first time

[Anonymous]

I' ve been an avid model railroader for some time now and spent many, many hours watching my uncle run trains on his layout , but now I' m getting a little tried of that and want to start my own railroad, any tips for me ???

[Dayliner]

Why don't you start by asking your uncle to help you build a simple layout of your own? Don't ask him to do it all for you, mind you, but ask for suggestions and help. Most model railroaders are delighted to introduce others to the hobby, and it might be an opportunity for your uncle to get involved with a different scale, prototype, or construction technique(s) from those he has used on his present layout.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[simon1966]

Welcome to the forum.

You are at that great point in the hobby when anything is possible. What you need to do, is to start and make some decisions that will gradually define what you want in a layout. I think that it would be a good idea to figure out what space you have available for the layout. This will lead to decisions about scale, type of layout etc. You might also want to think about how permanent the layout will be. If you are younger and may be moving to college etc, you may not want build something too permanent. Anyway, I would make the space and location decisions quickly and then a lot can flow from there.

[davekelly]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eamarko

I' ve been an avid model railroader for some time now and spent many, many hours watching my uncle run trains on his layout , but now I' m getting a little tried of that and want to start my own railroad, any tips for me ???

How about running your own trains on his layout? Perhaps a Athearn engine and some athearn bb or accurail cars.

[rogerhensley]

Well, if you are looking for advice on building your own layout, you can always visit the NMRA 'Introduction to Model Railroading' site at: http://www.nmra.org/beginner/

In any case, welcome to the hobby!

[tstage]

eamarko,

Indeed - Welcome to the forum! Good to have you aboard! [:)]

I like the advice that Dayliner gave you. I don't know how often you have a chance to see your uncle but he might be a good resource for ideas and bouncing ideas off of for your layout. Talk to your mom and dad about what you'd like to do and see if they might have any suggestions for you.

Do you have a basement? Is there a spare room that you can put a 4 x 8' set of plywood or extruded foam up in. Don't forget your good 'ol neighborhood library. They are a good resource of books on model railroading of all sizes. eamarko, what scale are you interested in?

Save your $$$ and buy good quality locomotives. An iffy or jerky-running locomotive will just lead you to more frustration than fun. You can find some really good deals if you poke around on the Internet. If you are interested in knowing, I can tell you of one in particular - but I need to know what scale you are wanting to run. For the most bang for your buck, I might suggest HO or N.

eamarko, keep us informed on what happens. [:)]

Tom

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the helpful advice !!! I can' t wait to start building!