I believe this forum and its members is generally a great repository for various levels of skills and knowledge, so no matter where you may think you lie in the “Great Scheme of Things” would you care to share your one best piece of advice, and why?
As there are no prizes, you are permitted more than one, and as there are no rulez as such, an explanation is not required if you don’t feel like it.
Mine.
Preparation and Planning should not be used as an excuse for Procrastination.
I can readily identify with this, yes the time spent on building bench work, track laying, and wiring at the local club will stand m
Start small and spend smart.
Start with simple layout and get trains running.This should keep their interest up and grain skills in scenery and track laying.Remember less is more.
Avoid “snap” track-learn how to use flex track.
When in doubt ask…
Instead of figuring out toggle switch wiring for blocks use DCC…DCC starter systems can be had as low as $89.00…
Buy quality cars and DCC equipped /DCC ready locomotives-avoid train set cars with truck mounted X2F “horn hook” or any type of truck mounted coupler.
Have fun…The hobby doesn’t require a PHD nor is it rocket science.
Above all this is your hobby so,enjoy the hobby in the manner that pleases you…
Pick a prototype and stick with it.
This really helps you focus your purchasing on what actually fits for what you have planned. You can’t buy or model everything. Before making such a commitment, potentially as big as some other major commitments you make in life, you need to try many things, but do that without spending a lot of money until things start clicking and you see the Light of the One True Railroad.
Don’t think being a freelancer gets you off here. Unless you narrow your choices to a reasonably distinct interest, you’ll find yourself spinning your wheels a lot. Maybe you’re into logging or commuter rail. Narrow things down as best you can and you’ll not only save cash, but will find yourself having great ideas on how to apply them to your modeling and layout.
Be meticulous with your track work - no kinks, gaps, lumps, dips, etc. Make accurate curves. Remember that an error as large as an inch is not OK for the prototype and an HO scale inch is about five-times the diameter of a hair.
Dead spots and derailments take much of the fun out of the hobby, so do a great job on your track.
Buy and read Track Planning for Realistic Operation by John Armstrong before doing anything else.
Enjoy
Paul
A good question from our rather cerebral Bear!
When I returned to the hobby and started reading all the advice freely given on the forum, the one biggie at that time was “have the discipline to get your backdrop up before anything else”. A whole list of reasons was given and I listened and I am glad I did and here is proof.
A few other comments and personal opinions.
Get your track work right the first time. Be patient and take your time and do it over if it doesn’t measure up. Same with the electrical work. Make it neat.[:-^] Everything must be soldered to something. Meaning if a piece of track is not soldered to the next piece, it must have a feeder.
I would rather have one good quality (more expensive) Locomotive than three pieces of crap. The same goes for most things in my life, thats just the way I am.
When doing the landscape, don’t be methodical and fussy. Just throw it down and start carving, heaping, smoothing… It will look more natural in the end.
More is better when doing the landscape, as in more colours, more types of vegetation… Variety is good.
I see to many rookies fixing things that are just going to be covered up by dirt or whatever anyway. The earth isn’t flat, a dent or bump in the foam doesn’t need to be fixed. Once covered with dirt it will look great. If you go a little wide in laying down the ballast in a few spots, good for you. Because the real railroads do it all the time.
Sometimes we don’t go in the train room for a while. It doesn’t mean were losing interest, were just taking a break. You will soon return, to carry on with a vengeance. Don’t sweat it.
Boy did he say a mouthful! I thought I was being meticulous. Curves and kinks were not so much a problem, but “lumps, dips’ etc”? I named my own layout the motocross track. Some spots were so bad I was getting accidental uncouplings. The track was not the sole cause here, but contributed.
In retrospect, it starts with good solid even subroadbed, then careful placing of roadbed and track. It takes time and effort, but it’s easier to get it right the first time than go back in and correct problems.
Advice? There are books on this. Read and heed. Also an NMRA gauge and a Kadee coupler height gauge should be among the first tools acquired. Use Kadee couplers, for reasons discussed in other threads. Dan
Hi,
Well, lots of good advice so far. If I had to give one single area of advice I would say: Do your homework first, figure out what you want goalwise, determine the practicality, and determine a plan of action. After that, spend your money.
Get out of the hobby before it is too late ! [swg]
Rich
Good benchwork and good trackwork plus DON’T GLUE the turnouts!!!
I have three golden rules: 1) There is no absolute “best” method or product, only the one that works best for you, 2) “Do not be afraid to make a mistake, providing you do not make the same one twice” (courtesy of ADM Hyman G Rickover), and 3) If at fist you don’t succeed, try try again. The last two are really to say, don’t let fear of the unknown, or uncertainty on how to proceed, paralyze your efforts.
The NMRA publishes “standards” and “recommended practices”. You can find them here:
http://www.nmra.org/standards/sandrp/consist.html
You will find both lists surprisingly short. Most of what you read in this forum is opinion - much of it is well thought out and useful, but opinion none the less. Study the above link so that you know the difference. For example, you may read here that there is a “standard” maximum grade - the NMRA doesn’t even have a recommended practice that mentions maximum grade.
You must follow the standards.
You should follow the recommended practices.
Opinions are worth exactly what you pay for them.
Turn off your computer and go work on the layout –
I’ve found it useful (and interesting) to research various aspects (using the forum, books, etc) before I get to tackling them. Examples, tracklaying effectiveness, switch machine installation, DCC, scenery, building kit opinions. There’s so much good info available that one might find or be pointed to by others! It really helped reduce the learning the hard way experiences, though that is never eliminated.
On this note, effective use of the forum tools is helpful; e.g., how to flag things of current or future interest in your “favorites” list (on the right column). Also, the (so-so IMHO) search tool is effectively supplemented by Google searches, which may better find relevant forum (or other sources) threads on a subject of interest.
Sorry I can’t whittle it down to one piece of advice. Any of these could qualify.
Track plans are lines. Layouts are not lines but tracks that take up way more space than those lines.
When laying track or wiring, try your hardest to do your best and most careful work the first time, but never be afraid to rip out something that just isn’t right and do it over until it is right, even if it costs money.
Keep meticulous notes about your wiring.
If the trains don’t run right you won’t have much fun in this hobby.
Cheap stuff is often cheap for a good reason.
Some of your most important purchases will be tools, not trains.
Some of your most important purchases will be books, not trains.
Scenery is surprisingly easy.
Avoid doing tricky or difficult projects when you are tired or angry. That is what Athearn blue box kits are for!
Go on layout tours when possible even if the layout is not in your scale or era. Don’t just watch the trains run. Look how the track was laid, how the structures “set” on the surface of the layout, what they did for roads and utility poles, how trains are stored, how the workbench is organized.
Never throw away a “botched” project no matter how infuriated it makes you to look at it. Some portion of it can be reused, someday, even if just for airbrush practice.
Never be afraid to let it be known that you like trains and model trains. You will be surprised over the years by the folks you know or meet that like them, too.
Dave Nelson
Learn the new ways of doing things like foam. Build your layout module style, even if it ends up a 4x8. If you build a box and put foam on it for a 4x8, even if the layout dose not meet your needs long term, you can either clear off the old foam of flip the boxs for your dream layout and if you need to move, the main parts can go with you.
Don’t take the advice given by anyone on these forums as the correct or best way to do things. Everyone has an opinion on what woks best for them, and it may not work for you. Because of the differences in skill levels and experience, none of the answers may be the best.
Those folks who really push their opinions on you hard, usually don’t have the best way to do anything.
Run Away, Run Away while you still can[:P] for if you do not you are surely about to spend more time and money than you ever imagined. There is so much neat stuff to buy and not enough time or money for it all. So stick to one thing and don’t jump aroun.
Start with a basic layout design you are certain you can complete- don’t try for more than is realistically feasible, as within a year of work. I have a small engine/car rebuild/servicing yard+ small yard with some pass-thru trackage that I am building on a 7.5x2.5 plywood table. After I get the track (already pinned in place) laid, wired with sufficient feeders and electrically up to par, then I will look at integrating it into a larger design. While I come and go with the trackwork, as Bear says, do something else and hone your skills with structures, painting, car modelling, etc. That way, you don’t get bored or burned out doing just one thing all the time. Besides, many times that you walk away from one task, you return later with new perspectives and ideas.
Read, read, research, research!!! Many modelers have spent considerable time writing and documenting their work for others to learn from- I know that with every project I do, my first turn is to the internet or local fellow modellers for information and advice. This forum is your number one place to start and don’t be shy. If you are shy, PM some of the regulars, but don’t be a lone wolf when it comes to learning.
Be frugal- those swap meets contain much you can get at low cost, as does E-Bay (buy it now, not just bidding)- don’t spend $200.00 on a new engine, when you can get a decent used inventory of cars and engines for that same amount at a swap meet. Then, when something new and irrestistable comes along, the money you saved earlier can be spent a bit less carefully- if you so choose.
Then, enjoy!
Cedarwoodron