A return to the fun of HO railroading


Welcome to here, great you could back into model railroading! 👍
Even since 20 years ago, techniques for all the aspects of model railroading have changed, some more than others.
Take your time, research, research, research, what ever scale/era your going to model. 😁
 
Hi
I'd only suggest, if, IF you are going to purchase all new stuff, that you go DCC..It's easier to hook up and run trains with than earlier analog DC..
One 'DCC/Sound on board' loco can be had on ebay approx. $150 (+-). An NCE PowerCab or a Digitrax controller is approx. $165...
Welcome back....
 
Yep, been researching and watching videos the past couple months, have not purchased DCC yet but is definitely the plan, still working on space to start, think it will be a 13’x12’ layout to get the ball rolling…. I am honestly excited to get working on it but taking my time to get it right!!!
Thanks for the replies😉
 
Welcome back. I too jumped back in after a 25 year hiatus. Boy have things changed! Another suggestion, build a couple of dioramas or small scenes to practice techniques before starting construction. It was amazing to find out how much you thought you retained.
 
Welcome aboard !
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I am wanting to do a late 1980s layout, before the use of the caboose became obsolete, can anyone point me to a website that supplies the scenery that would match that time frame? Having a hard time finding vehicles and such that would look natural on the layout, everything I have looked at is much earlier or modern…
 
First of all welcome aboard.
For some reason, vehicles for that time period are harder to find than other eras. However you can use 70's era vehicles as there were still a lot of them around, especially if you model a locale that didn't salt their roads in winter. In the area where I live in North Central Texas, there are still late 80's and early 90's vehicles around. Especially pick up trucks. Around that time, many vehicles started to look identical over several years so a few early 90's ones would only be noticeable to someone who really followed vehicle design. As for other scenery, there really isn't any difference over the last 75 years. There's more tilt-wall construction in the 80's, but the lack of it on a layout shouldn't matter.
 
My layout is model trains and the industries they served,....steam and diesel locomotives,...no era constraints,....and no vehicles (don't have room for them).

I had a pretty good selection of layout designs I had saved from older MR magazines,...and I picked a few of those that I though might be interesting and fit my space. I imagine a google search these days could turn up lots of possibilities.
 
My plan is to do a 3 city layout, my town, town I drive through on the way to work, the town where I work…. Been looking at Google satellite maps to get the gist, but may not look too real on a 13x12 layout so reconsidering my options…. Still want to stay in the time period of my youth, so late 80s….
Want to send a thanks to you guys on here, not many to share my eagerness of doing this with, you dudes and dudettes (late 80s lol) will be great to chat with😉
 
Topherisme said:
I am wanting to do a late 1980s layout, before the use of the caboose became obsolete, can anyone point me to a website that supplies the scenery that would match that time frame? Having a hard time finding vehicles and such that would look natural on the layout, everything I have looked at is much earlier or modern…
Click to expand...
Yeah that is a problem. Not a lot of late 80s cars were interesting enough to merit folks making models of them.
 
Just a few thoughts that drifted across my mind this morning. I was thinking back about 10+ years ago (didn't realize it had been that long!) when I first 're-entered' the hobby not knowing a great deal about it.

I first purchased a used layout that a lady needed to get out of her basement. It was a rather invovled Atlas plan that her late husband had built the benchwork for and just started to lay track. I experimented with it and learned a lot.

Then it came time to sell that off and move to FL and built a new one. I had learned that I wanted to build it in its own shed rather than in any home space, and ultimately my shed size was going to be limited to 12' x 16',...a little larger than what you are thinking. Because of my advancing age, and experiences with that previous layout I knew I did NOT want to crawl under the decks,....so I chose what is termed 'around the wall' . That leaves the decks cantilevered out from the walls for easy access to wiring, and a multitude of other sins. I would HIGHLY recommend this approach.

Givens & Druthers: You might google this term and see the big number of suggestions as a way to go about determining what you MIGHT want to do with a new design. This list can always be modified as your planning goes along.

So here you can see some of my initial request for help with a new layout plan....on this forum
https://modelrailroadforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/help-please-design-a-dbl-deck-layout-in-its-own-hand-house-shed.29493/
You can ignore my desire for a double-deck arrangement and just look at the main deck inspiration, the Anon& Muss
https://modelrailroadforums.com/for...in-its-own-hand-house-shed.29493/#post-414043

What I thought you might find interesting is that it has 3 blobs,...perhaps one for each of your 3 towns?
Those blobs need to be able to contain 24" radius tracks which would be enough for your modern diesel locos. They were not enough for my longer steam engines.

City landscapes can take up a lot of real estate, so perhaps to need to consider making a lot of the buildings as 'flats and semi-flats against the corner walls. That is what I am going to do with my city of Balt in the one lower corner of my room. I'm even going to use some paper textured buildings on foamboard to preserve real estate

This was another layout design I looked at for inspiration when first looking,..
https://modelrailroadforums.com/for...in-its-own-hand-house-shed.29493/#post-414056
 
All good layouts, something to think about…. Guess I will have to draw up a quick schematic off my ideas and let you guys critique…
 
I am about to show some model railroading ignorance, hate to but have to lol
How can I identify my locos? Most of these were given to me by others so no boxes. Been looking for a site that would tell me distinguishing features but not a huge help
 
Topherisme said:
I am about to show some model railroading ignorance, hate to but have to lol
How can I identify my locos? Most of these were given to me by others so no boxes. Been looking for a site that would tell me distinguishing features but not a huge help
Click to expand...
Hi and welcome aboard.

My suggestion is post a picture here and let the experts take a look. It always amazes me when folks can tell us the manufacturer of models.

TomO
 
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