Help with choosing brands/Mfrs for HO model train, locomotive purchases

[tstage]

BigDaddy

Keeps the spam totatlly out of the forum.

Wish that were true...but it's not.  Seems there's always a new "member" popping up in the Users Online area; usually with a cute women for an avatar.  If you click the avatar it's someone promoting their b&m business or website with "0" posts.  Those mostly show up in the later hours.

[RR_Mel]

Glad for your return to the Greatest Hobby in the World!

 

I never had a starter kit but from what I have heard you don’t get much for the cost.

 

If you are mechanically inclined I would go with used locomotives, restoring them for me is half the fun of model railroading.

 

If you are into more modern trains the Athearn Blue Box (BB) locomotives are solid locomotives.  I’m a transition era guy (50s) and have dozens of older Rivarossi articulateds as well as early Athearn diesels.

 

Henry covered it pretty good, lots of DC stuff out there as well as DCC.  I run dual mode HO scale, either DC or DCC, one or the other not at the same time.  I only have a dozen DCC decoders and around 70 locomotives.  I wired all of my locomotives to accommodate decoders and swap the decoders around for something different.  Out of the 70 or so locomotives I only bought 5 new the rest are restored and run and look better than new.

 

Which ever way you go have a blast, I do.

 

 

Mel

 

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[BigDaddy]

to the forum, your posts are delayed while you are moderation.  Keeps the spam totatlly out of the forum.

That's a lot to pack into just one thread.   In the 50's I had an American Flyer, traded that for HO, which was a good trade, in terms of use of space.  The same gain can be made in N-scale and you can run much longer trains in a given space.  Visually I can't make to jump to N, it just looks too small.  However it is a popular scale.

Next you need an era and a location.  That's up to you, I model Appalachian transition steam to diesel era.  I only remember one steam train as a child, but who doesn't like steam engines?  Avoid the temptation to buy a good looking locomotive that doesn't fit your locale.   If you model modern California UP, you don't need a Reading camelback.

Stay away from starter sets, unless this is going to be a train around the Christmas tree.

Brands depend on your era.  There are some bargain diesels that were produced in the 80's by companies that no longer exist.  Athearn blue box freight cars, outfitted with Kadee couplers can be found at train shows for $8-10 are the best deal around.  If you want modern  cars with all the possible detail you will be looking at north of $40

4x8 is popular, because that is the size of a sheet of plywood.  It's a big compromise in design though.

I'd get a starter book on DCC from Kalmbach and John Armstrongs' Track Planning for Realistic Operation.  There are still plenty of DC fans, but DCC has advantages if you are into sound.  It is not an intuitive technology.

[jjo]

As a young boy, I loved model railroading. But school, family, career etc. got in the way and now, as an adult, I finally have the time to come back and again pursue...My knowledge of the hobby has slipped with time and as I get ready to make my first purchases, I could use your advice and counsel primarily in the choice of brands and manufacturers as I start my first purchases...Any of your ideas, recommendations would also be very helpful....I'm starting from "Zero" as I buy my first sheet of 4X8 ply....Your advise on brands, starter sets Vs. non, layout, gauges etc will be appreciated,,,I'm tending toward HO gauge. I have seen some interesting offerings on C List as well the auction site and brand knowledge would be most helpful there....Thanks..Your advice will help me to the right paths.