# What do I need after starter box?



## Area57 (Nov 8, 2015)

So I bought a Bachmann box, with track and a controller and diesel locomotive with four cars?

My list so far includes:
4x6 boards, nice wood, in three 2x4 sections
Pink foam to glue flat on top and extra to make terrain
Bags of green material, for grass and trees and such
EZ track

What else? What train wise do I need? I don't really know that much about them. I am going for N scale. I am doing a Pennsylvania or Ohio theme. I know I need cars. About how many would you put on a table that size? I will probably have the track go around the outside in a circle with a curve or two thrown in. I will design the layout once I have the track and boards layed out and see what looks good.

Do I need switching track? Another locomotive? Should I have two trains running with a track to bypass each other? That would be cool. Is the basic controller I have ok or do I need a better one?

I have made a table with terrain before for a medelling hobby so I have some idea on how to make a decent scenery. Nothing professional, but passable. Hopefully I will make this one very realistic.

I just need to know what to buy because I guess I expected more out of the box set, lol. I opened thinking I had hours of fun that night, last night and I put it together and had in running on the floor in about ten minutes! I thought it would be a project. Although the I do like to have it running. I find it peaceful to watch and listen too.

Last question. Is there anyway to get sounds? So while it is running in the background it makes a choo choo from time to time? Are there any good thread on learning lighting? I want to have a lot of lights on the board, to light up the small town, and stop lights and such. I really like the little headlight the train has so I definitely want more lights.

Thanks for the help. Sorry I haven't learned the terminology yet, I will. I don't know that much about the hobby yet.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

First, is the starter set regular DC and comes with a power
pack, or is it DCC and comes with a digital controller?
There is a difference in what you can do depending on your
type of power source.

Most starter sets are just that. Enough gear to give you
an oval of track and be able to run a short train around
it. Nothing wrong with that.

But then, as you've noted, you can't do much with it beyond
watching it go round, and round, and round. 

Most of us start thinking about what we can do with the trains
to make running them more interesting. That usually gets us
to thinking about switching. A nice yard of several tracks, several
spur tracks where industries, large or small, are located. You might
still have the track where you can have a train running round and
round, but now you can also shuttle cars from place

But, when you decide to expand your layout to include more
you might want to consider changing to a Flex track, These are 3 foot
long sections that you can bend and cut to match what you want
your layout to be. The EZ track is not compatible with standard
N scale turnouts and other track accessories and more or less
requires you to buy only Bachmann EZ gear. Most of us use
the flex track and compatible turnouts and crossings.

Don't get too concerned about your first layout. As you work
with it you'll get new ideas and will make changes often. Don't get
too involved with scenery and the like at first for the same reason.
Use only very small dabs of glue to hold it in place. 

Check the layout plans and pictures here on the Forum and also
those on line. 

And remember, the forum members have years of experience
to help you anytime you encounter a problem or want a suggestion.

Don


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## Area57 (Nov 8, 2015)

I don't think it is dcc. It looks very basic. Is there any way to expand upon the starter set? It looks more and more like if I want to spend the time to make a nice layout I should have bought things separately.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

If your train is DCC the box would clearly state that. If not,
it is traditional DC. But, you can, at a later date, convert your
layout to DCC using the loco and cars you have.

Actually, the only temporary drawback to what you bought is
the EZ track. But it's there for your getting the feet wet period.
It is good stuff, it looks good, but it more or less locks you
into a rather limited number of track pieces that you can work
with, all by Bachmann. It's sort of like the Cameras produced
by Polaroid. You had to buy their film, no other would work
with that camera. It's called marketing.

You can always add to your N scale locos and cars at any dealer, here on
the for sale part of the Forum or at train shows. The make does
not matter; they will all work well on your N scale track. The only
consideration would be the couplers. While most of us would
convert to knuckle couplers by Kadee, some prefer to run their
trains with the couplers that came on the trains. Those can
always be converted later.

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

First of all, welcome to the hobby! In many ways, you've made a great start; in some others, you've gotten off on the wrong foot. Bear with me -- it's not the end of the world.

As far as the wrong foot -- you've already committed what I consider to be the only real mistake in this hobby: you bought something without a clear understanding of what you were getting and, perhaps worse, what you wanted to do with it. It also sounds like you have this preconceived notion of how things should be. Forget it. You don't actually NEED anything; you just want some stuff. There is no one ideal layout to which we all aspire. Everyone enjoys different aspects of the hobby, and your layout should suit your tastes and desires. It sounds like you came to the realization that you want more from the hobby after opening the box of your starter set. While there are full layouts that come as "some assembly required kits" (see this for an example), they are really expensive, and still may not be exactly what you want.

So how do you recover? As I said, you've made a great start -- now you've thought a little bit about what you want to do with your layout. For now, get some more pieces of EZ Track and expand your little loop. If you want to do some switching, buy "turnouts" (a convenient term we use so that "switch" in the hobby refers only to the electrical kind) and make some sidings, perhaps a passing track. Buy cars appropriate to the industry(-ies) you're modeling; buy more locos from the railroad you want to model (recognizing that without DCC, you won't really be able to run more than one at a time). Create some scenery. If you can visualize what you want, so much the better. Build a layout, and don't be afraid to make mistakes and re-do large portions. "Once and done" is a rare commodity in this hobby. So build it, and run it.

Then be prepared to chuck the whole thing and start over. Most of us do. It takes getting a first layout up and running for most of us to understand what we really want from the hobby. No shame there. Maybe that little loop already counts as a first layout, and you're already ready for more. But build something a little more complex without going over the top.

If you have specific questions, we're happy to help. We just can't tell you what the end result "needs" to be.

And for your first specific question: sound can be added in 3 ways. The first two involve a DCC decoder (microchip) and speaker in your locos. They can be run either with a DCC set, or a special DC controller that allows access to the sound functions. The final way is to purchase a stand-alone sound system. This is not as satisfying, but much cheaper and easier to install.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Everybody else seems to have covered most aspects but you asked about sound. Kato do a Soundbox you can use with dc http://www.katousa.com/N/Unitrack/ASB.html might be worth trying. Can ba loaded with different sounds.


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## Florida RR (Oct 8, 2015)

CTValleyRR said:


> Then be prepared to chuck the whole thing and start over. Most of us do.


:smilie_daumenpos:

I couldn't have said it better myself. I am starting my 4th or 5th attempt right now. My last one went pretty well, but it had to go due to space limitations after-the-fact. I look at it as an opportunity to do even better this time. I have made so much progress with new skills since my first try at N scale over 30 years ago.

Area57, I posted some additional information about the railroads you were asking about over in your other thread in the N scale forum. It's hard to bounce back and forth between threads sometimes. As mentioned above, have fun and don't get too heavily invested in one particular thing until you really know what you want to do. The "start over" phenomenon is real. It happened to me too.

-Florida RR-


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## Florida RR (Oct 8, 2015)

Cycleops said:


> Everybody else seems to have covered most aspects but you asked about sound. Kato do a Soundbox you can use with dc http://www.katousa.com/N/Unitrack/ASB.html might be worth trying. Can ba loaded with different sounds.


I saw that a few weeks ago. It looks and sounds great! I want one, but it's not in my budget. The coffee table for the layout is costing a small fortune due to the complexity of my design, and in the past 6 weeks I have bought 5 locomotives and about 30 pieces of rolling stock! 

-Florida RR-


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

4x6 boards, nice wood, in three 2x4 sections

Can someone explain the above to me?

4x6 boards in <(should this be AND?) three 2x4 sections?

I know it must be me, I must be reading it wrong?:dunno:


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

big ed said:


> 4x6 boards, nice wood, in three 2x4 sections
> 
> Can someone explain the above to me?
> 
> ...


I didn't really pay much attention, because it looked too much like he was trying to follow a recipe to get to some mythical "perfect" layout. He will need to sit down and figure out what his track plan looks like before I could even begin to address how much lumber and plywood to buy.

FWIW, if you adequately support the foam boards on joists, you don't even NEED plywood. Yeah, everyone says "to attach switch machines", but I've attached mine with double sided foam tape, and not one has come off yet. If I just gotta have wood under there, I'll just screw a cleat onto one of the joists.

(And yes, I know all you old hands probably know this; it's mostly for the new guy's information).


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