Hello Soccerguy,
Welcome to the hobby!!! There are quite a number of links but might I suggest that you "grow" your layout with a number of say foamcore buildings that your kids can swap and change around and thereby changing the "play value" of the layout.
I have a PDF of an article as a freebie that may be of interest to you to show a growing layout trackwise with heaps of operating possibilities in its final form if you are able to PM me (xdford47@yahoo.com.au) and I can send it to you with a number of links to other sites, funnily enough including my own which is a non commercial site!
Cheers from Australia
Trevor
Do you have any items already?
How old and what size are the kids? You need to make it so it is comfortable for them to play/reach/build as well.
Do not be afraid to let them try to do things as well. They can measure for cutting and the like if you take the time to teach them.
Consider joining a local model railroad club. It's a great place to learn what works and what doesn't, and there's instant gratification -- you can run trains right away.
soccerguy73 My children and I are about to build our first train set, with scenery, buildings, and people. I am realizing things that I need to do before I even lay the track. Things like the size and thickness of the board to cut and the height of the table I am going to use. But we would like some input from those of you who have already built a train set, or sets, and now know what else they could have done if they had just planned "better". I know I won't catch everything before I start, but I want to try. Thank you to those who help my children and I build our dream train set!
My children and I are about to build our first train set, with scenery, buildings, and people. I am realizing things that I need to do before I even lay the track. Things like the size and thickness of the board to cut and the height of the table I am going to use. But we would like some input from those of you who have already built a train set, or sets, and now know what else they could have done if they had just planned "better". I know I won't catch everything before I start, but I want to try.
Thank you to those who help my children and I build our dream train set!
Literally just faollow all these videos. This is how I learned to build benchwork and the basic ideas of how to construct a layout:
http://mrr.trains.com/mrvp/free-videos/family-train-layout
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
Athearn makes good stater sets, you can try those.
You can even run the train from the set on your layout once it's been built.
How old are your children? Kids under six can get more fun out of Brio wooden trains (and Brio competitors, Thomas the Tank Engine) than electric trains. And Brio excels at carpet running. No benchwork required. Much of the fun is putting the track together in new and different ways.
If you are going for electric trains, the best for kids is O gauge three rail. I had a Lionel train set when I was five. Great toy, I enjoyed carpet running and pushing the cars around the track by hand for a couple of seasons. Then I got suphisticated enough to run the trains under power. In those days HO was really tiny, and I could not get HO rolling stock on the track until I was ten. O guage is expensive today, much of it is sold to guys my age who are satisfying childhood desires to own big mifty Lionels. One Christmas I saw a guy going of of Charles Ro with four big Lionel sets in his arms. Probably $1000 worth of Lionel.
HO is more economical. Read a couple of issues of Model Railroader. Any company that advertises in MR makes good stuff. Athearn and Bachmann come immediately to mind, and there are others. Code 100 track is somewhat oversized but looks just fine if you paint the rails rust color. Code 70 is trickier to install and kids won't care. Get a layout running on plain DC. DCC can be added later if you want it.
Simplist benchwork is a 4 by 8 table, a sheet of 3/4" plywood. You can put it on a couple of those short two drawer file cabinets instead of making legs. Or you can buy metal foldout legs intended for folding tables. Or find an old table at a yard sale and put the plywood on top.
Plywood is hard to drive track nails into. The little nails often bend when they strike a glue layer in the plywood. Homosote, a gray insulating board made from ground up paper, makes a better train board, track nails go in and hold, it deadens sound. Homosote isn't very strong and will sag over time. It needs either a sheet of plywood (3/8" or 1/2" is enough) or some wood framing made from 1 by 4 pine to stiffen it. No matter what you use, give it a coat of earth tone paint before laying track, that will give the layout a big step toward looking scenicked.
Good luck. Have fun.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
There are several stp-by-step boosk for building a first layout out there. I would suggest starting simple for the first one and learn the basics. If (hopefulyl when) you outgrow that first layout, you will have some basic skills and be ready to tackle a more difficult and/or larger layout. Many (most) of the long-term hobbyists have built many, even dozens, of layouts over out years in the hobby, because we think of something we could have done better, or the available space changes, or some other factor. Some people just like to build layouts - if you've read a recent issue of Model Railroader you may have seen the article on Pelle Søeborg - he's one of those who loves to create the layout. Once he has one finished, it's lots of photos then time to work on the next concept.
So if you've never done this before, but felt is sounded like a great family hobby (it is!), jump in and join the fun. Do some research - the major publications like Model Railroader have some great beginner's guides, including how to take that train set and make a fully sceniced layout out of it. If you haven't yet purchased a train set - read up on some of the options. For little more than the cost of those packaged train sets, you can buy a much better quality loco and a few cars to get started, which will run much smoother and more reliably than the typical train set pieces. Such a thing will go a long way towards maintaining interest. No need to start out with some fancy high end stuff, that will come over time. Keep it simple to start. Those beginner books will often have a plan for a layout - nothign exciting, but it can run trains. For at least the track part - follow the book exactly. When it comes time to add the buildings and other scenery items, you can follow the example or put whatever you want. Getting the track down and trains running reliably is the biggest skill to aquire, so following a guide the first time out increases your chances of success. What sort of scene that train rolls through - that's entirely up to your imagination. The plan was for a city sort of thing and you prefer the country? Make fields, add a barn and a farmhouse, whatever. Or vice-versa, if the plan was farmland but you prefer the more built up look of a town or small city - it's hard to go wrong here, other than maybe buying more structures than can comfortably fit. No problem there though, just save them for use when you expand. A word of warning - Model Railroading is fun and addictive (in a good way), and the railroad will expand to include all available space.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Welcome to the forum.
We might call it a layout, but maybe trainset might be appropriate. Someone will say they taught their 5 year old to run and take care of their brass engines. I didn't have that parenting skill, nor the gentle gene when I was 5, so a 3 or 5 or 7 hundred dollar loco might not be your best first choice.
In that light there are compromises to me made. A circle is perfectly satisfactory for most kids. Your choice and eventually maybe theirs, might lean toward prototypical operation. It's like single malt scotch, at 16 you would rather have Busch beer. It's an acquired taste.
On the prototypical side I recommend this book https://www.amazon.com/Track-Planning-Realistic-Operation-Railroader/dp/0890242275/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1493766354&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=john+armstrong+prototypical
As a newbie you are moderated for ten posts or so. If you are not Borat trying to get your sister a job that goes away. When it comes time to finalize a track plan, ask here first. You will cram too much track in too little space with turnouts and radiuses that are unworkable. DAMHIK
Also pick a time period and location. You don't need to try to model the entire 20th century in the entire US.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Welcome to the forum. You can ask anything here and get some help, from general ideas and suggestions to very specific technical items.
First, I'd suggest it may help us comment if you offer a little more info. How old are the kids? Do you think this will be a hobby that you will pursue for yourself (longer term) as well as the kids involvement?
A key item is how much space do you want to provide for the layout? And what scale (HO?). This interacts with things like track curve radius and types of locos and rolling stock you would want to run. For instance, a 4'x6' layout can do little with 22" HO radius curves but more if including 18" radius. And of course it interacts with track plans you can install. You might want to check out the track plans on the MR website, but lean toward the simpler if you also want to get into the fun of scenery and structures. And you may get some ideas on the following Atlas layout site (you don't have to use Atlas track):
http://www.atlasrr.com/Code100web/index.htm
If you plan to build a typical rectangular layout (as opposed to a straight, narrow switching layout) you will have the issues of layout height for the kids experience as well as the practical issue of a lower layout height making it harder to get underneath to connect wires, etc. If you like I can inquire on the height of the 4'x6' layout we built for my (then maybe 7) that was a good compromise. Do consider a side rail (like a 1x6) to the layout that will preclude derailed locos and rolling stock taking a dive to the floor.
If you are considering a starter train set, others can advise on the various makes that you might consider (with or without track) such as Bachmann, Athearn, Kato, Walthers.
If you have little knowledge on model railroading, there are multiple helps available, including this forum. I like the booklets you will find on the MR Store above, on wiring, layout construction, etc. Others disagree as there is much available on the internet for free, such as the DCC subjects.
You will want to examine your track type options. You can buy the old standard Atlas Snap Track as well as track that has built in elevated roadbed such as Bachmann EZ track or Kato track that hook together. Turnouts can be manually switched if accessible or electrically activated. The extreme is hand laid track (not likely your conclusion) or the intermediate selection of other turnout types and flextrack that allow a custom design.
You will enjoy the journey. You may find yourself drawn to the hobby as well as the neat aspect of the kids involvement. I enjoyed working with my grandson on his layout, which became practice for the 3rd for me. But now he has many interests so it may not be something he continues. That's ok.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Hello all and welcome to the forums !
You can setup a railroad anywhere there is a flat surface! (And for some of us not so flat!)
Some questions:
Answering these questions, along with other questions posted by other forum users, will help you and us guide you in the right direction.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Hi and welcome. A good place to get started is right here at MRR.com.
http://mrr.trains.com/beginners