Begining a new hobbie

[Prfctgntlmn]

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking about trying my hand at model railroading and have little idea of where to start, should I buy a kit and go from there or do i just get a bunch of parts and get creative? I'm very mechanicaly inclined and have a good imagination. I also wonder how scenes ar recreated so acuratly? I would assume through extensive research and old photos?

Thanks,

Ron White

[HHPATH56]

Go to your model railroad hobby shop and purchase several paperback books on creating a model railroad. The scale to choose depends on the area available. HO scale is the most popular. Choose an era, eg. 1950-1970 transition from steam to diesel is very popular. Location is important. I chose the mountainous region of Pennsylvania for coal and lumber,and iron and steel industries.Do you want a harbor or desert? "Dream-Plan-Build" is the sequence. If you are serious about the hobby, it is well to start with DCC (Digital-Command-Control) I have 24'x24' garage loft dedicated to my (around the room). model railroad layout, which was constructed in four phases over eight years. Start small,with plans to expand (if possible. Get a layout plan that will satisfy your desires for era,location, industries,etc. I use 2"x4" legs and a 5/8"plywood top surface. Cross girders and supports are necessary. Many modelers use 2" insulation board on top of the plywood. I build my mountsains from plywood arcs, screen wire, plastic cloth,covered with Sculptmold or Hydrocal plaster, then spray painted. For a forest canopy, I fabricate hundreds of deciduous trees from stained wooden skewers, spray painted furnace filter circles,and spray adhesive applied I then sprinkle on Woodland Scenic varied colored turf. Purchase, DCC Equipped locomotives, and rolling stock with KADEE magnetic couplers. Get busy, but go to model railroad flea markets, or E-Bay to purchase road vehicles, and structures. Nuff said for now. Bob Hahn Join a model railroad club, if one is available in your area.

[cowman]

Welcome to the forums.

I agree with the above post, that you should do some reading to learn about the hobby before you start to buy and build.  It will save you from backtracking.  A couple of books on benchwork, scenery, tracklaying and wiring would answer some of your questions and create a lot more questions for you to ask here.  In most cases there are no right or wrong way to do things, just what suits you best.  Keep reading the forums, they are a great place to learn also.

There are lists we each make up of Givens and Druthers.  Givens are such things as space available, obstructions in that space, does it need to be able to be moved at some point in its life, a list of things you can't change very easily.  Druthers are the things you would like.  You can prioritize these if you want.  Such things as era, location, continuous running, switching, operatons are the things that come to mind.

Since it seems you haven't build a model rr before, I would suggest starting with something small and see how you like it.  If you plan it right you can build your first part so that it can be expanded if you find you like what you are doing.  Doing and redoing is a part of the hobby that even the most experienced folks do.

Do a little reading, ask lots more questions and most of all...

Have fun,

[IRONROOSTER]

If the model building intrigues you, by all means get a kit and build.  If running trains is what you're interested in then you should pick a scale and buy an engine, cars, track, and power pack to get started.

If you can, find a train show in your area that has operating layouts in different scales - talk to the guys about the hobby and why they like their scale.  Most of us build a layout for running trains and so pick one scale to work in.  Some work in 2 scales.

Visit a local hobby shop that carries trains and talk to the folks there.

Currently, the scales with commercial support from smallest to largest are Z, N, HO, S, O, and G.  HO has the widest selection, but all of them have enough stuff to build an operating model railroad layout.

In general the smaller scales have a higher scenery to track ratio and are good for scenic settings.  The larger scales have more up close to the train feeling and are good for lots of detailing.  The middle scales combine some of each.

Enjoy

Paul

[NeO6874]

pretty much got it right there...

There are a million and one ways to get from point A. to point B.  though I think that a vast majority of people will agree (or at least not dispute too vehemently) with the below...

• "Dream --> Plan --> Build" as has already been mentioned.  But I'm going to go a step further in the explanation.
  • "Dream" --> come up with what you _want_ to see.  This won't necessarily be what you can do *RIGHT NOW* (money, time, etc concerns), but what you think of the "Ideal" model layout.  Personally, my ideal layout will involve horseshoe curve, Altoona PA, Belpaire Fireboxes, and not a diesel for another 10 years (That is, the Pennsylvania Railroad sometime in the late '30s in Northeastern PA... and will require massive space).  It will most likely be, as tomikawatt (aka "Chuck, modelling central Japan in September 1964") would put it, "my last in this lifetime" layout.  That's far, FAR in my future... but something to shoot for.
  • "Plan" --> OK, so now we've got an idea of where & when we want to have the layout set, and most likely the road name.  Now it's time to see what we can really do.  Spacemouse (aka Chip... who i've not seen on the forums in some time ) has a brilliant beginner's guide here.  It takes a lot of the lessons from the "greats" (Linn Wescott, John Allen) and puts them in one place.  The BIGGEST source of help here is actually writing down your own personal list of givens (stuff you're stuck with... like room size/configuration) & druthers (stuff you want to see on your layout).  For example, a few of my givens and druthers are below:
    • (G) Room is 10 x 14. 
    • (G) I can only have an 18" shelf layout along three walls, and it can't (permanently) block the door or window in the room.
    • (D) I want an engine servicing facility, a small town with passenger station, and a rail yard.
  • "Plan" (cot'd) --> Take this list of givens and druthers, and work the best trackplan you can come up with onto your allowed space incorporating as many druthers as you can.  Many people here use "cad" programs, like xtrkCAD or Atlas RTS software -- both are great; and I imagine that there are still a fair number of people who use pencil and graph paper.  Either way works .  Then post it here and ask for advice.  Maybe that fifth industry won't work where you put it, or you didn't see that really nasty S-curve when you drew out the plan.  Alternatively, you could be looking at you 9x11 room and saying to yourself "I can only fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood in here" -- the guys will help point out alternative benchwork schemes that'll maximize your railroading for that room.
  • "Build" --> OK, we've worked out all the kinks (at least on paper).  Now we're at the point where we can start putting up the benchwork.  This is critical -- maybe not so much as what goes into your house, but still extremely important.  You don't want to get cheap/bad lumber and have to rip out half of the section you completed last weekend because it warped (cue chuck's vote for structural steel ). Additionally, you're going to be installing your wiring, track, and everything else at this point. 

Now, if you want to get running *RIGHT NOW* just to get the feel for railroading and not start on a basement empire before taking a test drive, I'd recommend putting yourself together a set.  NOTE -- I'm not saying go to your local hobby shop (AKA LHS) and picking out a train set that you like the looks of, but rather to "make your own set".  you'll minimally need the below:

• Locomotive
  • a small steamer (x-6-x) or diesel (4-wheel trucks) depending on your "dream" above.  You don't want to get something you're never going to use after a couple of months (note a change in prototype interest as time goes on happens -- I'm just saying don't buy a steamer if your "dream" is a layout set in 1990, or alternatively a diesel if your dream is 1919)
• power pack (DC or DCC)
  • DCC is the new tech.  it lets you "run the locomotive" rather than "run the track".  it's fairly easy once you get the hang of it, and a basic (eg Bachmann) set will cost about $75 (Bachmann).  you can get more featured "starter" DCC systems for about $200 (NCE PowerCab or Digitrax Zephyr).
  • DC is "old" tech.  It's been used solidly (and reliably) for DECADES.  a decent DC pack will set you back $40-$50.
  • NOTE -- your locomotive will need to be DCC equipped if you plan to go that route (plain DC locomotives WILL NOT WORK on many DCC systems, there are exceptions, but we're keeping this simple for now).  most DCC locomotives will work either on DC or DCC... but they work better on DCC
• track --> quick 'n dirty solution is Bachmann EZ-track.  It is simple sectional track, with a plastic base (looks sort of like ballast) that holds it better than simple sectional track joiners.  this'll let you set up a temporary oval just to get things running as you're still in the planning & early building stages.  go with the GREY roadbed (NS rail) instead of the black (steel rail).  Also get the largest curves you can (I think they're 22" radius, one pack makes 1/4 of a circle)
• cars --> your new shiny locomotive has to pull something!  this is all up to you insofar as which roads you want to buy (though keep era in mind though -- you won't see 89' autoracks in 1919).  I'd say get a few cheap kits (eg Athearn blue box, or MDC/Roundhouse) before going for the expensive ones (Branchline, Red Caboose, Proto 2000) since the expensive ones usually need more specialised tools that you won't have on hand right away (the cheaper ones usually only need CA (superglue) and a sharp X-acto knife).

[galaxy]

Are you THE Ron White, Ron "Tater Salad" WHite THE Comedian of the Jeff Foxworthy clan? {LOL}

Well you have a series of well thought out answers to your query. ne07864 pretty covered every thought I had.

When I jumped back into the hobby about 4 years ago I went with the "new fangled" thing called DCC DIgital command control.. It controls the individual locos rather than controling track current via insulated blocks the way old fashioned DC did. THEre will be staunch proponents for both. I choose the quick and easy Bachmann EZ COmmand DCC system as it suited my needs for my small layout. 2 wires connected to the track and I powered a small layout with two interconnected loops, a 4 spur yard facility and a 2 spur engine service storage yard facility and I can easily control 2 locos all on the same 2 wires even in opposite directions with no insulated blocks, or have one going reverse while the other going forward.I can move up to a more expensive DCC system when I get a bigger layout. If you like the idea of DCC control, I'd go that way from the beginning. Be sure then to only buy DCC equiped locos {not the cheap DC only ones} unless you are adept at electronics and can hard wire a DCC Decoder into your loco. If you like the idea of running two or three engines together pulling a long train {"MU'D" togethered} like real trains, DCC is easier to speed match locos than trying to get two like matched DC locos to pull without pulling each other off the tracks.

You did ask how scenes are created so acurately. SOme are from research and old potos. Some are from "basics" that apply generally to railroading thoughout time. Some are based on areas around the modeler. Some are pure imagination  of the builder.

One other thing you will need to decide is:

DO you want to acurately portray part of a real railroad {prototyping}, DO you want to loosely base on a prototype real rairoad and do it your way {proto-lancing}, or do you want to create your own totally new railroad and do as you wanna? {freelancing}. I for example, "proto-lance" the B&O, that is I loosely base my Railroad on the B&O but do it my way.

I would suggest going to the very top of this site to the "resources" button at the very top right and use the pull down menu to find train shows in your area that you can go to. sometimes you can pick up used stuff cheap there to start to "play with". Many will swear by good buys at ebay, others will swear to the evils of ebay.

here is a place you might want to check out for cheap prices:

wholesaletrains.com

trainworldonline.com

internethobbies.com

for tools :  micromark.com

 

or check out :  walthers.com  -it is the "bible of model RR stuff.

Also check out MRRing's Kalmbach book section here on the site to see what books on MRRIng you might need to get started.

Also don't be afraid to ask questions here, there is a wealth of knowlege and experience here! DO a "search our community" at the right side margin  for certain key words such as "ballast" in the "general forum" section and you will get a whole bunch of threads on the subject!

Have fun! It's a hobby not a job!

 

[Prfctgntlmn]

Thanks for all the input, I'm going to head out to the hobbie store and look for some books today. Who knows you may see me sometime in the future in the pages of this great mag.....

oh and by the way.....I'm not "THE Tater" Ron White, I do however live in the town he was busted in a few years back

[Eric97123]

If you go HO and more modernish,  I would recommend Atlas Trainman Trainset . It runs about $100 and comes with a good engine, 4 cars, some track and power pack.  You can get your feel for how you want to model, big or small, dcc or dc. The engines is easily converted to DCC (which I recommend sooner than later) and the power pack can be used to power turnout switches and scenery lights.  And if you find MRR is not your cup of tea or if you want to keep simple, you are out only $100 instead of thousands.  I got a trainman set for Christmas last year and now my garage is the trainroom with small fleet of locos and about 60 cars of various rolling stock.