelves, would have been beyond my reach.

There are a few on here, building club sized and room/building filling layouts, that obviously have an unlimited amount to spend, and can buy things in mass quantites, as they need.

Anything I used/have came in small quantities, as I needed it, and could afford it. Eventually the collection of materials and rolling stock builds over time.

The $300. the OP has to start with, is way more than I had to start, but yet a very modest amount, by todays standards.

At least he doesn’t have to start with older “train set” quality, or less, as many of us did.

Mike.

14

With careful planning and purchases, you can usually obtain MUCH better quality components (locomotives and rolling stock) individually than buying one of those all-in-one train sets. It’s amazing what you can find and how much money you save locally and on places like eBay if you put a little time and effort into it. It’s really not that difficult.

Tom

15

The Athearn SD40T-2 are pretty nice loco’s for the price. They are DCC ready (have the plug but not the decoder) and you can get them for $99 ea at modeltrainstuff (MBK). These days $99 for a nicely detailed DCC ready diesel in HO is a pretty decent price. There are still a couple left at MBK so if you snooze …

16

Visiting a club is a great idea, as has been mentioned. Also, if you’re in an area that has train shows, you can get great bargains, especially on used stuff. Many times you can get “new-in-the-box” locomotives, from older releases, for a fraction of the cost of what they were when they were first released, at these shows. I would not be surprised too, if someone at a local club has some decent equipment that they don’t need and would be willing to part from it for a modest price.

I belong to a round-robbin group here locally (we all have our own layouts, but we meet regularly); in addition to our monthly “mini meets” we have two seasonal meets: one in the spring and one in the fall. At these seasonal meets, a part of the activity is a silent auction, where members bring their unneeded/unwanted wares to sell. The bidding prices are from about 10 to 50% of their original/retail prices; great bargains!

I think you can get it done on your budget if you’re careful.

Have fun, that’s the main thing.

17

Hello, thank you all for the helpful suggestions! I really do like the Bachmann RS3, and was thinking about painting it like this:

I was also considering getting the Atlas RS36 in the Apache Railway scheme (the old light blue paint scheme), or a LifeLike GP9 chop nose in the old Copper Basin scheme (with the cactus):

How hard is it to paint an already-painted train? I was thinking about using a brush and some of my modeling paints to get the main color down. I was also gonna custom order the decals.

Thanks again!

18

Hello there LF,

Check your messages… I have sent you some links to articles which may be a help to you!

Cheers from Australia

Trevor

19

If you are just getting started in the hobby, then bachmann would be a decent choice for those on a budget.

All the manufactures you listed usually have good support and warranties.

Many will regard Bachmann on the bottom of this scale. Many will cite gear failure and less detail. Buy Bachmann comes heavily discounted if you look around. You can find sound locos for < $100. And Bachmann has a really good warranty program. $40 and they will likely ship you a new loco instead of fixing it. Just save your receipt.

Atlas and Athearn have excellent units as well that are highly servicable with parts you can purchase online. (Bachmann has parts too)

That said for small layouts small engines are best. Stick to 4 axel diesels or switchers like sw1000 which are cheap durable and tough little pullers. They also work on small radiuses.

If you decide to get sound or not, they will both work with a simple dc power supply which is about $30 for a mrc pack. But to control the individual sounds, lights brakes, direction etc… you’ll want to go dcc.

20

Find a train show. They have lots of vendors selling used rolling stock and just about everything else you might need. At really good prices. Get yourself some Model Railroader and Rail Model Craftsman magazines. Every maker who advertises in those magazines makes pretty decent stuff. You ought to be able to find a good running locomotive for under $50 at a show. Ask the seller to run the locomotive before closing the deal. There are lots of cars for under $10 apiece.

How much space do you have for your layout? John Armstrong’s “Track Planning for Realistic Operation” is the bible for layout building.