Hello all well decided to get back into model railroading with my youngest son who is 15 we are having a blast. Any tips for a newbie back at it Thank you Matt
[#welcome]
Welcome, Matt.
A couple of basic ones. Don’t spend all your money on the first pretty face. Figure out at least generally what you want to model before committing lots of cash to purchases.
Figure out if you’re sticking with DC or going to DCC.
Unless you have a pretty defined goal alreay, consider building a small switching layout or other mini- or micro-layout, That will give you some hands on experience before making any big commitments.
[:-^]
Welcome Matt,
Those are good suggestions for you to consider. The one thing I wanted to mention to you with your Son being the age that he is at, is this.
I was heavy into MRR from eight to fifteen, but shortly after that my interest changed to cars and girls and I didn’t really get back to my first love until I was married and about 30 years old.
So you might find that before too long you might be Railroading by yourself unless your Son has a medical issue or some reason that will be keeping him closer to home. But still the introduction to the Hobby whatever the age is a good thing ( I believe ).
I wish you and your Son well on this new adventure, and if by chance the above happens, then stay with the hobby of MRRing yourself, it is a great pastime.
My Son’s (4) had passing interests in MRRing but none really stuck, except they are always interested in what I am working on. BUT, my young Grandson is just nuts over Grampa’s trains and has a wooden train layout of his own ( on it’s own table) that he has spent hundreds of hours with over the last year. I think a year from now, for Christmas he may get his own powered system.
Johnboy out…
Welcome aboard. My only advice, is your son will stay interested, longer, if you get something, no matter how humble, running.
I concur with Eastern Hogger (John Boy). Girls, fast cars, and loud guitars have a damming effect on young men at this age. I recommend you add “patience” to your modelling endeavors.
In todays modelling, thinking before you make a move is very prudent. Definately a key ingredient for this hobby.
Welcome back to the Greatest Hobby in the World!
Welcome!
As Dave said, to keep your sons interest, get something going. However, others ideas also need to be considered. I agree with making a small layout first. It can be planned as a stand alone, pratice layout or you can plan it to be a part of a later, larger layout.
Read a book or two on getting started, benchwork, track laying, scenery and expand from there.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions here, there are many knowledgable folks willing to offer you assistance. You will find that some questions will get several answers. None are wrong if they have worked for someone. Just pick one or two methods and try them, find what works best for you. Also, some methods work better in some situations than others on the same layout. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Good luck,
Richard
I echo johnboy. When I was around 8 or 10 my dad built my bros and I a 4x8 layout and I loved it. Going to the hobby shop with my pops and spending time with him are cherished memories. Then came the skateboard and snowboard and girls and wasting time and the trains kinda fell by the siding. I’m 34 now and recently realized I’m not invincible so now I’m back to trains. So don’t take it personally if your boy succumbs to “life”. My pops hasn’t done any railroading in years but since he’s visited my layout (I got back in about a year ago) he’s planning a new layout now too. we’re sharing the same interest again. If your boy does put trains down for a while hopefully you’re planting the seeds now for more fun together in the future.
As far as advice? I will pass along what I found on the forum. Get a train running on some track asap. Even if it’s only 3 pieces of flex track. I followed that advice and it really made me want to keep making progress.
And as always…have fun.
T e d
“We’re gonna need a bigger house.”
A hearty welcome! I’ll second a couple of comments above first; i.e., books can be handy (there are good ones at the MR shop on this site, we can recommend specifics), and do consider how much you will stick with this actively if/when the son’s interest or nearness to home changes. I’ve been in the hobby 4 times (from school age to now, retirement) and if you get hooked you may well stay hooked, even if gaps occur.
On other topics, I’ll add that you’ve come across a really helpful forum here. Note that, for later finding things of interest, there is a block on the right for “your discussions” as well as “favorites”. The latter is used to flag other threads you just read, flagged by clicking the “add to favorites” bubble near the thread title when you’re reading that one. Also, note the “search the community” block on the right to find older threads on a topic, though often a google search starting with “cs.trains…(your subject)” works as well or better. But don’t hesitate to ask anything.
There are many aspects and you both may want to dabble along the way of progressing a layout with a variety of other tasks to try them out; e.g., building some structure kits and/or freight car kit, scenery methods, etc. And I’d suggest it’s helpful to see what’s available out there by looking through a Walthers “reference book” (catalog) and a webstore like MBKlein (modeltrainstuff.com).
Enjoy!
Welcome Matt [#welcome] yes I do. Remember it is just a hobby. Do what you and your son like and have fun. Oh and come on over and join at Elliots trackside post
YGW