Starting a Model Railway
Discussion
So, it was my little boys birthday at the weekend (6) & his grandparents have bought him a Hornby 00 Gauge train-set (postal express), he got various other track packs as well as an additional engine.
This is to replace his existing giant wooden set.
We have a wooden board to fix all the new track too, however i've no idea where to actually start with it? Do you need to paint the board before screwing it down? What screws do i need etc?
He wants to get some buildings, i suggested an engine shed, or a tunnel/station to start with to keep him interested, i thought plastic would be a good way to go as it'll be more sturdy than cardboard models, however i really have absolutely no idea where to start, or what to buy!
Can anyone give me some tips/pointers on basics on where to best start?
Plus any good websites for plastic buildings etc.
Much appreciated.
This is to replace his existing giant wooden set.
We have a wooden board to fix all the new track too, however i've no idea where to actually start with it? Do you need to paint the board before screwing it down? What screws do i need etc?
He wants to get some buildings, i suggested an engine shed, or a tunnel/station to start with to keep him interested, i thought plastic would be a good way to go as it'll be more sturdy than cardboard models, however i really have absolutely no idea where to start, or what to buy!
Can anyone give me some tips/pointers on basics on where to best start?
Plus any good websites for plastic buildings etc.
Much appreciated.
theguvernor15 said:
So, it was my little boys birthday at the weekend (6) & his grandparents have bought him a Hornby 00 Gauge train-set (postal express), he got various other track packs as well as an additional engine.
This is to replace his existing giant wooden set.
We have a wooden board to fix all the new track too, however i've no idea where to actually start with it? Do you need to paint the board before screwing it down? What screws do i need etc?
He wants to get some buildings, i suggested an engine shed, or a tunnel/station to start with to keep him interested, i thought plastic would be a good way to go as it'll be more sturdy than cardboard models, however i really have absolutely no idea where to start, or what to buy!
Can anyone give me some tips/pointers on basics on where to best start?
Plus any good websites for plastic buildings etc.
Much appreciated.
I suppose it depends what you want to do with it and how you want to extend it.... but let's say you just want to add the set you got with the track packs and follow the standard hornby track layout, then best to get some board to put it on 6x4 is usual size for those layouts IIRC, but you could go for some hardwood (finds it stays better - though heavier, then say sundela as is sometimes recommended) - or go bigger for extending it later and get this from Wickes - http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-General-Purpose-Har...This is to replace his existing giant wooden set.
We have a wooden board to fix all the new track too, however i've no idea where to actually start with it? Do you need to paint the board before screwing it down? What screws do i need etc?
He wants to get some buildings, i suggested an engine shed, or a tunnel/station to start with to keep him interested, i thought plastic would be a good way to go as it'll be more sturdy than cardboard models, however i really have absolutely no idea where to start, or what to buy!
Can anyone give me some tips/pointers on basics on where to best start?
Plus any good websites for plastic buildings etc.
Much appreciated.
To make it permanent you want to get some track pins to go through the holes in the sleepers in the track - they do come in different sizes, but the hornby ones will be thick enough to go through the holes without bending them all the time - http://www.gaugemaster.com/item_details.asp?code=G...
Sometimes it is best to get a really small drill to prepare the holes into the baseboard
If you then want to make it more realistic you will want to put ballast down, two options - do it as per my thread - the standard way of buying ballast (from Woodland Scenics or equivalent) and then using PVA, water mix; or get some underlay (you will need to do this before laying the track, and can be expensive - http://www.gaugemaster.com/item_details.asp?code=G...
Plastic kits, depends if you fancy building them or having them bullet proof - if bullet proof the Scaledale stuff from hornby is good enough
https://railsofsheffield.com/search/search-results...
Or you can build some yourself which can be pretty sturdy - http://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/SiteResults.asp...
Though the cardboard kits from Metcalfe are pretty solid for a 6 year old if you use proper card glue - https://www.metcalfemodels.com/
If you want to take the modelling on some further for realism, there are some good tutorials on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpOcgNqc3JFMhR2L3... has really good tutorials on every aspect of the model railway.
I have linked to the three model shops I use throughout this post
Just to check;
Have you put it together yet at all?
Let him play with it first before securing it all down too much. When I got my first train set at age 5/6 there was plenty of fun to be had in redesigning the track layout myself before making anything permanent, that came several years later.
Have you put it together yet at all?
Let him play with it first before securing it all down too much. When I got my first train set at age 5/6 there was plenty of fun to be had in redesigning the track layout myself before making anything permanent, that came several years later.
Shakermaker said:
Just to check;
Have you put it together yet at all?
Let him play with it first before securing it all down too much. When I got my first train set at age 5/6 there was plenty of fun to be had in redesigning the track layout myself before making anything permanent, that came several years later.
I still do this before I commit to a layout, consequentially it's back in boxes and I have a drum kit in the garage instead!!Have you put it together yet at all?
Let him play with it first before securing it all down too much. When I got my first train set at age 5/6 there was plenty of fun to be had in redesigning the track layout myself before making anything permanent, that came several years later.
This youtube channel is quite good, there are lots of others!
https://www.youtube.com/user/EverardJunction/video...
Thanks guys, great help so far!
He's got the basic oval shape as well as some other track packs from Hornby.
He had the basic loop built for him, i thought he'd be bored of it just going backwards & forwards, however he played with it for about 4 hours!
We've already got the board from a relative who's a chippie, so that aspect is sorted, he's gagging for me to get the track laid out on the board for him though so he can play with it, so i'll probably go the standard Hornby loop route to start with as we know that'll fit the board.
Is there any value in up-grading anything before we start fitting stuff down?
The controller is the standard plastic one from hornby & looks a touch flimsy.
He's got the basic oval shape as well as some other track packs from Hornby.
He had the basic loop built for him, i thought he'd be bored of it just going backwards & forwards, however he played with it for about 4 hours!
We've already got the board from a relative who's a chippie, so that aspect is sorted, he's gagging for me to get the track laid out on the board for him though so he can play with it, so i'll probably go the standard Hornby loop route to start with as we know that'll fit the board.
Is there any value in up-grading anything before we start fitting stuff down?
The controller is the standard plastic one from hornby & looks a touch flimsy.
If you have just one track, then that controller is fine as a beginner one - it is flimsy, but unless you are looking at powering points or adding other accessories it will do just fine... or unless you decide to go digital (much more expensive and you have to start to worry about the output Amps and how many trains you want to run at once).
If you do want to upgrade then you can't go wrong with Gaugemaster controllers - http://www.gaugemaster.com/controls.html
One thing you can do with the baseboard is lay down some underlay, as this then quiets the sound of the train on the baseboard, and if you cut it to the shape of the track allows you to have a shoulder for ballast... though (and another good resource) the model railway community are not necessarily sold on it - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/... but I prefer it when I lay the track.
If you do want to upgrade then you can't go wrong with Gaugemaster controllers - http://www.gaugemaster.com/controls.html
One thing you can do with the baseboard is lay down some underlay, as this then quiets the sound of the train on the baseboard, and if you cut it to the shape of the track allows you to have a shoulder for ballast... though (and another good resource) the model railway community are not necessarily sold on it - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/... but I prefer it when I lay the track.
Thanks Pete, this is all a learning curve for me also!
So essentially, for a hassle free installation, i buy some of that underlay ballast stuff you linked too, i presume, glue it down?
Then nail through the that with the track pins? Or, do i glue the track to the underlay & then nail them through?
I think we'll run with the basic loops as he has track pack A, i believe C,D+ E aswell, then once we've got the ballast down we can start adding building and scenerey & out houses too it.
So essentially, for a hassle free installation, i buy some of that underlay ballast stuff you linked too, i presume, glue it down?
Then nail through the that with the track pins? Or, do i glue the track to the underlay & then nail them through?
I think we'll run with the basic loops as he has track pack A, i believe C,D+ E aswell, then once we've got the ballast down we can start adding building and scenerey & out houses too it.
Invest in a track rubber and wheel cleaning device.
Trust me, there is nothing more frustrating than having trains which stall and stutter all the time.
Also, if you are planning on making the trackwork permanent (pinning it down etc) I would highly suggest soldering the joints. The fishplates (little connectors on the end of the tracks) are useless and are often the cause of problematic running. Soldering the joints, or soldering copper wire between the joints can do wonders to making sure the loco always has power.
Trust me, there is nothing more frustrating than having trains which stall and stutter all the time.
Also, if you are planning on making the trackwork permanent (pinning it down etc) I would highly suggest soldering the joints. The fishplates (little connectors on the end of the tracks) are useless and are often the cause of problematic running. Soldering the joints, or soldering copper wire between the joints can do wonders to making sure the loco always has power.
Edited by MysteryLemon on Tuesday 1st November 19:11
YouTube video of laying track with track underlay - https://youtu.be/5hn7NLZTFUk
Thanks DWS, he's got a big board with the set made up on now.
We've got 2 big loops with an inner siding & an outer siding.
We used tracks A,B,C & D from Hornby. (Postal express with add-ons).
He's fascinated by it, the board we have has gone on his old wooden train table.
My next question as this is a big learning curve for me, is, if we got another controller, could we then have say, 1 controller controlling the outer loop & 1 controller controlling the inner loop?
He's a bit confused having to manually change the points all the time (i am also if i'm honest with you).
For the time being it'd probably be easier if we could have 1 basic controller doing 1 loop & 1 doing another.
We've got 2 big loops with an inner siding & an outer siding.
We used tracks A,B,C & D from Hornby. (Postal express with add-ons).
He's fascinated by it, the board we have has gone on his old wooden train table.
My next question as this is a big learning curve for me, is, if we got another controller, could we then have say, 1 controller controlling the outer loop & 1 controller controlling the inner loop?
He's a bit confused having to manually change the points all the time (i am also if i'm honest with you).
For the time being it'd probably be easier if we could have 1 basic controller doing 1 loop & 1 doing another.
theguvernor15 said:
Ok thanks, i did think that, if we've got the 2 loops linked via the Y shaped points, i presume it would then just continuously run ?
To prevent a short circuit you need to make sure that in between the points you break the circuit, usually you can do this with some plastic rail joiners. Then you can power one oval with one controller, and another with the other. If you are then wanting to transfer trains across the tracks then you need to match both controllers and directions and you can move trains around. For the sidings you can power that with another controller if you want shunting. Alternatively you can wire up a switch to select which track the controller powers (but a bit more complicated wiring)
If you have a bit more money you can go DCC, where you select the train you want to power and it will drive off, thus your can control loads of trains on the same controller. It requires buying decoders for each train (making sure they are DCC compatible or else even more electronic soldering) and a digital system, but makes the track wiring simpler and you can even run two or more trains on the same oval independently.
I would just go for the simpler first method, but wanted to give all the options.
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