New to HO?

[Anonymous]

If you with with 5x9, you'll have room for 26" curves. I do suggest putting some plastic skirting around the edges, though. If a train derails on a curve, it'll take a nose dive to the floor.

[AntonioFP45]

O.K, Brian.

If I'm not mistaken a Ping Pong table is 5x9 so you could use 22" radius.

For locomotives and freight cars:

Athearns are excellent for starting out. They're tough, rugged and can take punishment. I still have a couple of them from the 1970s. In fact, one of them, a six axle SD9, has never been serviced or cleaned! (Yes, shame on me!) The old girl will still pull a heavy load.

For you and your son, I would suggest getting a GP38-2 or GP50. They retail at $47, but you can get them much cheaper at on-line discount hobby shops or even EBay. I've dealt with Model Trains Stuff. Some of the guys here can chime in with some reputable on line stores.

AVOID: HOBBY CIRCLE though!!!!! Cheap prices, but many customer complaints!

LifeLike Proto 2000 locomotives, IMHO, are nice but I wouldn't recommend them for a young child as these units have body detailing that could easily break off in "energetic hands".

For freight cars Athearn and MDC kits are easy to put together. Athearn makes Ready-to-Roll cars that you take out of the box and put on the track, however, these are more expensive. As I stated above, if you want passenger service consider the Model Power cars, which are also available in Amtrak. Check out the Bachmann "Spectrum" F40 diesel. Decent looking unit with working strobe lights on top of the cab.

Hope this helps!

[challenger3802]

My new layouts got flex track all over it, none of the curves would work with set track components. All I had to do was hook up to the turnouts and I was away! Ballasting is the next great fun bit - the turnouts are real tricky.

Ian

[Jetrock]

Foam on top of a ping-pong table will allow you to create scenery that runs beneath the level of the track--either now or in the future--as well as potentially preserving the surface of the ping-pong table in case you ever decide ping-pong is more important than trains. The only problem with a ping-pong table is that it might be too wide to easily reach things in the center of the layout--if the center of the layout is just scenery, this is less of a problem.

The nice thing about Atlas True-Track is that it is essentially Atlas Snap-Track pieces snapped into a formed-plastic "ballast" that can be easily removed. It thus provides a nice link between the world of pre-formed plastic ballast and snap-track/flex-track.

Flex track is very easy to cut--I'd recommend investing $12 or so in a Xuron track-cutting tool--then it's no more complex than cutting a stiff piece of wire. You can also use a razor saw (messier and takes time, but precise) or a Dremel moto-tool (fast, but WEAR EYE PROTECTION!)

Roadbed comes in several forms--cork can be purchased as standard pieces of lengths of straight cork that can be cut up the middle and formed to whatever shape--it's fairly flexible, especially if you soak it in water for a while. There are also other roadbed types available: two popular ones are AMI Instant Roadbed, essentially a strip of black gooey plastic that is unrolled and stuck to the layout, and Woodland Scenics foam roadbed, which is like cork but is a flexible foam material.

Personally I prefer the Woodland Scenics foam--it's more flexible, deadens sound better and isn't sticky and messy like the AMI Instant Roadbed. But your mileage may vary. Some piecing and filling in the gaps is needed, but not that much.

Oh yeah: If your son really wants Thomas, you can run an HO "Thomas" set on any layout. Get a good well-made engine and rolling stock to last, and then get a "Thomas" set that he can scoot around until he decides he wants something more advanced.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all. All input is greatly appreciated. I am looking at a simple layout for my son (5 yrs old) and I that we will be able to expand on in the future. I was looking at one of the layouts on the following web page.

http://www.thortrains.net/marx/kdlayhoa.html

They had suggested Atlas True Track, so that was what I was going to give a try. As far as the loco and cars, for starters I was just going to get 2-3 cars with a caboose. He thinks he needs Thomas the Train, but all of those sets were a plain oval or circle. I thought this would be a little more interesting and possibly a little more of a challenge.

I guess I would like a diesel loco that will last a while, and not something "cheap". There are no local hobby shops in my area, the closest one is approximately 2 hrs away. So I am sure I will be doing a lot of looking and purchasing over the internet.

So I really appreciate all of the input.

I have a ping-pong table just sitting around, not being used much, maybe I will transform that into my benchwork. If I use the ping-pong table, should I use foam or create a table from plywood to set on top of the ping-pong table?

How difficult is the flex track to cut to length and/or insert turnouts? With flex track, is using cork sometimes hard to match the layout of the track? It seems that most cork that I found were all standard pieces, straight, turnout, 18"R, etc. Is there a lot of piecing and filling in the gaps required?

Thanks

[AntonioFP45]

[#welcome][#welcome][#welcome][#welcome]

Hello Brian and Welcome Aboard!

I would suggest the Atlas True Track as it looks realistic and later if you wi***o go to more advanced track plans, it can actually be taken off the roadbed and used separtely.

Re: 18 Radius.....................
Four axle diesels and small steamers usually negotiate trains with no problems on these curves. However, some of the larger six axle HO diesels and passenger cars could derail on 18" radius as the couplers are forced beyond their normal swing range, especially with body mounted couplers. A friend of mine installed extended couplers on his Genesis six axle locomotives to allow for the swing, but it looks a little unrealistic.

If you have the space, consider making your layout at least 1 foot wider so you can actually use 22" radius, which would allow the larger equipment and look better overall. You can add two 1"x 6" boards, one along each of the 8 foot long sides.

If you plan to run passenger trains, the Walther's cars are nice but don't seem to take kindly to 18 radius. Model Power has streamlined "shorty" cars that look nice and come with interiors.

Tell us about your track plan, types of trains you want to run, locomotives and cars you own or are considering to buy and we could be of much more help!

Peace out! [:D][;)]

[SpaceMouse]

I just put together a 4 x 8 track with EZ track. Spent a whole day filing the turnouts to make them operate smoothly. One I couldn't get to work at slow or high speeds. You had to come in within about a 5% margin.

My days with EZ track systems is over. My next will be flex and cork.

[Anonymous]

Yup, few steamers will make an 18' radius, I personally have had athearn 12 wheel diesels complain about an 18 also. No experience with the track, but as a general rule anything that says Atlas or Kato will be better than anything that says Bachmann. If you haven't gotten your layout built yet, and you have the room for it, go with a 5x9 (ping pong table) you will get much larger radii which will look better with longer cars, and allow you to run nearly any kind of loco.

Hope this helps,
Greg

[Anonymous]

Depending on what you intend to do with the track on your layout, you may wi***o consider what many people are using, which is flex track on a cork or similar roadbed. It takes longer to lay down, but also allows trains to run more smoothly when done properly. If you are planning to change your layout frequently, the "roadbed" track such as EZ track can be an attractive option. I picked up a Kato Unitrack set recently because it was my intention to set it up and take it down frequently, which is not possible with flex track and cork. If you have a Local hobby shop nearby, you can ask them about the various options and the benefits and detriments of each. They should be willing to work with you to show you how each one works and how each is installed. Of course, they would be even more likely to do so if you support them with your purchases (or at least some of your purchases).

As for the radius of the track, yes there are a lot of limitations to using 18" radius track. Depending on the type of train you intend to run, you may either not be able to run it, or you may find that the train looks very strange running on 18" radius. Larger locomotives and many passenger cars look very out-of-place on tight radius turns, if they run on them at all. Generally, the larger the radius of the turn, the more realistic the appearance will be, at least until you get up to about 40". After that, you pretty much are true to scale for any turn. As for what you can run on 18" radius, smaller locomotives and rolling stock seems to be the answer. Most diesel switchers and small freight locomotives will work OK on 18" radius (e.g. GP35, GP 40, etc., SW7, F3, F7 and the like) as well as small steam locomotives (4-6-0, 4-6-2, 0-6-0, etc.) Most articulated steam locomotives will not work, or at least will not work well. I hope this info helps.

Opinions vary, but the information that people give on this forum seems to be well founded on personal experiences and is very helpful when you have questions. You came to the right place to find your answer! Happy railroading.

[Anonymous]

I am looking at Bachmann EZ track and Atlas True Track. Any suggestions one way or the other as to which one is better. Looking at a 4' x 8' layout.

Also, am planning on using 18" radius. Any limitations on locomotive size for the turns?

Thanks.