Son interested in model railroading--need some advice/help

[Anonymous]

I know I'm a couple of months late with my reply (g) but just read the post. I am now retired military, and was stationed in Italy for 3 years, which is where I got into trains. I started with HO, which was a real pain to move. I ended up selling the layout, but keeping the locos and cars. When i arrived at my new locale, I had to start fresh with a new layout and needed to replace some cars that were either damaged or 'missing.' This is fine if you have the money, however I switched to N and had no 'move related' losses to the trains or layout. As with everything in the military, keep your boxes, receipts, and photos for claims time later. the advice for turning the layout into a shipping crate is a good one, but if you notify the HHG office/movers of your special equipment, they can build a shipping crate to meet your needs.

Finally, find out from your son what HE wants. If he gets N and wanted HO, he'll be disappointed, and vis-versa. Rather than buying/building him a layout, take him shopping with you so you can see what attracts him. After years of experimentation, I discovered that, for me, it's all about the layout/scenery/buildings, and the process. The trains are almost an excuse to build.

maxi morgan-no longer haze gray and underway



The advantage of starting now, in Germany, is your access to equipment which would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to import. The few HO pieces i

[bikerraypa]

If you decide to go with N scale, one of the best "starter" layouts around is the Havaphew Central, from the March 2005 issue of Model Railroader. It's 2.5' x 5' and can be done completely with sectional track. I built this layout for an oversized coffee table, and it is a lot of fun.

Here's a link to the track plan:

http://tinyurl.com/95pdl

and if you pick up the 3/05 MR, it has a lot of great scenery from the area of the country that you're doing. The author models the Great Northern

Ray