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Well, this is my first post, and obviously I am very new to model railroading. My first attempt was short lived and a long time ago as an 9 year old. I spent more than 9 hours yesterday looking through every website I could find to get information on how to start up, and I was hoping to get a little more help from this site. I know that I want to use HO scale, and I understand that there are a few different guages of track that HO uses. I am trying to figure out why, and which are best. I also have noticed that there are many types of engines that fit two types, steam and diesel, but I am not sure what the different major specs for each are to look for, and what they mean. I looked around this forum briefly as well, to find out specific information. There are still many other questions that I have, but I first need to find out three things: 1) Track - What are the different types of track guages for HO scale? Which is the most common, and what are the sizes for the guages? 2) Locomotives - What are major specs to look for in an engine? What specs are most important to look for, especially for a real beginner like myself? What are the major differences between steam and diesel engines? (Are there others?) Is there any difference in power in the different engines for either type, or is it all in the power pack? 3) Power Packs - How do you pick a power pack? I want to run two to three locomotives with about 5 cars apiece. Are there fundamentaly different types of power packs, and if so what? If they are all fundamentally the same, what specs to you consider when choosing one? Finally, if there is anything major that I am not asking, that I should be...let me know. And if I have any jargon wrong correct me. I realize that I have a lot of questions, and you may tire of seeing yet another "how do I get started thread", but this seems like a great repository of information, and that is what I need right now. I would appreciate any and all information, and thank you ahead of time.[:)]
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