Hello. Years ago, I used to build model cars/trucks, etc. I have always loved trains. My grandfather worked at a depot in a small town until it closed. I have always loved trains. So I figure my love of modeling and trains would be perfect fit for me to model railroad. I Have so many questions and am doing my research. I’ve subscribed to magazines and bought some books and have been pouring over the internet. So I know I want to do a decent layout. I have a room roughly 9x9 in which to work. I think I could put up a decent set-up in there. I’m going to be using HO I think.(cost is a factor) I’ve been thinkin of a Bachmann digital commander. I’m wondering, is this a good set for a beginner? Will I be able to expand? I plan on a 4x8 set-up at first, then fill the room in as I go. I just want to do it right and not have so many pitfalls along the way. Thank-you for any input.
[#welcome] to the greatest hobby on earth! I share your love for trains and modeling, ever since I received my first starter set 47 years ago. [:)]
It seems, as if most people start with a 4 by 8 layout, although this may not be a wise choice. With a minimum leeway of 2 ft. at least on three sides of that 4 by 8, the footprint you require is already 6 by 12 or 8 by 10, pretty much filling the room you have available, without much of a chance to extend it.
Why not go for a around-the-wall shelf layout? Makes things easier to handle and to build and you get as much (or even more) fun out of it.
The “Heart of Georgia” layout by Scott Perry should just about fit the size of your room:
It is a well designed layout, which offers plenty of prototype operation or just letting trains run. It was designed with ease of construction in mind, with materials readily available to everyone.
You can read more about this better starter layout here!
Unfortunately, my room as a whole is 9x9. No leeway. And the door opens in. I do like the way that layout is setup. I guess, if I have a fold-down it would definately work. Is that something that can be done? And if I didn’t want so much empty space in the middle, can I go larger there as well? And sorry if I don’t have the technical jargon down yet. I’m eager to learn…one can only learn so much from a page. People are such a great resource. Thank-you!
That´s why we are here!.
There are many ways of building a drop-down, fold-up or even a simple bridge section, enabling you to open the door and enter the middle part. I have never done this, but there are some experts who will most likely jump in.
Of course, the shelf could be made a little wider, but I cannot really recommend adding more track - it would just look too cramped. Why not use the space to put up a work bench, where you can build the kits or maintain your equipment. A chair or two is also nice when you are having visitors …
Hi Rookie- Welcome. As for the door, you can replace it with either a bi-fold or a pocket door. Gives you a lot more room.
Flip
I am with Mad Dog about the Heart of Georgia layout. I am blessed with the room for a good sizes layout and one of the biggest mistake I made was using a 4 foot wide plywood. Mine is against the wall, the wall side is such a pain to work on. Plus if there is a derailment, it will be in the hardest area to reach.
I am a HO modeler, but if the maximum room sizes you will ever have or should I say likely to have is 9 X 9. I would go with N Scale. HO takes up a lot of room, the smallest radius turn you should use is 18 inches. So to turn the engine 180 degrees your bench needs to be 36 inches plus shoulder area, so you are looking around 4 foot. Many here will say 18 inch turns will cause you a lot of problems and you cannot not run Big Engines on that tight of a turn. I am not one of them! I can run the biggest HO engines made on the smaller turn. (I will added mine are gone now) But, you have to lay darn near perfect rails to do so and the bigger cars and engines look stupid going a round them. Most of us want 24 inch or bigger turns. A 14 car train and engine is 10 feet long, that is not a very long train.
With N scale being 1/150 scale and HO being 1/87 you all most do twice as much in the same spaces. Cost is about the same. N scale can be very detailed as well. Here is a link to David Vollmer N sale Rail Road done on a hollow door.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEvKHFGd5s&NR=1
See if you can find a local train club or a good Local Hobby Shop (LHS) and ask questions.
Cuda Ken
I will second the earlier post suggesting around the walls rather than a 4x8. It seems most of us start out with a 4x8 on a sheet of plywood which gets the trains running quickly. We realize the limitations in a short time and tear it down or in some cases I know lose interest an leave the hobby. Scale is your choice. There are those who will promote their scale because it works for them. No one is wrong.
Try drawing a scaled of the room (1"/foot) works for starters and see what works for a shelf size and track layout. Keep the shelf to 30" max. Its hard to reach more than that for the average sized person. Im 6’-4" and still have trouble working at 30" in the corners of my layout. Its more than 30" into the corners.
Look around and learn everything you can. Then start.You cant learn it all. Model railroading is not a race sit back and enjoy a great hobby. I have been in it for over 50 years and learn something new with every project.
Most of all have, make mistakes and learn from them.
Dave
I started with a 4 x 8 and its certainly grown from there. Its the center peice of my layout.
It was my second 4 x 8 layout that I incorperated and the layout that I now have. You can do alot on a 4 x 8 layout. I had 10 x 11 room where I built my second layout and I choose a 4 x 8 and I had alot of fun building it. When I move to eastern Oregon my new house had a basement and it grew from there. I wanted to use it in my new layout not only to display it but my grand kids could use it and I could run my bigger train myself.
This is what I started with.
My signature has a picture of it. But Its your choice in what you with to do. You will get all sorts of input on this subject but its up to you what you want to do. L- shaped, C- shaped around the walls and even some of us that started with a 4 x 8 layouts too.
So[#welcome]to the Hobby and injoy it, this hobby can be fun and injoyable to do.
In the book Track Planning Idea From Model Railroad: 58 Track Plans from Past Issues, there are two track plans for a 9 x 6 “office cubicle” one in N scale and one in HO.
-George
Welcome! Years ago, along with my Lionel, I too built plastic cars, planes, ships and army vehicles. A few are still surviving in storage somewhere.
I will agree with above posters on the around the room. A 30" shelf (maximum recommended reaching distance) all around will only leave you a 4’ space in the center, not overly large for two people. You could have varring widths to break up the “straight edge” look and not all sides need to be the same width.
I think the bifold door is an excellent idea, Something I hadn’t thought of, but may use one on my room when I get to that point.
There are numerous articles and posts on lift outs, tip ups, swing gates and the like.
Be sure to have your layout high enough to put your workbench under it. Layout height is primarily dictated by your height. Elbow to shoulder height seems to be the recommendation, but if you have small children that want to work with you, lower may be better. You could make it so that it could be raised when they get taller.
You are in the right place to ask questions, looking forward to more from you.
Have fun,
A 4 by 8 layout in a 9 by 9 room does not leave much room for future expansion. It is not that I am against this type of layout, but as I said earlier, it requires a much bigger footprint.
This pic clearly shows this.
[#welcome] Rookie.
Some good advice above. I, too, started with a 4x8 when I got back into the hobby, and it was a great learning experience, but I’ve already realized that it’s too limiting and expanded it a little. When the budget allows, I will chuck most of it and do a G-shaped layour around 3 walls. Listen to the folks here and think outside the box, but don’t get set on something you can’t chuck later as your skills improve.
If you read my posts, you’ll see I’m not a big fan of train sets, because they have a lot of drawbacks: 1) they often contain substandard equipment, 2) they often contain a lot of stuff you don’t want, and 3) they tend to constrain your thinking to the standard “oval” layout footprint (don’t get me wrong, I’d never build a layout without the opportunity for continuous running, either, just not in an oval). I think it’s better that you decide what road and era you want to model, and then selectively acquire pieces that fit your theme. Buy only the track you need. The same $250 or so you will spend on the train set can get you a pretty good start on your own pike.
While I have never used the “Digital Commander” stuff, Bachmann’s EZ Command is a very basic line of DCC products. It’s not interchangeable with other, more capable systems, and it’s not expandable. While you might end up being very happy with it, you also might be ready for a more advanced model in the near future. If that happens, you’re likely to be annoyed that you have to chuck the whole system and start over.
So, to give you the short answer, model railroading is a hobby that lends itself to expansion, and rather than starting with a 4x8 and a train set, get stuff that will still serve you many years from now when your interest, skills, and layout have grown beyond the beginner phase.
Oh, yeah, you’re last statement t
Thank-you all so far for the tips. I think I’m going to go with a U-shape for now and then I can eventually go around the room. I am wondering if anybody has used countertop for benchwork? And the more I research getting a set vs getting piece by piece, the more I’m leaning towards getting a piece at a time. I already know I want Milw Road loco, and I don’t think there are any sets for me. Fortunately I live close to a few LHS and I’m sure they can answer more questions for me. I will definately be checking here also. From what I’ve seen so far, there are so many great people on here that are passionate about this hobby and have a great deal of knowledge to share. Thanks again!
I’m sure someone out there has used countertop for benchwork. As you’ll find the more you get into this hobby, there are very few rights and wrongs, but a lot of preferences.
My personal opinion is that a countertop would be expensive and much heavier than you need… Better options are plywood, extruded foam, or both, supported by pine benchwork (lots of books, threads and articles out there on how to do this).
My LHS / Club used counters but not there tops to build there layout on. Adds a lot on neat storage spaces. There are company’s that salvage old doors, counters and such from homes being torn down or remodeled, you might check to see if there is one a round you.
Sorry picture is so bad.
Cuda Ken
Nobody says that you have to use the entire room. Right now, my layout is set up in the basement. Room measures about 12x16, yet I use very little of it for trains. There’s a 2-foot wide shelf that runs along two walls. Plenty of room for a small switching layout, but not so much for continuous running. To join the two “legs,” is a 4x4 corner section. IIRC, the maximum radius is about 26-27 inches or so. Large enough that I can run E units and passenger cars. However, such things look a bit odd on a switching layout 
Go to the Local Hobby Shop, go to the Woodland Scenics stand, and pick up “The Woodland Scenics Scenery Manual” or something like that. The book has the BEST overview of MRRing I have read in years.