Newbie Looking For Advice

[Burbs]

I've always been fascinated by real trains and model trains. When I was a kid, my father had a small train set, that I got to play with a couple times, but then it broke and that was the end of that. I also had a neighborhood friend who's father collected them, and I remember playing with them and being obsessed, but it kind of ended there.

For the past 2 years, I've kept on thinking that I would like to get involved in this hobby, albeit, an expensive one. I'm looking for advice as to how I can get involved in this hobby. I don't know which gauge I want, because I don't know what the pro's and con's are. I can tell you this, I do like the bigger trains, because I want the ability to have the sounds, lights, smoke, etc. (maybe you get these with the little ones, but I'm assuming not)

If I were to pick a set to start with, Sante Fe has always been a locomotive that has always stood out to me. That being said, I don't know what kind of sets exist for Santa Fe. I'm also interested in the "old school" trains, i.e. coal operated trains from the early days I'm also interested in trains from the 50's, 60's and 70's as well. .

To be truthful, I've started projects/hobbies before, which have ended in disaster. As an example, I had a friend talk me into mountain biking, so I bought all the gear for around $500. He let me borrow his bike, after the first 5 minutes, I hated it. My point is, I don't want spend a boat load of money and find out that I made a mistake.

I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but what do you guys do with your sets? Do you sit in the rooms and play with them? What can I expect to do with this hobby? I know these sound like smartass questions, but I'm genuine in learning about this.

I sincerely appreciate any advice from you folks.

Thanks,

Chris

[hamltnblue]

You might be in luck. This is the time of year that many rail road clubs have open house and allow the public to come look around and ask questions. some also have more than one gauge. If you google your state and train or railroad club you just might find one. You'll also get plenty of answers here shortly. If you aren't sure if you'll stick with it I'd go the club route. what is your general location?

[Burbs]

You might be in luck. This is the time of year that many rail road clubs have open house and allow the public to come look around and ask questions. some also have more than one gauge. If you google your state and train or railroad club you just might find one. You'll also get plenty of answers here shortly. If you aren't sure if you'll stick with it I'd go the club route. what is your general location?

I'm located in Southeastern, MA.

[Selector]

I think you have a marvellous start already, including recalling your own limitations and concerns, as well as seeking some guidance here. That is all we can offer, of course.

First...not a hard and fast rule, but the $95 train sets with some track for a 5' oval and such are generally not good investments. They do run, some very well, but not for long...and most do not run well from the get go. Some of the problems are attributed to quality control, some to the way their zealous and excited owners handle them or maintain them..or not.

If $500 sounds like a lot to lose at this point, then you will be limited to what you can do in the hobby. This hobby can cost a fair bit, although it needn't require you to invest a couple of thousand dollars up front. However, the better engines cost about $100, with some of the better steamers costing $140. Now that the hobby has embraced Digital Command Control (or DCC) in a big way, and that includes the small speakers in each lomotive for the decoders that process and manufacture sounds, even heavily discounted engines, the finer ones, go for about $190, with some diesels occasionally going for $140 with a sound decoder.

The make-or-break thing for many people, though, is how they construct their track plan, and also what they use in the way of track. Not all track is created equal. All commercial products for track, even the very best, have some issues that need addressing before you can expect trouble-free and reliable fun when you power up your layout. Oddly, the most expensive items are the Snap Track type, click together, turnouts (what you might call switches), and yet they are usually the ones with the most reliability problems. In other exchanges we can talk about track and turnouts in more detail. But how a person arranges the track on a surface is often where the bottleneck lies in the way of having outright fun. In fact, some guys have little fun at all until they take up their track, prepare a roadbed for it that is very level and smooth, and then properly adhere their tracks to the roadbed.

Trains don't do well over the long term on temporary layouts, and definitely not on the floor...with the absolute worst being on carpet. Fibers of all kinds, including your hair and your dog's, will end up in the drives of the locomotives. Nuff said there.

So, you really should, even if it is a hinged fold-down frame, have a layout in a defined space set aside for you to work and enjoy the trains. That means, for some, a sheet of plywood since it is intuitively an ideal start. It isn't...and we can get into that subject another time. My point is that it will cost....room, agreement, negotiation, time, and some not insubstantial money if you are truly serious about taking an honest stab at this so that you can fuel your passion.

Also, and finally, despite your best wishes and intentions, you will have some missteps. Forgive yourself and move on with the lessons firmly in the old cabesa.

Is that an okay start in the way of a reply?

-Crandell

[SpaceMouse]

If you like trains, and you don't mind a little building and craft work, you are probably in luck.

You are right to question whether or not you can keep entertained watching a train run laps. Some can, most need a little more. The little more for some is known as operations. Operations means modeling not only track and scenery, but also modeling the business of railroading. In other words, you deliver and pick up cars as if they were what was needed by the businesses in real life.

This becomes interesting because you have to think how to move your goods in and out efficiently. In other words, it can take a lot of thought. IT is even better played as a team sport.

One thing you might do is check my Beginner's Guide clickable in my signature. IT takes about 5 minutes and will help you ask the right questions.

You are in good luck. Santa Fe is very popular as a starting set. Shop around but check with us before you buy. Expect to spend at least $100 on sale for a basic starter set. You can get less, but those sets have a programmed obsolescence of about 40 hours. You'll either figure out what good is and buy it, or you will quit and put it in a closet before then.

[hamltnblue]

Here's a good looking show this weekend in MA
http://www.hubdiv.org/fallshow/index.htm

[hamltnblue]

Here's a list of clubs in MA. I'm sure it's not a complete list but somethign to start with.
http://www.railsusa.com/cgi-bin/links/search.cgi?keywords=Massachusetts&cat_search=CST_Model_Railroad_Clubs

[UP2CSX]

Not much to add to the great advice you already have gotten. One crucial first fact is how much room you will have for a layout. The less room you have available, the smaller the gauge you should use to give you the most operations. Going to a club open house or a train show is a great way to see what other modelers have done and see what you like. Some people see the smaller gauge layouts like N scale and fall in love and others can't stand it. Seeing real models running on a real layout will probably give you more answers than pages of responses from us since we all have our own biases.

[Burbs]

Great advice from you all.

I'm going to check out the show here in Massachusetts this weekend, and try to gauge my interest. I'd rather spend the $7 for the ticket, and find out whether I really want to start this, than spend $500+ and find out I'm not interested. :)

[Burbs]

During my lunch break, I stopped by Country Train Depot, in Swansea MA, and spoke with the owner for quite a long time. Very nice man, who gave me a lot of insight and showed me a few different styles of trains, and really got me thinking about this as a hobby. I'm looking forward to this weekends show, to gain even more knowledge.

You train collectors don't screw around. I'm very impressed with what I've seen and read so far. ;)

[PNKFLOYD]

Burbs- when you look at the trainshow layouts, be aware the public likes to see movement with trains going round and round. People watch for a few minutes and move on to something else.
Examine the layouts for a place to build a train. Is there a passing siding where one train can wait for another to pass on the main track?

What are the buildings, structures and industries on the layout? What would different cars in the train be used for? How can you get to the places to pick up loads?
Flatcars are used to move tractors, military vehicles, machinery, Christmas trees and pipe loads. Reefers (refridgeration cars) haul meat, produce, milk products and flowers. Gondola cars haul coal, grains, minerals like sulfur and phosphate, and specialty loads like oil drilling pipes. Tank cars carry petro products, milk, chemicals or food products like corn syrup. Boxcars may be loaded with auto parts, bulky cotton bales or lumber, manufacturing components or ingot, and even hobos. Some passenger trainsmoved people and mail across country, and high priority freight went in the baggage cars.
As you can see, there should be reasons for the cars to make stops in the rounds of your layout.;)
Like most thing, the more you know about a subject, the better decisions you can make.
Mikey

[SpaceMouse]

I mentioned this before, but I will be more emphatic. Read my Beginner's Guide before you go to the train show. It will take you 5 minutes.

[Burbs]

Spacemouse,

I will definitely read that tonight.

Thanks,

Chris

[hamltnblue]

There are additional sites that may interest you as well. I stick with this one and modelrailroader.com.