Hi from a very cold and wet Devon UK. Totally new to this except what i have gleaned from watching my late husband building "but not finishing" an N scale layout for our grandson. I do know basics, I know a positive lead on a capacitor, polarisation of an LED etc etc from passing them to him. i can use a soldering iron ( I had to do small soldering work for him) but there are VAST gaps in my knowledge as far as finishing the layout goes. It is a small 4' x 6' double loop with odd sidings and has 6 points (I think you over the water call them turnouts) It is DCC and controlled by a MULTIMAUS which is great as my grandson finds it easy to use. I will be asking some questions in (I hope) the right thread. I have become interested in N scale since trying to complete this but my knowledge of trains is "I can tell a steam from a diesel" and that is about it! Yup - Dumb blonde! Thanks H
Welcome Hannah! You'll find the group here to be incredibly helpful when it comes to answering questions.
Welcome, Hannah. "but not finishing" is the happy space most modelers inhabit and asking questions is standard fare.
Welcome to TrainBoard, Hannah. It's refreshing to see that you are 'picking up the traces,' (so to speak) on your N-scale layout. It's also good to see your grandson has an interest too. We need more young modelers in the hobby. Here in TrainBoard, there's no such thing as a 'dumb question,' so don't hesitate to ask. "Dumb blonde"! I sincerely doubt that!
Welcome aboard, Hannah. It is a fine thing you are doing there, and as others have said, you can expect plenty of help here.
Welcome aboard, Hannah. It does sound like you have a nice legacy to continue and a good start on the road. As far as the general aspects of DCC we have many here with a good deal of experience, although I believe this is the first time that particular system has come up. For the layout itself the N Scale forum would probably be your best (and we'd love to see your layout) and as for the DCC either the N Scale or DCC and Electronics should be fine. Keep on having fun with it!
I will tidy some of my "workings" off it and get some pictures uploaded. That will be my first challenge!
Welcome to TrainBoard! Just ask questions. You will get tips and tricks, which will aid in your learning. It will be much faster than you anticipate.
The great thing about model railroading is that it's very multi-faceted. Your electronics knowledge will come in handy once it's time to wire the layout, install lighting, etc. For whatever you know, you can help/teach others, and whatever you don't know, you can always learn -- that applies to all of us here!
Hi Hannah, Welcome. Great to have you on board. I can't help you with anything except being a fellow N-Scaler for 30+ years. But I'm still a DC Dinosaur.
Yes, we call them turnouts, when we want to be easy to understand. Otherwise, we call them switches, and call the toggles that control them switches, too, just to be confusing. So we're liable to talk about wiring the switch to the switch. What's more, we call shunting switching, and shunters switchers, just for a switch. And when we aren't talking about that, we're liable to reminisce about when we were young, and our mean old fathers made us cut a switch and then took it to us. We do talk about points, from time to time. But when we do, we're specifically talking about the little pointy rails that actually move, not the whole assembly. Unless we're trying to make a point. Oh, and over here, trucks don't ride on bogies. Cars ride on trucks. Cars ride on trucks on the highways, too, but that's different. On highways, the cars are actually smaller than trucks. Oh, and drivers may drive trucks on the highways, but engines are driven by engineers. Engineers engineer the railways, too, but those are different engineers. They don't wear caps. So, yes, we're a helpful lot. If you can understand us. Good luck!
Welcome HannahH, Can't wait to see pictures of your family's layout. Sounds like you are enjoying the hobby. Good luck,
Where in Devon? My wife's family was originally from Axminster. We visited there about 15 years ago. One of her distant relatives still there had a horse farm - Robert Bazley. My youngest daughter wanted to move in and not leave.