# new to this hobby



## railroader14 (May 12, 2014)

hi I am new to this hobby and was wondering what is the best way to get started.


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## Derailed loco (May 12, 2014)

Railroad14, I started what starter kit from my local hobby shop. The bachmann Santa flyer set, it's came with everything to get me started to see if I wanted to continue.
Since than I've been hooked, everyday I sit on the floor and watch the train go around the track and all for under $70 bucks. 

But look around there are tons of sets from different eras and styles. Happy hunting!


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Welcome aboard :smilie_daumenpos:

You came to the right place, just look around the threads that might interest you and you'll find a ton of ideas. The My Layout thread would be a good place to start as well as this thread. You will not only get an idea of what this hobby is about but some idea of what you may need. As Derailed said start small and you can build from there.

Magic


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## spoil9 (Dec 24, 2008)

Welcome to the forum. I was born into the hobby as both my parents were into model trains before I was born so I got a lucky break in that regards.
I agree with the above posts though, start small and build up from there, it's a lot more fun that way rather than buying everything at once.


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## railroader14 (May 12, 2014)

thank you for the advice


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## alman (Oct 22, 2012)

*Advice (Just for a laugh).*

Railroader 14!

Facebook Rod Stewart , he will give you an incentive !:thumbsup:








:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Hey Railroader welcome to this forum. I would say the first thing you should do is decide where you will put the trains. Do you want a layout on a table or to set it up on the floor and then put it away? Main thing is to have enough room for what you have in mind.
Next thing is how much money do you want to spend to get started? You can buy a starter set with trains,track and transformer or go to ebay and buy the stuff you want piece by piece. Remember that shipping is pretty high now so take that into consideration. If you have a local hobby shop that's the place to go. Another thing is don't buy the cheapest train you can get. Often you won't be happy with it. I have always prefered Atlas but there are several good companies that sell starter sets. Shop around and try to get the most for your buck without sacrificing quality. Pete


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Railroader

Welcome to the very family friendly hobby of model railroading.

You will find a ready source of help and advice here on
the Forum. Take your
time and check into the various aspects of the hobby.

As mentioned, the location of your layout, and available space
usually determines whether you go with N, HO or 0 gauge. 

Possibly the most likely choice would be HO. It has a large 
choice of locomotives and cars at both economical and expensive
prices.

Since you are a beginner, I would definitely urge you to read all
you can about DCC. It is the easiest to use and most flexible system
to run your trains.

Don


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## Derailed loco (May 12, 2014)

DonR said:


> Railroader
> 
> Welcome to the very family friendly hobby of model railroading.
> 
> ...


Don - Good call mentioning the DCC line of locomotives.


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## railroader14 (May 12, 2014)

so if i go with atlas for track would locomotive and cars from walthers proto 1000 work on it the atlas track


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Welcome, Railroader14.

Another thing to consider is how much railroad you want in the space that you have. Z-scale is the smallest practical size, but is quite tiny and not as detailed as the bigger scales. N-scale is 1/160 the size of real trains...you can get a lot of realism into a given space. HO-scale is twice the size of N-scale, and seems to be the most popular size out there. The detail in HO is incredible these days. There's S and OO and O scales, which are the largest scales I know of for indoor use. G-scale is for indoor and outdoor garden railroads.

Unfortunately, the finer the detail, the higher the cost of items. But that's something you will discover, and will need to make your own decisions in that regard.

Best of luck to you, and be sure to come back and tell us how things are going!


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## mikek (Dec 29, 2013)

I see you are from Saskatchewan, Canada. Many other folks around that do trains, maybe even a club? That would be where to go for information. They can tell you what's available conveniently, and what's practical for your situation. Getting everything through the mail or from a local hobby shop can be expensive. Sourcing from a local club may be a lot better.
If you can afford it DCC is fantastic. You can get realistic sound and action. Once you see and hear DCC, you will realize its value. 
If you want to economize, like I do, find your niche and enjoy the hobby there. Just know your limitations, this hobby can be quite expensive.
Buying quality is a very good idea. Seeing the Genesis and other detailed models, I know I would have them if I could. 
Welcome to the forum, you'll find you can find plenty of info by 'searching' the threads. Mike


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## FRED On Board (Jan 2, 2014)

railroader14 said:


> so if i go with atlas for track would locomotive and cars from walthers proto 1000 work on it the atlas track


Railroader14, (et al)...

Any of the manufacturers, and thus the distributors or sellers of HO scale locomotives and rolling stock will insure that their products will operate on Atlas brand or nearly any other commercially produced HO track manufactured as Code 100 or Code 83...Manufacturers of HO model trains ascribe to and employ the standards necessary in manufacturing to run their products without difficulty on these track options as enumerated by the National Model Railroad Association...These standards are good to be known by the modeler as well as those who produce and sell model RR locomotives and rolling stock.

http://www.nmra.org/

The one aspect to these standards for trouble free operation of a layout is the understanding of minimum radius for curved sections of track...Different locomotives and rolling stock require some differences in minimum radius to run without problems...Specifically, for most diesel, and some steam locomotives the minimum radius is 18 inches; the same minimum radius for most freight cars having typical lengths of 57 to 60 feet or less and passenger cars of 60 feet or less...For longer freight cars such as the 86 foot box cars, intermodal railcars, and 75 to 90 foot passenger cars, as well as steam locomotives with driver wheel arrangements larger than 6 or 8 such wheels require curved track of 22 inch, 24 inch or greater radius...These are general considerations and with few exceptions, minimum requirements for trouble-free operation without the annoyance of unwanted de-coupling or derailment.

Good luck and have great fun in your new exposure to model railroading.


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## jesteck (Apr 15, 2014)

Railroader14,
Great advice and tips from FRED On Board. I have engines from Atlas, Kato, Athearn, Proto, Bachmann, and a few others that all run happily on a mix of flex track from 3 or 4 manufacturers. You'll probably be starting out with sectional track until you get the feel of things; I'd avoid the proprietary systems with built-in roadbed; they tend to not play well with other manufacturers' track and can require a fair deal of modification to get them to cooperate with each other. Besides, they're more expensive. For track, use nickel/silver in whatever code you decide to go with. For turnouts, PECO seems to be the overwhelming choice of most modelers because of their higher quality, but that and flex track are choices you'll be making later once you get the feel of things and decide to expand. If you're like the rest of us, you WILL decide to expand, so try not to limit your choices right at the beginning.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

All HO stuff is interchangeable. You do have to watch for differences in track but all the rolling stock and locomotives will run on all the HO tracks. When you go to adding turnouts try to get #6 or #8 turnouts. They work a lot better than the #4's that are the least expensive. #4's have a sharper curve,#6 is less sharp and #8 more less sharp if you get me. #4"s are ok for a yard or spur track but #6's are best for your mainlines and secondary lines. The more gradual the curve the better they work. Also there are several sizes of track. Code 100 and Code 83 are two of them. 100 is bigger than 83 by a tad and is what most of us use. You do need to stay with one or the other to get everything to work together. I think you'll find 100 to be most common and the least expensive. Also stay with nickel silver track. It tarnishes much less than brass so requires less cleaning but you can mix the two if you have to. Avoid steel track completely. I have some and it gets rusty over time and is hard to clean. Pete


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

railroader14 said:


> so if i go with atlas for track would locomotive and cars from walthers proto 1000 work on it the atlas track


Yes.

There are standards set for trains and track. In HO, for example, any make
train will run on any make track. The same for the other scales.
There is a difference in the rail size. Code 100 is possibly the most widely
used, but many modellers prefer Code 83 for it's more realistic look. Even
so, most cars will run on either. Some older gear used flanges too big
for code 83 track.

Nickle Silver is the preferred material for rails.

Don


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## railroader14 (May 12, 2014)

well I have started in to the hobby now. so I am trying to figure out how this curve measurement work so I can have a second curve beside each other.


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## jesteck (Apr 15, 2014)

There are two factors you have to consider; the minimum radius of the curve you want, and the minimum distance you need between the centerlines of the adjacent tracks. In HO, the tightest radius I would recommend is 18", and the bigger the better for both operation and appearance. Smallest spacing between track center and track center is about 2 inches. So: 18" radius for the inside track means you need 20" radius or more for the outside track, plus what I call a few inches of "fall over" room. Curve radius is always measured from the centerpoint of the arc to the centerline of the actual track.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

You can put a 22" curve on a 4'0" wide table and have an 18" curve inside it. These are the two standard curves that we all use and most all locos and rolling stock will work just fine on them. You can use Flextrack by Atlas to make bigger or smaller radius curves if you have the room but connecting two pieces of flextrack on a curve has a lot of problems. Best to use sectional track for curves and the flex track for the straight-a-ways.. Pete


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## jesteck (Apr 15, 2014)

Norgale, I won't say you're wrong; sectional probably is easier, but it is also very limiting. In my opinion, the time spent early in learning to work with flex track pays enormous dividends in the long run. There's no problem connecting flex on a curve if you fasten the track as you go, cut the already secured section on the radius line, and go from there. The only pieces of sectional track that ever appeared on our boards besides turnouts were track crossings. I just think sectional track is more limiting and creates more possibility for electrical problems.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I always have such a bad time with flextrack joints on curves that I would advise anybody who is just beginning to use sectional track. True there are more places for electrical problems but if you put the pieces together with both rails flush then you shouldn't have any problems. Actually I would much rather use the flextrack but the joints always cause derailments for me and it drives me nuts. (short trip)
I would be grateful if you could show me some pictures of how you make your flex connections as maybe that would help me a bunch.
If anybody else has some tips for joining two pieces of flextrak on a curve please let me know. Pete


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

One way to avoid kinks when joining flex track on a curve
is to have one rail about an inch or so longer than the other
thus creating a staggered joint. Pin it in place until the
glue sets good.

Don


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

For one thing I never glue my track down. I'm always making changes so that isn't practicle for me. The problem is the ties come loose where the joint is and the curve distorts the rails putting them out of gauge. The rails come out staggered anyway as the track is curved so that makes sense. maybe I just have to work with this type of track some more to get to know how to use it. Flextrack really does save a lot of time if you can make it work. 
I really wish the flex track was made in 6' or 8' lengths. That would solve all my problems. Pete


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## wingnut163 (Jan 3, 2013)

norgale: maybe you should get a track soldering holder.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/MLR-HO-Guage-Rail-Soldering-Tool-p/mlr-5005.htm

it may help


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Soldering isn't a problem but the track coupling is when it tries to slide past the ties when bending. I pretty much have my track installed now anyway but some experimenting will be done on the next layout. I have a ton of sectional track so it was no problem using it on the curves. It fits well and I have no electrical problems with it that aren't my fault.
Pete


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