I NEED some tips on basic model railroading for HO scale!!!
[#welcome]
Best advice I can give is read . Beg, borrow or buy books on track plans, wiring etc. Read lots of the threads here too ! Many guys have links to their web sites of their layouts, be they , N scale or O scale or HO, they still have ideas you can use.
Joe Fugate’s site is wonderful:
http://siskiyou-railfan.net/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.26
Rule #1 - Ask yourself, is this fun? If not, figure out why it isn’t fun…it’s supposed to be fun.
Rule #2 - Already stated…read up on the model railroading and find out what went well for other people and what went not-so-well.
Rule #3 ( With apologies to SNL) Have fun…no one is allowed wot’s not havin’ fun!
Rule #4 Make a plan…even a basic one will encourage success.
Rule #5 Have fun!
Rule #6 There ain’t no rule #6…
Rule #7 Have fun!
Yes, it’s a fun hobby. It can become UNFUN if the trains DERAIL. Therefore, pay attention to TRACKWORK as you read up.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. A lot of enjoyment can be achieved in a small area with a basic track plan.
Trains should be QUALITY models. Avoid junkers.
Trains are go;
Go to NMRA.org site and look at their beginners section for some good basic info.
Dale
Go to the Kalmbach books on the Trains.com website, look up this book and order it:
Basic Model Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby
From Model Railroader
From the basics of tracklaying, wiring, and maintaining locomotives to the finer points of scenery building, painting, weathering, and detailing models, every aspect of modeling is presented in this up-to-date reference. Packed with simple tips and techniques and instructions for building a basic 4 x 8-foot HO scale layout with scenery.
Saddle-stitched softcover; 8 1/4 x 10 3/4; 80 pages; 150 color photos; 5 b&w photos;
12197
$17.95
The first thing you need to ask yourself is, What is it about the hobby that I enjoy?
The love of trains in general, any particular RR your interested in modeling.
Do you want to model that RR as the prototype from actual division and roster or do you just want to freelance your oun road or a mix somewhere in between.
How involved do you really want to get into the hobby? There are armchair modelers satisfied with reading, collecting modeling pieces and have no layout of no space for one.
I feel that most tend to like a few RR as their prototype but can never pass on some mixed piece that sparks an interest.
As others have stated read, read and research.
The layout: Most starting out just want to run trains. Many, myself included when a newby, just put up that “4x8” and ran trains. At that time, I knew nothing about how real RR operated. I only knew that I love building models and love the B&O.
I had no clue about layout styles and types of operation then. Eventually you learn and decide what you want in a layout. They range from a small shelf swiching or larger around the walls, the typical plywood pike “N” scale on a door or that 4x8 ranging up to basement or room filling masterpieces. Operationaly, you have point-point whereas you run from one yard to the other to that tail chasing oval. I feel that most are so
Read everything you can about HO model railroading. There are several books on wiring, trackwork, and benchwork that are very beneficial.
This forum is also a valuable tool so don’t be afraid to ask questions. Remember the only stupid question is the one that isn’t asked!
If you have a local hobby shop (LHS) that specializes in trains, talk with them. They should have personnel that are very knowledgable about the hobby and can give you advice.
You should have a plan as already suggested. You can do your own or you can go with an already published plan such as the ones that Atlas has. My LHS suggested since it was my first layout to go with an already published plan.
I took my LHS’s advice and built one of Atlas’s layouts. It was only a temporary layout to see if model railroading was what I really wanted to do. I’m now working on a permanent layout that I planned. You may want to try a small layout at first for the same reason.
Good luck and have fun
Bill
[#welcome]
Reading can be very useful and I certainly recommend it.
However, don’t let it get in the way of getting some trains and setting them up. Since you appear to be a newcomer to the hobby, I would recommend you set up a train table - 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood on a two saw horses is an easy way. Get a decent locomotive - Athearn, Kato, etc.; add some RTR (Ready to Run) cars - Athearn, are good; get some track (avoid flex track in the beginning) - Atlas code 100 ; get a power pack - MRC is good. Put the track together, hook up the power pack and run the train. At this point you can move into simple car kits, turnouts (switches) and switching, structures, add a second train with block control, scenery, try different track arrangements, or whatever appeals to you. Thing is, this is your first layout and until you try out some different things you won’t really know what you like and what you don’t. So experiment.
Enjoy
Paul
Having already had the fun of running a “cat chasing it’s tail” type of railroad, I made a rough step-by-step plan for constructing an "around the room layout, with several penninsulas, which (when finished),would fill the room. Be sure to construct the layout with adequate height, strength, and easy “accessability” (holes or pullout sections). With the final goal in mind, I started with a simple L shape, then progressed to a C shape, then to an E shape, and finally adding a reverse E, to complete the “around the room” layout with, intense local and distant freight traffic and passenger mainline tracks. So,“Dream-Plan-Build”. Start with a simple plan, (that is expandable with the addition of turnouts and reverse loops). If you are really sure that model railroading is the hobby for you, and you have the room for expansion, I suggest that you go “State of the Art” with an expandable DCC set-up,(such as Digitrax Zepher). The members of this Forum are more than willing to answer any posted question. Bob