WELCOME
Welcome to the world of model railroading. The Worlds Greatest Hobby. This is unlike ANY other hobby you have ever encountered. It is a hobby where you can spend as much or as little as you like, build as big or as small as you like, and get equal enjoyment out of all of it.. It will challange you, anger you, make you laugh and sometimes make you cry (when your new $300 loco is knocked off the table by Fluffy the tabby).. If you are reading this, you found it either through one of my ebay auctions or from a link on a Model Train forum. Unlike the auctions or links on forums, this page will not disappear.. Feel free to refer to it whenever you like.. I am currently working on a series of articles that you may find useful, this is the second of those articles.. It will touch on some basic needed knowlage to get you going in the right direction.. My main goal here is to keep you from getting ripped off. Secondary is to help push you in the direction you are leaning. Let's jump right in..
So, You want to run some trains. The first question to ask is What KIND of trains?? Then, HOW do you want to run them?? The answers to those questions are personal ones so take this advice for whatever you think it's worth.. Most people, thier first exposure to running model trains is in a circle around a christmas tree. Some buy train sets, set up the circle of track on a table or even on the floor, run the trains and then put the set away.. Sets are great for getting exposure but the excitment of them soon wears off when we get bored running around in circles. I must admit that the layout (and I've built many of them) I've had the most fun with was a 10x10 foot donut shape with 4 circles of track. But even it got boring and went through several rebuilds. That was in my teen years and I credit it (and my family) for keeping me out of the trouble I COULD have gotten myself into.. Eventually, you will want to Operate the trains.. There's a difference between Running them and Operating them.. Running them, you just watch them go.. Truthfully, probably 80% of the people playing with trains most Running them though most probably won't admit it. I like to run them as much as operate them.. Operation is a little more involved and can get As involved as you want it to.. Real trains do not chase the tail car in circles, regardless of how big the circle is and how many twists and turns it takes.. They operate on schedules originating at point A arriving at point B and then returning to point A (with several stops in between).. The question of Running or Operating is probably the most important question to answer and why I address it first. The answer will dictate the rest of your plans.
The next question you will want to answer is What KIND of trains you want to run... They say that most people will answer this based on personal experience... Well, Yes and no.. If, for instance your family has a background with XYZ Railroad, that may be the direction you lean, deciding to model a portion of it.. Others will choose a railroad strictly on diesel color schemes.. Maybe it's a certain location that gets your blood pumping... New England? Midwest? West Virginia coal mines?? Pennsylvania Steel mills?? How about western railroads battling grades through the mountains.. Maybe rickety looking narrow gauge logging railroads get you excited... Or perhaps Passenger trains of the 1930s or 1940s stoke your fires. How about pre-1900?? SOMETHING got you interested. I'm only suggesting that to keep your interest up, you build on that. Myself, I chose W.W.II era steam trains.. The time facinates me and pre-dates me by about 25 years. It was a time, though I'm sure there were problems, this country pulled together for a common cause. Each person shared the burdon both at home and abroad (though the soldiers took the worse of it obviously).. It was a time when the country was coming out of the depression and things were beginning to move again. Well, If I go much further, I'm going to go political and that's not the intent here..
The reason I ask those two questions (what kind and how) is to save you a bundle of cash.. One of the worse things you can do it walk into a hobby shop with a bundle of cash (or an empty credit card) NOT knowing what you want to do.. There are Some things you are going to HAVE to purchase.. Track, Power, and Trains, just to get things running.. The what kind and how questions are aimed more at the trains part of that purchase.. For instance, If you've decided you want WWII Steam, you'll leave the modern diesels on the shelf. The large auto racks will stay there too. If you want something more modern, the steam engines will stay on the shelf.. Get the idea?? I'm not saying you cannot mix the two. It's your money and they'll be your trains, do whatever you wish.. For train cars (rolling stock), they ALL have build dates on them. Some will have repaint dates. This is a good tool, once you've decided on a time and place, to help curb the spending.. Back to WWII.. It ended in 1945. If the car date (and these days, they are pretty accurate) is 1950, leave it there. Get the picture? I'm simply suggesting a way to resist the temptation of buying everything in the store. To further narrow your choice, if you've decided on West Virginia Coal mining for instance, you'll leave the Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Santa Fe, Burlington, etc stuff on the shelves as well. Now, we've narrowed your choices down to a small section of Any store or Any Website.. (I'll get into where to buy later). It makes the purchasing decision MUCH easier for you..
SIZE MATTERS
No, I'm not talking about that.. I'm referring to Scale.. Notice I Didn't say Gauge.. Scale refers to a size ratio of model to prototype (real trains). Gauge is the distance between the rails.. People often mix the terms and experienced modelers generally know what they are talking about but you should know the difference.. Standard Gauge, in the USA, refers to a distance of 4' 8 1/2" between the rails. Oddly enough that distance comes from (so I've read) the spacing of the wheels on Roman Chariots and the dirt track paths they wore in heavily traveled areas. This spacing wasn't always standard but now is.. Time once was that when trains traveled from North to South, they had to change trucks or move all of the cargo from one train to another because the rail spacing was different. Anyway, back to Gauge.. Narrow gauge is generally denoted by a number on the scale designation.. For example, HOn3 is HO Scale, Narrow Gauge, 3 feet between the rails. There is also 30" gauge, 24" gauge, some mining operations used 18" gauge for the actual mine..
Depending on what country you are in there are a bewildering selection of scales and gauges. HO scale, worldwide, is by far the most popular with N scale gaining fast with the release of better products and technology.. HO litterally means, Half O scale. O scale for a long time was the standard, probably due to Lionel trains.. But, HO isn't quite Half O.. In the UK, and I think they still use these, there was once O scale, OO scale (similar to HO), and OOO (probably half again OO). HO scale translates to 3.5mm per foot.. Why? I don't know.. The American designation is 1:87 for HO.. Which means for every foot on the model, you are representing 87 feet on the real thing.. For size reference, Z scale is 1:220, N=1:160, HO=1:87, O scale is 1:48. Then there are the infinate number of large scale models.. Some are called G scale (1:24 I think) and different variations of that often found on outdoor layouts.. We won't get into what is referred to as Live steam (much larger).. S scale (1:64) is also gaining some popularity. The one that really never had a chance was TT scale which was half way between HO and N. Get all that?? I mention it as the third important factor because What scale you choose will dictate what you can do in your alotted space (we'll get into that in a minute)..
WHAT TYPE ARE YOU
What I mean by this is what kind of trains do you like? You've already answered part of this question but it's time to further refine the choice.. There's a reason I ask that I'll get to shortly.. Do you like small cab diesels like the ever popular Santa Fe Superchief F units painted up in red and silver warbonnet scheme? How about small steam engines?? Large ones?? Perhaps modern wide cab diesels?? Something I haven't mentioned is this.. Perhaps you don't even Care about the trains themselves and want to model something where a train was (is) run.. Maybe you are a structure person who just likes to build dioramas (small scenes, detailed to the nth degree).
If you haven't given any thought to size and location of your model railroad, you probably should before making a single purchase.. Do you have a spare room to dedicate to it? Will the layout be perminant or will it have to be taken down for storage periodically? Do you have a wife (or husband)? Does she (or he) support the idea of you playing with trains? More importantly, Buying them? The reason I ask is for space and shape reasons.. MANY people start out with the standard 4x8 layout.. That's a sheet of 3/4" plywood on top of a frame.. I'm not going into different methods of buiding here, it isn't the intent.. However, I submit, that if you have space to set up a Perminant 4x8 layout, you have space to run a 2 foot wide shelf around a 10x12 foot room. 99% of the problems you'll encounter with the 4x8 go away with the shelf design and you get twice the layout square footage to boot. In the SAME room. That is based on needing 2 feet of access on EACH side of that 4x8. Think about it.. Don't get me wrong.. The 4x8 Temporary layout is a fantastic place to learn. However, the Equipment you can run on one is further limited.. These limitations become more evident in the larger scales, beginning with HO.. A 4x8 N scale layout is pretty respectable and a 4x8 Z scale layout is HUGE (AND expensive).. So, Size and shape of the layout will help determine What you can run and therefore, What you buy.
I'm going to make a first recommendation here.. The book "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" by John Armstrong, Published by Kalmbach.. It's a bit of a difficult read at first but it's dedicated to getting the most out of your space. J. Armstrong was a master at this. The first half of the book is dedicated to how the real trains do things, but written in plain english. The second half is dedicated to suggestions on how to design your empire to incorporate the features you like.. In fact, he guides us through an entire design process of a model railroad intended to be operated. Another I would suggest is the book "101 Track Plans" published by the same company.. What it contains is 101 track plans from past issues of Model Railroader Magazine.. Most if not all of them predating 1970 but they'll still get the planning juices flowing.
RUN TRAINS OR RUN TRACK
This isn't the most critical decision you can make right now but it's something you want to consider.. What I mean by the question is how do you want to power your trains?? There are 2 basic ways. One is referred to as standard DC (or AC in the case of most 3 rail O scale) or Digital Command Control (DCC).. The Standard way is the way trains have been run since the beginning of the hobby. You vary the voltate (or available current) on the track and turn the motor of the locomotive. If you intend to run only one train at a time, this is perfectly fine. However, if you want to run More than one train at a time (you and your son for instance), you should give some hard thought to DCC.. DCC sends a signal through the rails that a reciever in the locomotive picks up, decodes, and acts on.. Running the trains rather than the track.. DCC opens a wide world of possibilities that are difficult and sometimes impossible to achieve with standard power. Sound, Multiple units (MU), control of all the lights, and yes, the Adams family style train crash..
Let's run some numbers here and I think you'll see why I believe it's important to decide now.. Assume you want to run 3 trains on a single track mainline.. The mainline, however it runs, will support 3 trains. You want Individual control of each train so you'll need 3 power supplies with Standard DC. Even at a modest cost, each one will run you around $40 for a decent one (we're talking new here). Now, to run 3 trains, independantly of each other you are going to need to set up a cab control system.. Basically what this accomplishes is a way of keeping the same power pack on each train. I'll get into how to set that up on another clinic but for now just bear with me. By the time you spend the money for the power packs, invest the time into setting it all up, you will be close to the $200 range. You STILL have to buy the locomotives so that adds nothing to the comparative cost.. The initial startup cost of a DCC system ranges from about $150 on up. Each locomotive can be converted to DCC (many are ready for drop in installations) for $15-$20 per.. So with the basic starter system and the high side of the decoder cost, we are at $210.. Now admittedly, running 3 trains at a time with a basic starter system will be somewhat difficult. An additional $120 will be required for Basic throttles to get you to easily controlling 3 trains. So what's the point you ask? This.. Let's say you want a 4th, and a 5th or more trains on the layout.. Perhaps not all running at once (and without 4 or 5 operators would be near impossible).. You are going to need dead tracks to park them with standard cab control. With DCC, simply dial in a loco number on your throttle and you are ready to roll that train. No flipping of toggles, turning of rotary switches, no worrying about what power pack is assigned to which train, just a FAR more pleasant experience running the trains. Again, The initial startup cost is a little more but it can be built upon and is WELL worth considering..
WHAT BRANDS TO BUY
I can't answer that question for you. There are simply too many of them out there. For YEARS folks started in HO scale with Athearn blue box (as they've come to be known) kits. They were inexpensive, realatively good running, easy to assemble, and basically bulletproof. Athearn, and others, was recently bought out by a company called Horizon.. I know nothing about this company nor thier willingness to continue the entry level stuff like the blue box kits. They, as well as many others, are selling a lot of ready to run equipment now. The trouble with ALL of them, is the stuff is Limited run.. That is, only a certain number are produced (at a time) and then they disappear. For the most part, with detail and running, you get what you pay for these days.. Unfortunately for the beginner, the price tag is pretty hefty for some stuff, which is why, I've dedicated this little clinic, to directing you to make some choices before purchasing anything. There are also used trains.. Train shows, Hobby shops, Ebay are all excellent choices.. I'm only going to make a couple recommendations here, based on personal experience.
Bachman (spectrum) makes some VERY nice steam engines of all sizes.. They are usually readily available, if not at your hobby shop, then discount stores online. I do NOT recommend buying thier diesels however. It's been a long time since I've owned any and the quality may have changed but from MY experience, they don't last. I had 2 GP30s that no longer ran after a couple months. Something happened with the geartrains and I sold both for parts. I also had one of the GP35s that for some reason, could not mount couplers on properly to save my life. Sold it as well and haven't looked at another bachman diesel since.
Secondly, I STRONGLY suggest staying away from Train Sets. Particularly in HO scale.. There may be a couple good ones out there (the spectrum explorer comes to mind) but MOST are junk and will have you frustrated in no time.
WHERE TO BUY
Again, Personal choice.. Chances are pretty good that your first purchase will be in a hobby shop. If you have one dedicated to trains, all the better. Just know however, that most charge full retail, though you may be able to hagle 10% off of the price, and you can get usually up to about 30% off MSRP making your purchases online. If we are talking about a $10 train car, not a big deal. But, if we are talking about a $300 locomotive, the savings is significant. You have to decide how important it is to you to A, Have it now, and B, hold it in your hands before purchasing... Personal choice but I do highly reccomend Thouroughly browsing your local hobby shop.. Talk to the prorietor. Ask questions.. If you want, Poll the forum on his answers for accuracy. An educated model railroader is a happy one. Don't let yourself get ripped off or talked into purchases that are not within your plan or budget, and you'll BE a happy model railroader (or at least that much closer to it)..
I've put into a lot of long winded paragraphs some pretty basic information.. It may not be what you were looking for but here is a little story written by another model railroader.. It is published on my website with his permission so if you copy any or all of it to your own or anywhere else, please give him credit.