I am new to model trains but want to build one, but have questions.
I will probaly start with a 4-8 sheet of plywood what is the best sxale to start with?
What does #-#-# mean i s see it in some articles.
I will probly start slow and cheap whats a nice starter set?
Thank you
welcome i think most started with 4x8 or on the rug the # # # wheel configaration like the big boy 4 8 8 4. [2c] see your local shop or ebay got deals sometimes. regars harley
[#welcome] to the forum.
I model in HO scale. First piece of advice. Stay away from train sets. For the most part, the locomotives are inferior and break down easily. Also the track that comes with most sets has steel rails that are a nightmare to keep clean and the power pack is usually just big enough to run the train and not much else.
Go the your LHS (local hobby shop). There you can purchase a descent locomotive (Athearn, Atlas, Kato, Bachmann, Proto 1000 or 2000, etc), some descent low-priced rolling stock and nickel-silver track. You can also get a power pack that will do more than just run the train. Look around while you’re there, ask questions of the clerk, he’s there to help you.
Ok but I still don’t under stand # # # wheel comfiguration?
What am I looking for there. I will probaly start with a HO size any other tips??
[oops] HO not to big or to small . # [?] harley
Do some reading and research before jumping in and buying anything. Reading other posts and asking your own questions here is a good start.
A couple of other suggestions.
Model Railroader Magazine website has a special section for newcomers. Click on the Model Railroader Magazine icon up top and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and see the line titled “For Newcomers”. Click on all the options there.
Look at the “World’s Greatest Hobby” website, which also has info for newcomers:
http://www.trains.com/trc/community/events/
Hi. Please don’t be put off by our suggestions to pause and do several hours of reading. This hobby is very complex and involved. We hear from too many new folks who lament that they should have done more research before plunking down what become misspent dollars.
For example, your question of which scale is best? I dunno, you tell me! I can’t answer the question without knowing more of what you want out of the hobby…and I’m pretty you cannot answer the question knowledgeably, either. Your ultimate choice of scales, as another illustration, will dictate what you will probably have to build from scratch and what you will be able to buy off the shelf.
Also, what is the “best” track plan for a 4X8? Some guys will say there ain’t no such thing. Others will say to look at Atlas’ website…where several are posted for those who are learning. Later, you will come to realize they are not that great in many cases.
Please stay with us, ask pertinent questions, and don’t get annoyed when all we do is ask you questions in return or provide links to reading material. We all have to learn in order to get the most out of this hobby.
If that 4 x 8 has to be against any walls, do yourself a favor and cut it up into a shelf layout. You will be able to reach it much easier. I’m 6’ 3" with some long arms, and I ain’t ever been able to reach across a 4’ layout table unless it was real LOW.
Hi and welcome. I agree with all the advice above, particularly the one about reading and planning. I’m a born-again model railroader, having packed up my trains at the end of my teens, and only re-opened them now that I’m in my late 50’s. I joined this forum in December of '04, and I did nothing but research for 4 months, by which time I had experimented with track plans on paper and on the computer, and learned enough about benchwork to begin constructing my layout. My original 4x8 plans grew to 5x12, by the way. Going from 4 to 5 feet wide makes a big difference in HO, because you can design turns with more than a couple of inches to spare. My layout is a free-standing table that I can walk all the way around, so I only have to reach 2 1/2 feet to the center line. That’s exactly the traditional 30-inch “maximum reach” limit many of us recommend, and even at that, it’s a stretch.
So, read and learn, read and learn, and hopefully some of our mistakes (we make lots of them!) won’t be yours. Again, welcome aboard.
In the original post, the question was asked: “What does #-#-# mean i s see it in some articles.” I don’t see that this was ever answered.
It’s the Whyte system for designating steam locomotive wheel arrangement. The three numbers mean the number of wheels on the leading truck, drivers, and trailing truck, respectively. For locomotives with two sets of drivers, you will see 4 numbers, such as 2-8-8-2 which means two sets of 8 drivers, a two wheel leading truck (aka pony truck) and 2 wheel trailing truck.
Check out www.steamlocomotive.com for lots of info.
George V.
Ok I get that I need to do some research and planing. Thats the main reason I jioned this forum and so far have got so great help. Now more questions!!
What about tracks? are they interchangable for differnt makers? Who make the best.
I am wanting to go HO and I wan to do a old style trian like in the wild west any good word og wisdom?
It is generally best to stick, as much as possible, with one manufacturer of track. They may be the same size and profile of rail…may be…but it is often in the profiles and looks of the ties that there is a noticeable difference. This is also true for the switches, or what we call "turnouts’.
Tracks come in sizes, or codes. Code 100 is the highest and least realistic for those who want to have true scale to typical trackage over the years. However, I use it exclusively because it is robust, easy to get, and easy to use. Also, if it is nicely situated and made to look realistic with ballast and weathering, it looks as good as most track of a smaller size. You should also stick with the same Code of rail if you can help it because mating Code 100 with smaller track, like Code 83 or Code 70, will add complexity and time to your track laying.
Atlas and Micro-Engineering make good track, known collectively as flex-track. It comes in three foot lengths and is flexible so that you can form curves and ease into grades. Many manufacturers make sectional track, often with plastic ballast added. It is much more expensive, but it is easy to use. Unfortunately, it is also rigid, so you cannnot expect to have a wide range of curve radii. This means that your choices of track plans are limited over the infinitely variable flextrack.
I will let others who are modeling pre-1880 U.S. railroads address your question about the Wild West.
Otter welcome to the board from one newbe to another. I am one of the people here that started buying with out knowing anything. Plus I bought a lot of stuff on E-bay with out knowing what I was buying. At first it was a mistake, but with the great people here my mistakes run like a champ.
There is way more to this hobby beside nailing down some rails, hooking a power pack up and having at it.
If I had to do it all over, before I bought a train I would read, read, read and read some more! Ask for some good begainers books and buy them.
Main thing you need not to have the head aches I have had is a well bulit Bench, or board or what ever you want to call it. Bench is the word used the most. A 1/2" 4 X 8 pices of plywood on a badly bulit frame will do nothing more than make the quest harder.
My biggest problem was I took a big slot car layout and turned it into a HO train bench. Ho Slot Car’s I raced will go up a wall with the magnets I add. It was L shaped 16’ x 8’ and 4 foot wide. No great care was used in making the layout, slot car’s and it track is very for giving. Besides I only had to keep 8 wheels on the track, not 668 wheels, what I am running now.
I was ready to give up and did nothing but b-tch and moan and finaly started throwing stuff. But about 2 months a go with the help of the people here and some luck I fianly got the ill made bench right and bigger. (bigger was not the best idea at this point, tearing it all down to bulid a good bench this winter)
All so, as you get some skills that I finaly starting to get, you don’t have to throw money at this hobby to have a good running train. Right now I am running 80 cars and 4 engines. With the cost of tools, better wheels, better couplers, weights and other things you will read about I have $600.00 invested or $7.14 per pices with 4 engines and one is a Proto 2000 engine and 3 older Athearn’s engines. (great starting point at ar
The further back in time one goes the harder it is to find equipment and structures to match. However there are many models from locomotives of the cattle drive days. Locomotives like 2-4-0, 2-6-0, 4-4-0, 4-6-0 and even small 2-8-0s would be appropriate. Model Die Casting (MDC or Roundhouse brand), calls these 2-8-0s “Old Timers”. In addition to Roundhouse, Bachmann, and IHC make 4-4-0 locomotives. There is a Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0.
Roundhouse makes old time passenger equipment, a few old time box cars and cabooses. Bachmann makes old time freight cars. I cannot say anything about the quality of the Bachmann freight cars, other than they are not spectrums. All of the other equipment from this era that I know of is fine scale kits that are expensive and difficult to assemble.