Had 4x16 Tyco layout when I was a young lad. Now have opportunity to relive my youth. I am seeking any “if I could do it all over again” advice from modeling veterans. I am relearning the hobby thanks to the Internet and books. Much has changed.
I am just beginning design so any change is possible at this point. I have a 25x25 room to work with for a HO scale layout. DCC is planned. I am not interested in hand laid track, super detailing, etc. I just want to play with my trains!
Welcome to the forum. What an adventure awaits you. I am 4 years into returning after a mere 25 years away. As you progress, ask specific questions and you will get more inro than you can use, most of it good. Some thoughts 1. Know what you want. I looked at a lot of magazines. 2. Have a track plan. Keep the radi more than 24 inches. I didn’t and when I got interested in articulated steam and passanger cars, my 18 inch curves, set up for my logging layout, became a problem. 3. Learn about styrofoam for table top and scenery. Also learn about Woodland Scenics risers and plaster cloth. 4. Look at DCC radio. It is the most fun in the train room for me. 5. Learn flex track. It is faster, and better than handlaid for most of us normal craftsman. 6. When you get to scenery, ask more questions and look at the pics of some of the guys here, Grech to mention one. Home made trees are also a fun project with great results. I will be looking forward to your progress, even as so many encouraged and instructed me as I went.
Welcome to the forum there lifeontheranch!
Firstly, we do not “. . . . . play with trains . . . . .”; one “. . . . . operates scale empires . . . . .”!!!
Your post indicates that you are off to a good start–you are trying to familiarize yourself with the hobby as it exists in 2001; certain things remain substantially the same year after year while other things are in a continuous state of flux and are always changing i.e. I am hide-bound on hydrocal and hardshell scenery but there has been a trend over the past few years to scenery formation using foam. As you build your layout you are going to have to make early decisions on just which procedure you wish to go with. This is just one example–there are many others and I would encourage you to make inquiries here on the forum about things which come into question as you design and build.
Your posting is going to solicit much advice from the membership but mine to anyone contemplating building a layout–first of three hundred and first–is to avoid any temptation to cram. You have an excellent space in which to construct a [i[good[/i] layout. . . . . whatever that is. But, unless you are modeling an urban environment, the prototype, in essence, runs through open spaces. You can overdue it trying to lay down as much railroad as possible. If you are comfortable, for instance, with 200’ of track resist the “I should be able to add another 100’ of track” temptation. If you wish to retain a basic fidelity-to-prototype your layout size may not allow that extra 100’ of extra track. Unfortunately most 4 X 8 layouts go to pieces on this very issue. I once constructed a layout called the “HO Railroad That Grows” in N-Scale; I kept curvature to basically the same specifications as Linn Westcott did on his 1950s project railroad but my smaller scale allowed for significantly more switching capacity. My layout had about 300% of the real estate as Mr Westcott’s original b
What does “playing with trains” look like to you? That might direct our advice.
As to “If I could do it all over again”, there have been at least three threads like that fairly recently. I would think a “search community” should easily come up with them.
As I recall one of my responses in those threads was that I wouldn’t do anything differently. I learned a lot from my lessons, and learned them in a way that made me a better modeler because of it. To often people who “learn” from what others say really become prejudice to what they “know”. What they “know” then becomes a roadblock to learning new things or new perspectives on things.
Personally, I love to layout track and “test” various plans. All the paper figuring in the world won’t find things some simple runs will.
My advice is to not start out with a trainset. Do some research and obtain at least 1 quality locomotive if it’s in your budget. A good starter DCC system would also be a must in my book.
Good Luck
Welcome back. Having had two hiatuses from the hobby, I can certainly relate. I had HO trains as a kid in the early 1960s. I got back into the hobby as a young adult, but job demands and other responsibilities force me back into a second hiatus for most of the 1990s during which I remained an armchair modeler. I kept up with the changes in the hobby as best I could while dreaming and planning the Big One which I began shortly after my retirement. There certainly have been major changes in the hobby in just the last 20 years, never mind the last 40, but the keys to a successful layout are still the same, a good concept, a good track plan, and good track work. As for advice, here’s mine in no particular order.
Model railroading is many hobbies rolled into one. There’s planning, preparation, benchwork, tracklaying, wiring, scenery, model and structure building. You’ll want to decide what parts you like to do and are good at and which parts you don’t. If you can get help with the parts you don’t do so well, that’s a big help. Also, there is so much more in the way of ready-to-run (RTR) equipment and ready builty structures. If you like building rolling stock kits and structures, you certainly have a lot of choices but if you’re willing to spend a little more many, there’s an ever growing amount of ready built stuff to choice from and some of it looks great right out of the box.
Before you put together your first piece of benchroom, do a good job of room preparation. That means lighting and backdrop instalation but also can include things like drop ceiling, carpeting, etc. Things that make for a pleasing environment. That will be more important to some than others and only you can decide that. All these things are much easier to do before you start building the layout.
Have a concept, before you start drawing a plan. The concept should dictate the plan. Your concept might be as simple as "I just want to run my trains
This is very sound advise. Nothing will put you out like a crappy loco. (I’m talking from experience[:-^])
First off welcome to the forum and you can “PLAY” “RUN” or “OPERATE” your trains any darned way you see fit because you payed for em. I would say you have a good size room to work with the first place you need to start is at the book section of your LHS aka Local Hobby Shop preferably one who only deals in trains not those silly airplanes or noisy gas powered cars. A good track plan is usually the foundation of your railroad that will predicate what type of system of bench work will work best for you. Open Grid, L girder or just plain old flat plywood. You can go new school and use extruded foam or old school risers with subroadbed and hard shell scenery. I personally took a vacation from the hobby as well but when I did return I was into trying every new thing and idea that came down the pike and found my self coming full circle and going back the techniques I used as a kid. Using, 1x4 risers with spline subroadbed and 3/4" plywood sub in some sections, homasote ans hard shell scenery. Some guys have great results with extruded foam but I think it’s better off used as originally intended for as insulation but hey thats just me.
One really important thing you need to address is room preparation, all the things you can’t do once you start work on your layout. How is the ceiling, the lighting the walls etc. I regret not tearing out the ceiling in the basement and putting in a drop ceiling but thats water under the layout now. Paint and prep your wall for your back drop scenery, think about weather or not your going to use lighting sofits or not and if your going to use any specialized lighting such as track lighting to highlight certain scenes or the entire railroad etc.
This all revolves around your track plan, picking that in it self is no small task as you have to pick certain criteria and keep narrowing them down until you have a specific plan picked out.
Google and the Kalmbach library are going to be your two best friends.Not being a cheer leader for the NMRA
When I got back into the hobby after a few years doing other things, I was in a much better financial position than I was before. I skipped over the starter set stuff, Athearn Blue Box (which are still good engines by all means) and went right to Brass steam and Bowser kit engines. I am mechanicaly inclined and love building the kits, tuning older brass engines and have lots of experience fixing models for others. I also had a good “elmer” on what brass to buy and avoid. I have mostly all steam, mix of PFM/United brass, Bowser diecast and a couple old hobbytown diesels. Yes its all old school, most have open frame motors, but all of it is drop dead reliable and will PULL freight. I have a Broadway Limited PRR I1sa Decapod, beautifully weathered to match an actual color photo in a book, but it wont pull squat unless you put the traction tire wheel set in it, and that causes side rod stress issues. (this engine is for sale BTW if inbody is looking for one) Sound is great, so is DCC. We have several large DCC layouts localy, they are fun, but we seem to spend as much time dealing with glitches, decoder issues and figuring out programing as we do operating the layout. While as the local club is all analog DC, truescale roadbed with handlaid rail. Unless we loose a stall motor that operates one of the CTC controled turnouts, we operate trains. Welcome back to the hobby, lots of things have changed, lots of things havent. Its all up to you want you want to do, what you like and how much you can afford to spend. Lots of older stuff is now affordable due to the modeling public at large moving on to the newest and greatest products from China. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you enjoy it, to many get way to serious and the fun part is lost. Here is my late 50’s vintage PFM/United brass Southern RR Pacific I am repowering with a Sagami can motor, it just came back from my painter as most
One of the major issues you will face will be designing a layout or track plan. The first thing to do is define the space that you have. How much of the room can you use? Do you need to have a workbench in the same room? You will get more running track if your layout is along the walls with a peninsula or two sticking out toward the center. The longest that you can reach things is about 24 inches. Thus quite a few folks make their benchwork 24 inches wide. The peninsulas can be wider because you will have access from both sides and the end.
What I do for layout design (have done so far) is define my area and benchwork first. Next I decide on a theme. (Mainline running, with a branch line(?) or other special interests.) Then I put in a mainline. I am fond of twice around the room types divided by scenery and grades.
Since I have gotten into operations, I also have a staging area of some sort, whether it is a lay-over for entire trains, or a yard that simulates an interchange yard. One track in staging is a through track for continuous running. If I put cars on it, the layout becomes point to point for operations.
Next I try and determine how many small towns I can have, and possibility one city with a yard and loco facilities, without them crowding one another. Usually small yards and facilities unless I have the room for larger ones. I will try to fit in a way-side industry or two just for variation as long as it won’t crowd things.
Then I go looking at plans for modular railroads. I look for ones that would make good towns or cities because their track plans are usually fairly compact, and most of the way they will be switched is already determined with a good track plan themselves.
Because I freelance, I don’t worry about town and city names etc., but if you want to model a specific prototype, you can name the towns as the railroad you are modeling would, and build or plan you scenery to
Welcome aboard! [#welcome]
5 years back after 40 years away for me. My trains were packed away, and carted from basement to attic for all that time. I’ve been able to re-use most of the rolling stock, and a few structures. The engines just didn’t operate to today’s standards, though, and as for all that brass track, well, forget about it.
I tried to be logical and analytical, and, for the most part, I succeeded. But, when I hooked up the DCC system and ran my first DCC engine, I was 8 years old again, and just playing with trains. For me, that’s the sweet spot. Building a railroad set in the Transition Era is a door back in time to my own teenage years, in more ways than one.
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.
First, go to your nearest bank and withdraw $245,000, this will be enough to bring you up to the present day expenses you will need to start 40 years later. Ha Ha, you will find plenty of good advice on this forum. good luck, welcome back Kotter.
Wow! You have certainly gotten a lot of good advice! My 24’x24’ garage loft layout, with an inside stairway is of the same order as your 25’x25’ area. Throw out 40 year old track and locomotives. The brass track has too much resistance, and the locos draw to much current. I only saved the scenery and structures from my previous layout,( in the entire basement of another house), that dates back some 30 years. The final arrangement of my present layout was pre-planned, but was built in four stages. As everyone has stated,“Finish the ceiling, the lighting and electrical outlet placement, insulation,etc. before doing any thing else”. I happened to have, a bunch of 4-drawer cabinets that I used to support the plywood top of my layout. You might consider a pull-out desk (on casters), as a work table, (for structure construction and a test track for programming decoders in locos, etc). I use SceniKing 11"x7" sections, of a continuous photo panorama, of low hills, farms, and urban setting.around the top of my entire layout. I matched the uniform blue sky color “electronically”, at the paint store. I then painted the four walls from the 7" above the layout top, to the ceiling with the flat blue paint, before installing the photo panorama series of 11"x7" sections. I did the painting on the primed Luan backdrop, after installing the bench work for each phase of the layout, but if you can do it “all” at first, all the better. Most local hobby shops, that deal strictly with model railroad, usually have brochures listing up-coming "Model railroad shows and flea markets. I purchase all my DCC locos, rolling stock, and HO autos and trucks, at these Model Railroad displays and Flea Markets. Never been disappointed, so far! Just got a $240 DCC loco for $80 I build HO scale deciduous trees , using stained “double ended wooden olive skewers” for trunks, The foliage is made from cheap furnace filters that are are spray painted with flat black or dark green Latex paint, and then cut into rough
My railroad went belly up in 1958 when I entered the service. Discharged in '62, married and raised the family. My rolling stock probably went to the scrap yard.[
]. Retired and a couple of years ago a friend gave me a lot of rolling stock and old issues if MR. Decided to build a new railroad. First thing was to look at the stock, mixed set and old. Second, subscrived to MR and signed into this forum. Wow, [%-)] I feel like a caveman walking down Broadway. So I have done a couple years of research, and practiced scratch building. Yes, I have purchased magazines and books on railroads, and how to do magazines for modeling railroad. That to me is a must.
You say you want to play, my advice is get a train set and watch it go around in circles. If you want to enjoy it then read all you can and if you have a special era and/or railroad you want to portotype then read some history and look at lots of pictures. I am on this forum a lot but not signed in. I have learned a lot, thanks guys. [:)] I would also suggest reading on building a layout, scenry and structures.
Anyhow, you have a good start and the more you learn and use that knowledge will make your layout more enjoyable.
lifeontheranch, I hope you didn’t take “You say you want to play, my advice is get a train set and watch it go around in circles.” as and insult or personally. I was just being a little [}:)].
Remember boys don’t grow up, they get old.
At last!
A guy who openly admits that he wants to “play” with his trains! Don´t we all? We are just to shy to admit. But isn´t “operating” our trains not a form of role play?
Huizenga defines “play” as:
Summing up the formal characteristic of play, we might call it a free activity standing quite consciously outside ‘ordinary’ life as being ‘not serious’ but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings that tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress the difference from the common world by disguise or other means.
So there is nothing wrong in playing with trains!
WOW! What a large number of responses in such a short amount of time. Great advice from many. My thanks to all. I can tell already this is a great forum and getting back into model railroading is a good choice for me. This is going to be a blast! I’ll digest the information, read some more books, and post my initial design for your review when it takes shape. Again, many thanks to all.