Best beginner book

[chamaman]

Just started in the hobby.  Do you have a recommendation for a book for absolute beginners?

[jguess733]

I am partial to Building A Model Railroad Step by Step by David Popp.  It's an N scale book, but many of the techniques can be used in other scales.

[ratled]

It's not a book but the price is right and it has instant gratification The Worlds Greatest Hobby series on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoocLzdUAec&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL 

 I also like this dvd series from green frog http://www.greenfrog.com/bmrr_3dvdset.shtml  you can get it cheaper on "that famous auction site"

For a book I recomend this one http://www.youtube.com/user/LanceMindheim?feature=mhum#p/u/0/VGJE9Q1EBOM

ratled

[Steven Otte]

Hi, Chamaman,

You'll find several good choices here: http://www.kalmbachstore.com/modeltrains-railroading-model-railroading-books-model-railroading-for-beginners.html

[mobilman44]

If you know the scale you are interested in (i.e. HO, N, etc.), then my personal favorite is Kalmbach's HO Primer or N Primer.  I've had mine for decades and still refer to it.

Also, if you have a local hobby shop, they will often have racks of Kalmbach books on various aspects of the hobby - from benchwork, wiring, tracklaying, design, operations, etc. - all fairly easy to read and digest.

[Lake]

I also recommend the Kalmbach book, "Building A Model Railroad Step by Step" by David Popp.

[tgindy]

Here's how you can assemble your own "MR PRIMER 101" offline...

1st -- Go to Model Railroader's "How-To" Articles.

2nd -- Next organize a folder system on your hard drive, or an inexpensive 4-gig USB-Drive -- Using the same folder-names as the article's eight subject areas.  Most articles, PDF or video, are complimentary.

3rd -- Download articles and place them in the corresponding folders for offline review.  You can also download (streaming) videos if you use Firefox browser with a plug-in like Video Download Helper.

David Popp's Naugatuck Valley is an excellent start -- Article and (6-part) Videos.

Information Station (6-article) book, Modeling Electrified Railroads, has just been added to the complimentary articles -- While you may not model traction, you gain quite a bit about city model railroading layout construction. There are also downloads of many classic "Landmark Layouts" at the bottom of Layout Visits beginning at Allegheny Midland (my favorite is Frank Ellison's 1944 "The Art of Model Railroading").

You may need to rename extensions of some downloaded files.  For example, a pdf-download may transfer the website's extension .ashx to the downloaded file -- Simply change the .ashx extension to .pdf to make your PDF-reader happy.

You now have the beginnings of a comprehensive model railroader library.

Also refer to PDF-downloads from Information Station, or books from Special Issues to suit your needs.

[IRONROOSTER]

I would suggest early on that you get Track Planning for Realistic Operation by John Armstrong.  While it's not a step by step book to building a layout, it is excellent for planning one.  If you only buy one book, this is the one.

Enjoy

Paul

[CTValleyRR]

I have Introduction to Model Railroading from the Editors of Model Railroading Magazine.  This one was published in like 1993 (when I was getting BACK into the hobby and wanted a reference to see how the hobby had changed during my roughly 15 year hiatus), but it's loaded with useful information.  From the description on the page Steve Otte linked to, I imagine that the Kalmbach book Basic Model Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby is the updated version.