New to hobby can use your help please .

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone i,am 55 years young and just starting this hobby and have small space in house to use .
Would like to set up a old steam coal yard or something in that era , any help will be so gratfully appreceated . Thanks for looking and your help .jd p.s. i live in wis also .

[simon1966]

Hi JDHOG

Not quite sure where to start here as I don't know what decisions you have already made?

First of all, I would get an accurate measurement of the space that you have available for the layout. From this you can start to make decisions about the scale you are going to use. HO and N are the 2 most common. Other decisions that you should consider relate to the type of running you want? Continuous running, swithching etc. You mention a coal yard, so perhaps you just want to create a really detailed scene without a lot of train running. Anyway, take a look at the model RR ABC on the MRR magazine web page
http://www.trains.com/story/story_list.asp?idMenuCategory=3&idMenuSubCategory=31&idMenuMinorCategory=3107

Think about it and get back with any questions you may have.

Welcome and have fun with this great hobby.

[BRVRR]

jd,
We will need more information to be of any constructive assistance. What size of a layout are you considering? Space may determine scale. HO, N, Z or one of the tinplate scales? What is the budget? DC or DCC. What era. You mentioned steam. That covers a lot of ground, about 120-years, more if you include foreign railroads.
I'm sure the guys on the forum will be glad to help, but you have to make a few fundamental decisions before assistance or constructive criticism can be offered.
Looking forward to helping out.[:)]

[Anonymous]

Thanks Guys , my mind is working over time on this and i was thinking of a small 2 or 2/5 by 8 ft table , with some small old steam engines and alot of ore cars and old box cars , maybe a small turntable and yard basic back and forth action <>?? If i could go a little bigger it would be nice to make a turn around also . Sorry if i,am not saying the right things but it all looks so new to me , been wanting to do this sence i was a young boy , so now,s my chance . Thank you again to you all , very happy i found this site .
jd

[Anonymous]

I would reccommend if you can possibly get the space to use a 4' x8' layout. it is what mine is on, and although i am new to the hobby, i do know some stuff (yes, very little but some) and 4' x8' is the way to go for a beginner. Probably altogether with all materials (including train set and track i have spent maybe $200. I recieved a train set from bachmann

I then also recieved a Woodland Scenics scenery kit, which had almost everything i needed, a good instruction booklet, all the scenery stuff including stuff to make a mountain with, etc. I was told that was about $80 and I don't know how much the train itself was. I then got ply wood (At least 1/2" thick) a pint of paint like the book said, etc, and started woorking. I also had to spend about $20-30 bucks on track and switching and all, but all in all it was about $200 total. I probably will spend about $300-$400 just depending on hom much money i get. One great thing about the Bachmann train is that it comes with about a quarter of the track that you will need for the layout and it comes on its on plastic "roadbed" type material. That means a lot less work. All in all a 4'x8' is really good for beginners like you and me because while it is relatively small, it is big enough to do an oval and several switches, including plenty of land for buildings, farms, or in your case coal yards :)

[simon1966]

As pointed out byJediobiwan above, a 4 x 8 will allow for an oval layout with some simple spurs and switching. The turtle creak central layout featured in theJan 05 and during 04 might be a good starting point for you. However, I would encourage you to make a decision on the scale quite quickly as this will dicatate the amount of track that would fit well into the space. If you are not sure about which scale, either post a follow up here or do a search in the archives of the forum, as the pros and cons of N and HO have been covered a few times already.

[tstage]

With a 2 or 2-1/2' deep layout, jdhog could go with an N-scale layout. With an 8' width, that would provide him with plenty of room for a coal yard and turntable, plus give him the liberty of a continuous run. HO will definitely be limited to point to point unless jdhog can muster a 4 x 8' space.

Tom

[Bob Hayes]

Why don't you go down to your Local Hobby Shop(LHS) and pick up some of the Model Railroader track planning books? They contain loads of information and will help you get a better handle on what you want to build..
Bob Hayes

[Anonymous]

jd I can relate to your confusion,I'm a similar age & just about to start out in the Hobby. The best thing to do is keep logging on to this great site & reading advice posted by the many helpfull Members & buy/read Model Railroader. Please refer to the advice I recieved from my first posting: "Advice for a Newcomer." December 28th 2004
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27166

Good Luck
trian

[Anonymous]

Thanks again everyone , i do know it will be Ho scale and i,am looking thru all the magizines and books i can locate also . But there,s nothing like great advise from those that have been there like all of you that help make this happen for me .So please keep sending me advise and i,ll do the best i can with all of it .It is very helpfull and appreceated .Thanks again jd

[leighant]

Here is a suggestion not about modeling but about this forum. It helps if you describe subject matter in topic line, so person WHO HAS INFORMATION knows there is someone he could share with. Perhaps your topic line might read "Help with coal yard" rather than just generic line "new to hobby" etc.

[leighant]

Here are some kits that might be used to model a coal yard, with links to pictures and information on www.walthers.com. You might consider one or more of these kits, OR use them for ideas to scratchbuild or bash your own.

Campbell coal yard kit (HO craftsman style)
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/200-386
Something similar to these coal bunkers could possibly be kitbashed from two or more plastic railroad coaling tower kits.

Faller coaling yard for steam locomotives, European design
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/272-120156

retail coal yard to receive coal by rr and distribute to homes via trucks. This is what I think of as a coal yard. Walthers Cornerstone products
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3015

Almost identical design to Walthers, offered by Heljan. This picture gives another angle showing coal trestle.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/322-610
Almost any small office building could be used with a coal yard, the specific items for coal yard are the bunkers and/or coal dump trestle. Trestle could be built from appropriately size plastic kit trestle bents, wood kit or wood stratchbuild.

Here is a model of a railroad coaling tower. It is designed to be high enough for the coal chute to be above the top of a tender. For a retail coal yard, chute would only need to be high enough to serve a truck.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/120-7200

Here is an inexpensive Bachmann plastic kit for a rr coaling tower. It could be used to model a retail coal yard bunker by lowering legs, and by using two or more kits side by side, turning roof to run lengthwise down length of bunker rather than crosswise.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/160-45211

Multiples of rail coaling towers like this Plasticville O scale kit could be bashed side by side without having to turn the roof. It already is oriented for side-to-side combination. However, this is for O scale/and/or tineplate.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/160-45979

Some rudimentary, or at least, non-mechanical coal bins
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/231-2

manual-operated coal crane
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/254-41

coal chute gate operating mechanism
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/300-3020

coal conveyors, chutes, etc, details
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/405-8606

coal distribution center, could be used for retail operation.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/405-9406

this is called a “gravel worls” but could probably be used as coal dealer.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/555-433

coal bin
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/483-625

small coal dealer with visible operation
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/785-153

[WimKuypers]

Hello JDHog,

Some three years ago, after my retirement, I found myself in a similar position.
Right now I just started building a layout. Before that I collected information from books , magazines and above all the internet.
The decision on a topic was quickly made (iron and steel manufacturing), but the modelling required a lot of study. I spend some 1,5 years on building two Blast furnaces on HO scale ( www.steelrail.nl). Parallel to that I developed a lot of track plans for my 11' x 16' room. A computer program (I used Wintrack) is a great help since it helps you to develope a feel for what is possible in a limited space.

Success, and return if you want more,

Wim Kuypers