Newbie questions

[Anonymous]

My wife and I are extremely new at model railroading. We are planning a 40's era Colorado RR. Right now w are trying to understand the nomenclature. I assume turnouts are the same as switches. What do the numbers mean in turnouts,ie. 4, 6, etc.? We havent found videos or books that start out at our level yet. Even though I am a recently retired airline pilot and did some NASA test flying the track electrical wiring articles leave me confused.
Any advice on how to plan our layout intelligently and how to learn the basics would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I would look at the NMRA website for the terms and then go to the Atlas website for easy track level information. Woodland Scenics also has a great site for scenery info. Atlas track plans start out at the very simple level and go up. Woodland Scencs has great books and videos.

RMax

[ndbprr]

Kalmbach publishing has a whole series of paperback books on wiring, construction, scenery, operations, everything you need to know. most hobby shops have them in inventory or you should be able to find them somewhere here since they are the ones operating the forums. As far as #4,6.8 turnouts the bigger the number the more gentle the transition to the other track.

[Anonymous]

"Turnout" was chosen to avoid confusion with all the electrical switches you might need to control your layout. "Switches" is what real world railroaders call the place where one route diverges from another. #4, etc refers to how quickly the routes separate - a #4 takes four feet to diverge 1 foot, a #6 takes six feet, etc.

For starter material, try here:
http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/004/474duagg.asp

It is the Model Railroader collection of "how-to" articles at the parent site of this forum.

If you are looking to create something beyond just the simple oval, you probably should look at the book called "Track Planning for Realistic Operation". It is available from Kalmbach publishing (again through the parent site of this forum). There are also videos available if you are more of a visual learner. Some other tips - find a good local train or hobby shop to help you out. You might also try to find other area modellers or clubs that you can join to learn more.

If you want to (eventually) run more than one train, your best bet is to go with a DCC system from the start. Digitrax comes highly recommended, and their starter set - the Zephyr - is priced well under US$200 and can expand easily.

Lastly, congratulations on sharing the hobby with your wife! I have met a few couples (mostly via forums like this) who are both into model railroading, and they produce some spectacular layouts.

Andrew

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info, everyone, we will follow up on these. Scenery making is no problem as we've been practicing and the results are quite good.
A simple oval will get us bored quite rapidly so we're looking for slightly bigger to start. We have a place at Lake of the Ozarks so we stopped in at Woodland Scenics Hdq. last week and found them very helpful. Good people.
Again, thanks, folks. Glad to be aboard.

[dave9999]

Welcome,
First off, Woodland Scenics products are great and easy to work with. I have built two layouts and I am working on my third. I built a 4 x 8 (didn't like the small radius curves)
then I built a 5 x 10 (didn't like the table top type of layout). So now I'm working on a 10X12 around the wall type layout (has larger radius curves and is easier to access). One day I would like to build a garage size layout. My point to all this is what ever you choose, I doubt it will be your last project. They should make this hobby illegal, its more
addictive than anything else out there..[%-)]
So start small and get through the learning curve and HAVE FUN.
Also, as Andrew stated above, seriously consider DCC. It's the future, no matter what
some of the old timers on here say[:-^] ( I'll get some feedback for that one!). DCC wiring
is less intense than block control. And you have independent control of each loco. Dave

[Anonymous]

Ray:

You don't mention what scale you are considering...I'd suggest HO for its combination of choices and use of space.

If you want layout planning help I suggest you either purchase a book of sample layouts or search on the net for sample layouts. You might start with www.thortrains.net/poorhox.html , it has several variations for small spaces.

Good Luck

Randy

[Anonymous]

Thanks, again. We will be building an HO layout. I like the "around the wall" layout idea for it's ease of access and running from scene to scene.
We definitely will be going DCC. Everyone we have talked to says that's the way to go now.
We have a new BLI Mikado that we are running around a very small oval while we research our future layout.. No scenery or anything. We're extremely impressed with the engine and it's programmable options, even on regular DC. It now takes about two minutes to reach full speed and it takes a long time to slow. It stops very gradually with steam hisses and squealing brakes. One caveat if anyone buys one. The info in the box says that it is NOT fully lubricated and the purchaser must make sure it is lubed properly before use. As it gets more running time it is noticeably running smoother.
We figure if we have this much entertainment on a stupid barren oval how much fun we can have planning and building a decent railroad.
Thanks to you folks our problems might be slightly reduced. As we gain knowledge maybe we can contribute instead of asking for info.
Ray.

[CBQ_Guy]

Raymar,

Don't know if you're interested but your mentioning modeling Colorado in the 1940's made me think you the following:

http://ss02.lynk-systems.com/greenfrog/html/product399.html

or the following may be more to your liking:

http://ss02.lynk-systems.com/greenfrog/html/product427.html

Finally, I have no personal connection or fininancial interest in the above company.

Have fun!

[Anonymous]

CBQ,
Thank you. We ordered a Greenfrog 3 DVD set a few weeks ago about building a model RR. We were so doggone impressed I ordered the DRG S 9 DVD set today.