Starting Out & Looking For Input

[dwiemer]

Hello, and welcome[#welcome]
I agree with all of the above. Certainly make sure you protect that pool table. A article of interest for you would be the one on Maj. Bolton, he is in the military and on this forum and currently in Iraq. This article was in Classic Toy Trains a few months ago, October I think. Anyway, it shows his layout and gives great insight to what can be done with fastrack and also great scenery without the artistic touch. Again, I agree with what is listed above and I also think that you have made the right steps by being a part of this community. They will answer all questions. I would also read Classic Toy Trains as they have many interesting articles and you can get a feel for what is out there and how to advance in the hobby. One last thing, I would stay away from the coal loaders etc. while your layout stays on the pool table as the coal gets everywhere and may cause problems with the pool table.
Good Luck,
Dennis

[Buckeye Riveter]

[#welcome] to the CTT forum.

First I want to make two assumptions:

1. You don't want to do any type of damage to the pool table. (I know I wouldn't)
2. Sometime you want to move the train board so you can play pool.

Okay, with those two things in mind, I would suggest you look at what I call, bed slat benchwork, with the mattres being 2" foam. In the back of the book, Model Railroad Benchwork by Lynn Wescott, there is a complete description of the system.

This system would have the folowing advantages.
1. You could play pool
2. Easily padded not to damage table.
3. Wires can be duct tapped to the bottom of the foam.
4. The layout could overhang the pool table.
5. In the future legs could be added.
6. It could be designed as "twin" beds such that it could store easier.

My favorite trackside accessories, the Burning Switch Tower and the Musical Hobo Tower by Lionel.

[IronHoarse]

Welcome to the forum and the hobby. All good information listed above so I will not repeat it. One other online source is Justrains. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the forum Wolvie! I also suggest that you build up the plywood base with some type of joist system, this would keep the wires under the layout and you could use them to connect the plywood together. Since you are going to place this on a pool table I assume you would want to be able to lift it off when not in use? I had the same type of idea for a garage layout and made my table as light as possible to be leaned against a wall, well that happened only once, and now it is too large to move, so be forewarned! Use something as light as possible like 2x3’s spaced 2’ apart, maybe ½” plywood and then you would definitely want to top that off with a sound deadening material as FasTrack can be a little loud directly on plywood. ½” hi density foam board works well for the top layer, accepts latex paint well and is pretty light. Cap the perimeter with a 1x4 and two people should still be able to pick it up. Have fun!

[pbjwilson]

Welcome aboard Wolvie.

I'm just going to hop right in with a few random thoughts.

I like multiple trains running on seperate loops at the same time. So around your track set-up that you have now you could run a seperate loop around the perimeter of your table.

Must have accessories in my opinion - Automatic gateman, crossing gates(the more the better),Milk car and platform, Rotating beacon, some sort of bridge even if its flat on the train table.


This is what it looks like when the kids and I run trains.

Cars I love - any aquarium cars, satalite launcher.T.V. and Radar cars, operating poultry car w/Foghorn Leghorn, Bobbing girrafe, rhino, etc. cars.

Another fun thing to put on a layout are the trolleycars that reverse direction when they hit a bumper. All you need is a long straight section of track with bumpers at either end.

A simple thing to use to cover your plywood is some indoor/outdoor carpeting.
Simple premade styrofoam tunnels, and premade trees add alot without getting into scenery made from plaster and other messy stuff.

Above all buy, collect, and run the stuff you like. Everyone has there own opinions and preferences. Good-luck and keep us posted.

[mpzpw3]

Wow! Welcome!! Glad that you are enjoying your trains! Scenery is one of my favorite parts of the hobby, but by no means the most important. I would like to put some input into the questions you asked.
1. You can just paint the plywood if you want. Felt in the color of your preference is another alternative. Indoor-outdoor carpeting also works, and quiets the noise level.
2. You should probably use fasteners to join the plywood, due to vibration. I would suggest some "clasp locks", such as used on a dining room table, to hold them together.
3. The Lionel gantry crane is pretty neat. The icing station, barrel loader, milk and cattle cars are fun accessories, but require the "the human hand" to reset them. I've found that lighted accessories such as stations, buildings, street lamps and floodlight towers really enhance a layout, and require little work to get going.
4. Same as 3.
5. They are all good. All the manufactures make them, and they are well painted. For awhile Lionel wasn't painting their versions, which look kinda cheesy, but all current production items look pretty good.
6. Depends on what you want to do. Most operating cars require the operator to reload them. A modern or postwar horse car is a great "hands-off" operating car.
7. Charles Ro., Ma&Pa junction, Trainworld, etc. There are many on-line dealers, and have never had a problem with any of them. Pick up a toy train magazine, and find what interests you. The more you read, the better informed you are.

[Roger Bielen]

Welcome to the forum and the great hobby of trains.

Since you've already started with a conventional control set we'll leave discussion of command control systems to a later date.

Before setting the plywood you might want to decide if you want your wires running across the top or hidden underneath. If hidden, you could make up a frame , 2X4 or 1X? to hold the board up over the table and only cushion the contact areas of the frame. There are a number of options for a covering, some folks have used just the foam insulation board without plywood as the table. Two other options with the plywood are foam, or the fiber, insulation boards.

For joining. If you use the frame concept you could make your joints over the supports. There are also metal clips that are used when sheeting a roof with plywood.

With the enormous choice of accessories your best bet is to decide on a theme and try to find items that fit in, i.e. coal loaders, log dumps, loaders, etc.

As to rolling stock. What many do is select a favorite railroad and try to find cars for that line. A couple of the standard operating cars are: milk car; horse, or cattle, corral and cars; operating coal car, etc.. If you lean to the whimsical there are a number of fun cars out there. Go to a local train show, or hobby shop, and see what interests you.

For on line shopping I use the CTT advertisers for new items and hit eBay for older items. There are also other auction sites that I'm sure others will bring up.

When I got back into the hobby I found the most important source of info. and ideas were the mags. Do some reading, get back issues at the library, and become familiar with what can be done and how you want to proceed.

Again welcome to the "club" and please don't hesitate to ask questions as you get further into things.

[Anonymous]

Hello all!

I have been reading as much as I could on this site for about 3 weeks now. The amount of information is absolutely staggering! Congratulations on keeping this place stocked up with so much valuable information!

I am very new to this hobby. Aside from some cheap HO toys from the late 70’s, I have virtually no experience with model trains. I decided that I would start off slow (money has final say over enthusiasm…) and ease my way into the fun.

Here is some background…

I have just purchased the Lionel Polar Express set. My reasons were that I liked the Berkshire engine that came with it, the set contents seemed to be reasonably well made and my nieces and nephews insisted that I buy the train from their favorite movie (sigh). I also reasoned that since the engine seemed to be a lot better than the other engines in this sets price range; I could use it for other purposes. The best part is, it will grace the underside of my tree for many years to come.

I have zero experience in building scenery and my artistic talents are just slightly lower than that of a caveman scrawling on a cave wall with a rock. So anything added to a layout will either have to be pre-made or will have to wait. This is fine by me as I want to concentrate on running the trains and gradually work out what I want the layout to look like.

As I said, I want to focus on running the trains and playing with switches, accessories and other assorted “bells and whistles” (come to think of it, this is the first time that phrase could take on a literal meaning…but I digress…).

FasTrack is an absolute must for me. It’s easy to use, I don’t have to build under it, it can be taken down and setup quickly (important since the area I’m working with cannot support a permanent layout) and it looks great. I already purchased some additional track sections (LH & RH 036 Manual switches (I think I saw you guys call them “turnouts”…), 10 sections of 10-inch straight and 2 030 curved sections). This gives me a large inner passing circle layout to start with (about 8’x4’).

The CW80 seems to do everything I need it to do. Eventually (but not now) I will probably look to upgrade to the TMCC but since I have one train and it doesn’t have any special features that the TMCC can unlock…it will remain a “sometime later” purchase.

After the tree is down, I will look to use a temporary layout made up of 3 sheets of plywood (2 3x5 and 1 4x5, with a foam underside for protection) on top of my pool table. I estimate that since it is a regulation size table, with just a little overhang I will have about 10’x5’ to work with. Stability of the table isn’t an issue since it is a regulation size Olehausen that weighs over 2,000 lbs.

Recreating &/or mimicking real-life trains or operations is not what I am interested in. I’m just looking to have fun with the trains and the gadgets. The only caveat is I like (no I LOVE) the look of steam engines and would like to keep the items in the 1910 to 1940 era.

OK, here are my questions (and please have fun with them!):

1) What should I use to cover the plywood?
2) What should I use to join the plywood (if I even need to…)?
3) What are your favorite 0-gauge trackside accessories?
4) What are your favorite 0-gauge operating accessories?
5) What are your favorite 0-gauge (“Traditional Size”) freight rolling stock?
6) What are your favorite 0-gauge (“Traditional Size”) operating cars?
7) What are your favorite on-line shopping sites?

Any and all feedback is appreciated! Thanks in advance for you help!