Hey y'all,
New to the forum, but been a MR reader for quite some time. I grew up around the hobby shop my grandparents owned (now closed, HL Childs & Son in Northampton, MA) and had a nice little 8x4 HO layout I put together myself quite some time ago. The store closed, I eventually moved away for college, and while I was gone the family needed the space, so the equipment, track, cars, etc was all packed up in boxes. Got out of school, apartment-hopped for a few years and finally settled into a house with enough room to put together a slightly larger layout (I figure I have the space for about an 8x10 area)
I've been out of model railroading now for almost 10 years and really want to get back into it. I have an extensive mish-mash of track (mostly Atlas code 100), cars and such from the 90s, as well as a metric ton of Woodland Scenics stuff.
Aside from the MR stuff, where else should I be looking for ideas, and how outdated exactly is all of my stuff now?
GoFastTurnLeft Hey y'all, New to the forum, but been a MR reader for quite some time. I grew up around the hobby shop my grandparents owned (now closed, HL Childs & Son in Northampton, MA) and had a nice little 8x4 HO layout I put together myself quite some time ago. The store closed, I eventually moved away for college, and while I was gone the family needed the space, so the equipment, track, cars, etc was all packed up in boxes. Got out of school, apartment-hopped for a few years and finally settled into a house with enough room to put together a slightly larger layout (I figure I have the space for about an 8x10 area) I've been out of model railroading now for almost 10 years and really want to get back into it. I have an extensive mish-mash of track (mostly Atlas code 100), cars and such from the 90s, as well as a metric ton of Woodland Scenics stuff. Aside from the MR stuff, where else should I be looking for ideas, and how outdated exactly is all of my stuff now?
None of your stuff is really outdated. It may not be state of the art but you'll find that most of it will run if you give some attention, clean and service it. Once you set up a layout you can always go in for newer stuff if you want, but no one will force you too.
I came to the hobby myself in June of 2008 after a 21 year hiatus. I won't bore you with the details but none of my collection of locos would run and thus all but three were retired as they weren't worth fixing up. The 3 that run were returned to running order by a fellow model railroad club member who told me that the only reason they are still running is that they are N-scale Minitrix units. They were state of the art in the late 1970s/early 1980s when I got them but they are far from it today.
I bought new stuff and had them converted to DCC to which I have become addicted. You don't have to do that right away if at all because DC is stll a very viable option.
As for where to find ou more, I would suggest finding model railroad club in your area and joining it. You'll find out a lot more information there than you wil from any model railroad magazine. That doesn't mean you need to give up on ythe model railroad press because you shouldn't. You can atill get lots of informaion there too. Just realize that most of what gets printed will show you what guys with unlimited funds are able to create.
Irv
"Track Planning for Realistic Operation" by John Armstrong is a must read before you start building a layout. Rolling stock from the 1990's will still roll just fine in the 21st century, and can also serve as the basis for kit bashing. Atlas code 100 track is still made, and still quite reliable. If you brush paint the sides of the rails rust brown, the rail will look as small as code 83.
You should look into using 2 inch foamboard on a new layout.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
dstarr You should look into using 2 inch foamboard on a new layout.
What are the advantages to using foamboard, and are there any good tutorials online for doing that kind of thing?
MR did an "especially for beginners" series back in 1991...which featured a 4x8 layout built from foam. I think that series of articles has since been reprinted into a book.
Two inch foam board. It's as cheap or cheaper than plywood. I got mine as free leftovers from a home remodeling project so I don't exactly know the price, but with the price of plywood in the stratosphere. foam has gotta be more economical.
It's plenty strong enough to hold up track, trains, scenery, anything EXCEPT the model railroader himself. It's light. You can carve it into terrain shapes with a steak knife, culverts, brooks, ditches can be carved into the stuff. For hills and mountains, glue on pieces of foamboard cut into interesting shapes. It takes paint, ground foam, HO scale grass, trees and shrubs. It's light and a good sound deadener. It cuts and shapes with ordinary wood working tools. It's easier than the traditional plaster over screen wire, or paper mache scenery.
Be aware that foam doesn't hold fasteners. You have to glue down roadbed, track, switch machines, under table wire holders, everything. On my layout I glued home made soft pine roadbed to the foam and nailed the flex track to the pine. Cork roadbed doesn;t hold track nails very well and you will have to use adhesives to lay flextack over cork. Or you can carve the foam into a roadbed shape and stick the track right down on the foam. I didn;t do that 'cause it looked too tricky but others have.
GoFastTurnLefthow outdated exactly is all of my stuff now?
Is this a home that you rent, or are in the process of buying and where you plan to reside for the future.? In other words, can you drill holes and use screws in the walls, floor and ceiling. Is it possible to create a C or E shaped layout ? Or are you considering an 8'x10' island with a duck-under center access. Personally, I prefer a 5/8" plywood top surface, with 2"x4" stud support legs, since ocassionally, I have to crawl on the surface. I use reinforced arched plywood, covered with heavy wire screening, plaster clothe and Hydrocal plaster to create mountains with multitrack tunnels, but lift out mountains created with 2" foam board may be cheaper, and has the advantage of planting and removing trees with sharpened stained wooden skewer trunks. Do you plan to go for DCC. It is expensive to get into, but is the way of the future, and requires much less wiring. I think that a $100 investment in Joe Fugate's 5 video series, is well worth the investment.. Bob Hahn
It's a house I own. I'm open to ideas, the room is about 12 x 12, and I do need room for a computer (my other hobby, online racing), but otherwise have my run of it.
I haven't put much thought into the DCC thing yet. I've got a bunch of DC power supplies already. Is there that much gain going that way? DCC was pretty much brand new when I "got out" of it the first time.
Welcome to the forums and back to model railroading. I shopped at HL Childs when I was a student at UMass. Think I still have a book with a Childs price sticker on it. Wasn't able to do much then so didn't go there as much as I would have liked to.
My first recommendation is to read, magazine articles, specialty books and search these forums for specific subjects. When you have a question ask it, there is a wealth of information in the minds of the folks here. My dream is still a long way off, but I am working on a small layout and am learning as I go. Hope that when I can once get going on the "real thing" I'll have enough practice and experience so that all my work won't be experimental. That said, I also expect to keep learning and improving my knowledge and skills, so things will always be able to be improved.
I like working with extruded foam. Whether you use it as a base or just glue it together to make scenic forms it is very useful. If there is a construction site, volunteer to clean it up, there is often a lot of good stuff available. It can be used to make mountains, small piles, loads for your cars and other things I haven't figured out yet, even small pieces are useful.
Since many people like to have their layouts up nearer eye level, in the 48" to 60" range, you can have storage, computer desks and/or a work bench under a shelf layout around the room. My dream is an around the room with a peninsula, that divided by a scenic divider. Will see what happens when the time comes available, but I can dream can't I?
Read, ask, go to shows, a club, visit layouts and have a wonderful time doing all of it.
Have fun,
I know that this forum has been out for a long time, but I just wanted to mention that my grandmother just found a LGB catalouge for 1990 from this very store! I live in the area, so this was very interesting for me. I wish it was still here, I have to go all the way out to Springfield to go to a hobby shop, and the stuff there is always beyond my budget so I just shop on the web. I wish this hobby shop was still around!!!!!!
"Unless bought from a known and trusted dealer who can vouch otherwise, assume every train for sale requires servicing before use"
LeverettrailfanI have to go all the way out to Springfield to go to a hobby shop,
Where in Springfield is there a hobby shop?
sanduskyDEAD RAIL is the way of the future.....
Dead rail is indeed battery powered trains.
I have yet to see anything in market that is made for dead rail, it's all (to my knowledge) after-market stuff, requiring retro-fitting to units.
While it sounds good, I will not be retro-fitting my units just yet... Once all the stuff is available on market, and is shown to work better than DCC (which is what I use) I will than begin thinking about it, but not before that.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Oh, sorry there, didn't notice this comment! Look up Pioneer Valley Hobbies. They only do modern stuff now, they moved to a new location still within west springfield, but they don't really sell anything I care for anymore.