I am very new to the model train world. I have checked the internet and train retailers and there is just so much to choose from. Could someone recommend a book for beginners. I have my table and lighting ready to go and now am looking to lay track but the choices are endless.
Hi, Irish, and welcome! [#welcome]
Gosh, where to start…
We often come back to the hobby as adults after a few short childhood years of an oval around the Christmas tree or maybe on a sheet of plywood that Dad built for us. And that is what we would like to capture, that simplicity and fun. Unfortunately, we adults don’t go far with that simple train setup. It is too boring too soon.
Many model steam, but many never knew steam, so the hobby is somewhat split into modern diesel enthusiasts while the older modellers like steam and earlier diesels. That is a very generalize image of the hobby today, but by no means accurate across the board. Steam gets under the skin of most of us, even if just a little. But what I am getting at is that if you are mostly modern, you need to learn what modern diesels are and what they do and look like. Also, to keep your costs in check (the hobby expenses add up very quickly in the first few months!), you really should try to keep your studies and your purchases confined to one or two railroads if at all possible.
How much room do you have for a layout with track, and what is the shape of the space? The answers to those questions may determine what type of a layout you can have…purely switching back and forth, a town at both ends, or maybe you just want a loop with some sidings and an engine servicing facility, or you want a bit of both…but can you fit what you have in mind into the space is the big question?
That may be enough to get you oriented, and I’ll let others respond. I hope you can be patient, both with us and with yourself, so that this is as error-free an introduction to this great hobby as possible.
-Crandell
[#welcome]
I am assuming you may be in HO scale. You may want to check out the book from Kalmach Publishing (The parent company of Model Railroader) “HO Railroad From Start to Finish.” You may also want to check out “Basic Trackwork for Model Railroads” by Jeff Wilson.
I hope this will help
Hi Irish –
Welcome to a wonderful hobby! Lots of way you can go with what you model and how you model.
Here is another good thing to read before digging too deeply into laying your track - the LDSIG (Layout Design Special Interest Group) primer on layout design for beginning and intermediate model railroaders:
http://macrodyn.com/ldsig/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Primer
Smile,
Stein
Thanks so much for the reply. I have an 8 ft table.
I have been in the Logistics profession (ocean & air freight) for the past 25 years. My vision is to have an O scale running on the bottom and an HO running on the top. I am planning an ocean port on one end and an air port at the other with two trains running in the center. I have seen the ocean containers for the model trains and am so excited.
I can hardly wait to get started but want to make decisions.
Irish23
Thanks for the information. I took a quick look and seems to be some good information for beginners. I am trying to do my homework to avoid any costly mistakes.
Irish23
Thanks for the informaiton. I will check them out. I am looking for any information that will assist me in getting up and going without costly mistakes. I have read serval times about beginners should do lots of research before diving in the model train world.
Irish23
Sure and Begorrah, Laddie, Aye, so many choices. THINK about what you may want in a layout and then do what your heart tells you to do. I’m Irish as well, so have a cold Guiness and do yourrself a favor and THINK! Buy the books written by John Armstrong and enjoy! Erin Go Bragh!, Cead Mille Failte!
Jimmy
Yup - sounds like it would be a good idea to read that LDSIG primer and then get John Armstrong’s book - your preliminary vision sounds just a wee bit on the hyper-optimistic side when it comes to what will fit well onto an 8 foot table (whether it be 4x8 feet table or an pretty much impossible to reach across 8x8 feet table or whatever you meant) [:D]
Smile,
Stein
Hey, Irish - and a top o’ th’ morning to you! (12:15 AM here)
Welcome to the hobby which encompasses a wider diversity of disciplines than any other in the world: everything including (but not exclusively) basic carpentry, civil engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, model building, painting (both wall and artistic), and probably several others which escape my no-doubt porous mind at the moment.
You are absolutely correct as to the value of thorough research before diving into the hobby. You can’t do too much research. Which reminds me of something I left out of the list above: speed-reading. [:)]
A preliminary reality check: The tightest curve you should use in HO is 18" radius. That’s a 3-foot circle, to the center-line of the track. Add 2 1/2 " to that 36" for roadbed and clearances, and on a 4’ wide table, you’re left with 9 1/2" to play with. In O gauge 3-rail (Lionel-type) you need about the same amount of space. In full 2-rail O-scale, you’d need about 6’ to get a circle in. Not a lot of room for a 4x8 or 8x8 double-decker. However, a lot of very nice 4x8 layouts have been and are being built in HO and N scales.
I might also venture to suggest that you start out small, with one or the other scale. My first HO layout was on a 4x4 sheet of Celotex (a ceiling and insulation material popular back in the 1950s). Things grow from there. Mine is now about 10’ square and way too small (every layout is, by the way…). [:)]
You will be less inclined to chuck the whole thing if you can successfully buil