New To Trains

[Anonymous]

Howdy all. I just received my first train set for Christmas. A 2005 Lionel Santa Fe Fast Freight. I've always loved trains, but never had the time, or money to make any sort of investment in the hobby. Unfortunately, I just moved from a house where I had a great sized gameroom, but traded that for a pool for the kids.

I've got a few questions that I hope will help me get started:

1. I would like to build a 4x8 layout, for starters, and have started reading about various track. The set I have came with FastTrack, so I'm wondering how difficult is it to integrate other types of track, or is that even recommended?

2. Is there a magazine that is geared toward beginners in the hobby? If not, can someone recommed one that still caters to a wide range of skillsets?

3. When I start purchasing buildings, accessories that require power, what is the best way to feed those power needs?

4. Any caveats, or gotchas that typically bite new guys like me that I should know about?

Looks like a great place to learn/share, so am looking forward to many long years of train enjoyment.

Thanks,
David

[Jumijo]

This hobby is overflowing with caveats and gotchas. If you're going to stay in it for any length of time, you'd better get used to that.

Jim

[Anonymous]

Hey David,

Everyone has their own opinion about track. I stick to the same brand of track to keep a more uniform look. Remember, if there is a will there is a way. You can do whatever you set you mind to with a little bit of time and effort.

Magazines, I say they are all good to read. I own a bunch of VHS abd DVD's, you can learn a lot from them too.

In a nutshell, most buildings should come with wiring diagrams and information for hooking them up. Once you get to that point, if you have any problems, let us know. I'm sure the people around here will be glad to go into detail and help you get everything working.

This is a great place, I have been reading back posts for awhile now, and just introduced myself recently. I am still trying to read the back posts and I am still finding good information. The people here are very helpful and polite.

[andregg1]

Hello
Welcome to the forum!!!!
I think that you must to choose what do you want...means Hi-rail, semi scale, or toy trains.
So you can star to think about the track and other thinks.
To me, the trigges was the CTT january 1996 when I saw the JL/atsf I remember that I say yes!! this is what I'm lokking for!!!
so maybe try to read firs and think exactly what you like.
Good luck!!!
Andre.

[cnw1995]

Hi David and welcome. I think you'll find this forum a friendly place.
- Building a 4x8 layout can be a blast. I started like you with a Lionel train set, but one that came with a different sort of track - and I chose just to get more of that same kind of track when I built my layout. Fastrack is simple to use and looks great.
- Classic Toy Trains - the magazine 'behind' this forum - is a great place to start - I have been a subscriber for a few years now and always find interesting ideas and inspiration - you can pick one up at a Borders or Barnes & Noble - click on the link above to see what was in the latest issue. The publisher of CTT, Kalmbach, has some inexpensive books that are wonderful primers on all aspects of the hobby - including building a layout. I first read them through our local library and then eventually got a couple
- The buildings you purchase will list their power needs - either you'll run them off the same transformer you use for the trains - it may have a special place to wire them - or you can get a separate inexpensive transformer to connect them to - that's what I ended up doing.
- While any endeavor worth doing might have some gotchas, for me, it was realizing I didn't have to spend big money to enjoy the hobby - that there are myriad ways of doing things - that the only one I had to please was myself - the hobby in my opinion is going through a sort of evolutionary phase where some manufacturers and distributors are shifting themselves around, but it really is the golden age of availability when it comes to trains and their accessories. Hey, I also recommend seeing if there are some other hobbyists around where you live - it makes for great fellowship - I've only been able to do this 'virtually'

[Roger Bielen]

Hi David, and if we haven't already, WELCOME TO THE FORUM"

Since your only planning a 4X8 you might as well stay with Fastrack. They are improving the selection of track available. Last I hear the 1 3/4" filler has yet to be distributed, I need one for the CHRISTmas tree loop.

As mentioned, any problems don't hesitate to ask.

[Anonymous]

Roger that 1.75" peice is available, I have been getting them at Train Express for almost a year now.

[dwiemer]

David,
Welcome to the forum[#welcome]and the hobby. You have a great set to start with. One word of caution, don't go too fast or try to do too much without thinking things through. First, figure what you want to model, ie 1940s steam, late diesle, any particular railroad, things like this. I say this because you don't want to spend money on things you won't need or be using. Also, since you are going with a 4x8 layout, you can stick with the fastrack as mentioned above, but they do have transition pieces, so that if you expand your layout and don't want to keep up with the expense of fastrack, in areas where the rails can't be seen anyway, you can do it. I would look at the Kalmbach web site to find what titles of books are available. i would reccomend the wiring book and a good layout plan book. you don't have to copy a layout track for track, but it will give you some good ideas. I like CTT, and Oguage railroading magazines and subscribe to both, but you should get some copies of each and see which you like better. As to gaining knowledge, this is a great place to start and share information. The guys here are gurus when it comes to helping each other. I suggest you do some searches on any questions you may have as so many topics have been covered, ie; fastrack, you will find several strings with how to information and the benefits/ problems with it. Good Luck and hope to see you here in the future.
dennis
One last thing, you may want to post your location as if anyone is near you, perhaps they can help on site.

[MTsteamfan]

CTT ran a 4-part article on building a 4x8 layout a couple of years ago. It was an outstanding primer for a beginner. Maybe someone has the mags and could copy that article for you. At any rate, I can add my recommendation to subscribe to CTT immediately. You'll be amazed how much information is in it.

One thing to remember about wiring your buildings and accessories is to run a set of feeder wires under your layout, and connect all buildings to those wires -- rather than having all the wires come back to your transformer. And, get a second transformer to power your buildings/accessories/switches, that way you have maximum power to run the trains. You can pick up an accessory transformer cheap on eBay.

My other advice to you is, start looking for more space -- layouts tend to want to grow!

One 'gotcha' I can think of that nobody's mentioned yet -- you can find good old trains to add to your collection at garage sales and auctions. However, many people who are not in the hobby tend to think that ALL old trains are worth their weight in gold -- but many are not. Don't spend more than you need to.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the "fun stage" of your life. Good advice, so far. My layout is 5x8, all FasTrack, 2 loops/trains, and I have no desire for anything larger. I run it with 2 Lionel CW80's, and use 2 Lionel accessory transformers for all non-train power. A small layout is not good for the "rolling countryside look", but I've chosen "urban setting with carnival nearby" for a ton of visual interest. One word of caution...most small layout plans seem to fill every square inch with track, switches, and sidings. You don't HAVE to do it that way. If you leave space for scenics, it will give you many happy hours planning and building them. Just my personal thoughts. Have fun! Joe

[pbjwilson]

Welcome to the forum David. You might want to check out this website for some track plans and information. Look under the FasTrack title for layouts.

www.thortrains.com

[tschmidt]

David,
Welcome to the Forum. This hobby is a constant learning experience. There was a post in the last few days where Buckeye was showing some pictures of his wiring. I would suggest you take your time to do things right and you will be happier down the road with fewer problems. The people on this forum are very helpful. If you go back to the home page for this forum there is a lot of topics that lead to other posts that can help you.

Good luck and have fun!
Tom S

[dougdagrump]

David, Welcome aboard.
Off hand I can think of two other forumites in Texas. One in the Dallas area if memory serves me, W.R. McClellan, and Jim Duda in the Austin area. You mite do a member search and drop them a line to see what's happening in the two areas (shows, meets,sales, etc.).
Like the others have said, take your time and figure out what YOU like and want your layout to look like. And above all enjoy and have fun. [|(]

[laz 57]

HI DAVID and welcome here to the FORUM.
Great place to find out all sorts of stufff.
Find out or post what you will need and sit back and enjoy a great hobby.
Also visit and introduce yourselve to the coffee pot by CHIEF EAGLES.
We do have a good time there even if we do pick on the CHIEF.
laz57

[jimhaleyscomet]

David,

If you ever get down to Houston, look up HTOS (Houston Tinplate Operators Society). They have a club layout in the Memorial City mall that is almost ready to open Tuesday nights and Saturdays. There is a big train show (The Worlds Greatest Hobby) Jan 7,8 but there will also be some in Dallas sometime.

Jim H

[Anonymous]

Yet another Welcome to you David. Sounds like some good advice you got above. Hope to see you around more.

I would recommend a subscription to Classic Toy Trains , the fine folks that provide this forum for us. Also the book "Greenbergs Wiring Your Lionel Layout" by Peter Riddle. This one is handy and there is also an Intermediate book. These are available at Amazon and Ebay.

Wehave a couple members in your area, and I spent 25 years in the Houston area before coming to Gods country. At any rate Texas will always hold a special place in my heart. It is "Like a Whole Nother Country" and unless you've lived there a few years, no one will have a clue as to what I mean .

Ask any questions no matter how trivial ...someone will respond......Tim

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. I've been doing plenty of reading and am almost overwhelmed at the depth and breadth of this hobby. I guess the first thing I need to do is actually open the box. The more I read the less likely I am to actually jump in and do it. I've never been real good at thinking on a small scope, but seems like a good time to practice, otherwise I may never use this thing.

I really appreciate the advice and pointers. My wife just laughs at me because she can see my head spinning with all there is out there to do with these fascinating trains. Today I will look for a wiring book and a simple layout guide then start saving as it appears that Lionel isn't giving this stuff away. [:D]

Again, thanks for the tips, I look forward to speaking with you all again soon. I'll let you know how the first run goes.

David

[jimhaleyscomet]

Check out this link to track discussion.

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=53278

Jim H

[winrose46]

What I am doing is OGR has archived articles on DVD and I have all four DVD's When I have a question I search the archive to see if there is an article. Also both forums are very good in answering questions that the articles raise. Good luck and enjoy.