This dream starts long ago in a galaxy far far away.... One year for Christmas my Grandfather (God rest his soul) gave me a Lionel O scale train set. Ever since then I've wanted to have the space and money to build my own model railroad empire/world like or close to the ones I've seen and drooled over in Model Railroader Magazine. Now some odd 18 (or so) years later I am actually doing it!!! So far I've started the bench work in my spare 10' X 10' (utility) room, I know it's not much room for an empire but I figure in N scale 10' X 10' will be more than I need for a while (or until I convince the wife something is seriously wrong with our house and that we need to move for the safety of our child hehe). I have the room to build but not quite the all the money I would like to get started. So I've started to build with what I have... I had some spare 2X4's and some fiber board laying around so I started to build my bench work!! So far I have 3'X7' of bench work completed. Tomorrow I am planning on looking into some extruded foam at the local HD not sure if they have it we'll see. I am also planning on making my first N scale purchase, some Atlas code 55 flex track at my local and only train hobby store!!! Eventually I would like to get an NCE Powercab and enough track for a U shaped layout around the whole room and obviously some nice locomotives, cars, buildings, scenery etc. But for now I am happy that at least after all these years I actually started to do it and not just dream about doing it!! Anyways I'm excited and figured I would share with you all here on the good old TrainBoard!!! Any comments or questions would be great!!! Thanks to all here for your wisdom and knowledge in this great hobby and for all the help you give us newbies!!!:tb-biggrin:
Welcome back; and to the new world of Model railroading. It's a wonderful world within all the detail advancments and much more. Enjoy and keep us posted on your progress:tb-biggrin:
Thank you guys for the warm welcome and I am excited to be back! As of yet I have not nailed down a track plan, not sure which design porgram I should use. Any good ones out there available for free? Also not sure if there is any track planing software that would incorporate the use of flex track? I have some ideas rolling around in my head just haven't really put anything on paper. I would like to have as long of a main line as possible but other than that not too sure what else I would like as far as track work. Maybe two towns one at each end of the U that freight and passengers would be transported to and from. I was thinking of putting some mountain scenery with a small town in between the two ends of the U... Anyways I'm sure this is hard to understand without some supporting picutres. Any suggestions on track planning software would help me post some pictures and actually make some sense of what I am trying to say!!!:tb-biggrin:
My two favorite planning software are XtrkCad (intuitive but valuable to learn, and completely free) and AnyRail (easy to grasp, free trial allows 50 pieces) Of course, pen and paper works just fine in the early fiddling stages. A town at each end of a dogbone loop and a town in between is a great starting point. Keep us posted.
Glad to have you aboard. There are a lot of talented people here that are willing to help with questions you may have.
Nice to welcome another Tucsonan to Trainboard. :thumbs_up: The local Home Depots sometimes (but not always) carry 1" pink extruded foam in 4 x 8 sheets. That's your best bet. The 2' x 8' pink sheets have toungue and groove features along the edges that mess up the thickness uniformity. Also, the 2' x 8' blue sheets have grooves that make them less than ideal. Look around or ask and you should be able to find a HD that has the better stuff. I've never heard of a local store that carries the 2" stuff. I'll offer some free advice on your layout (take it for what it's worth). Keep it simple. It sounds like you're building in the same type of "smallest allowed by code" bedroom that most Tucson homes "feature." I struggled to figure out how to use this space for a layout and ultimately settled for a simple "around the walls" double loop. But, most importantly, just make sure you're having fun in the process.:tb-biggrin:
train Well I have been there and done that except I was trying to jam HO into 9x12 with a closet and a window. Did not work too well. Switched to N scale and lost the room to a kid. Ahh welll..., you make those choices. Went modular Ntrak. I would say before getting too much further get a better idea of what you are going to do. Flat on either end with open grid benchwork in the middle for your mountains would work. You can elevate the back line of a dog bone in 3 or 4 feet for a vertically staggered center section of mountains with 2 lines running through it. Ryan
I originally wanted to go HO but after reading A LOT on the forums here I realized there were no reasons why I shouldn't do my layout in N scale. Twice as much room on the layout to run trains in N scale!! I know I want to run different elevations of track at this point I am just not sure where I want them to run and how. At this point I have decided that I want double dog bones at the top of the U and I've started acutally designing the layout on XTrackCAD (man is it taking me long to make any progress...). Ryan I really like your idea about running staggered lines through the mountains going to have to incorporate that!! So went to the hobby store today and bought some Atlas C 80 flex track, really just to get an idea of the scale and what i'll be working with for the design (honestly just wanted to make my first purchase!!!). I didn't get a chance to go to Home Depot though to look for extruded foam. Has anyone had any luck using cardboard for scenery? I've got a ton of cardboard and would love to be able to use it on my layout somehow.
You've come into model railroading at a great time. Once you pick your time period and location, you will be able to find just about anything you want in reliable locomotives and rolling stock. Look forward to seeing your progress. Welcome aboard!
