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Ballhog24

Ballhog24

Woody
Good morning everyone!

Well after some very great help from a couple of moderators, I'm finally able to post on here!! thanks bunches.

Wanted to say hello and introduce myself briefly. I'm a 39 yr old guy born and raised in Central Arkansas. I had a couple of train sets when I was a kid, but never to any detail. The last few years I've gotten the "bug" and have setup trains for christmas, but now after some discussion between the Mrs. and a few friends, we feel it's time to put a semi-permanent layout in the family room, and possibly another layout that will run throughout the house.

Right now my best friend and I are doing a LOT of research to see just how we're going to pull the family room idea off...it seems to have the possibility of being a very LARGE undertaking, and at first glance we'll probably put a LOT of it if not ALL of it on paper, then start building sections here and there, incorporating the available wall space and creating the add on components as we go.

Right now it looks like our first "venture" will probably be in N scale just because of the supposed "scale" of the scenery and buildings that will encompass the layout, we feel that HO would probably be TOO big for this, but as we get more into the design of it, we'll surely consider the possibility of changing scales before we put one mark on any walls or build any pieces.

Anyway, I know this was long winded, but I wanted to say hello, and I hope some of you on here don't mind beginner questions during our quest.

Thanks,
Ballhog24
 
Hi Ballhog24, and welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have some big plans. I agree it's best to get them down on paper first, I didn't, and I run into a lot of problems which had to be compensated for during track laying.
start building sections here and there, incorporating the available wall space and creating the add on components as we go.
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Sectional building sounds kind of interesting in that the areas will be completed as you go along. I might suggest that you concentrate on doing the family room first, you may find that as time passes this area alone will be enough :) and then again maybe not :eek:
The scale you model in, really is a personal choice. Each scale has it's positive and negative points, so you have to choose which is best for you, in the area you will model in. "N" scale has come a long way in quality models and accessories that are now available, but HO is easier to handle (especially for oldfolks like me). :D
Anyway, I know this was long winded, but I wanted to say hello, and I hope some of you on here don't mind beginner questions during our quest.
Click to expand...
You're welcome to be as long winded as you like, (it's the silent ones we wonder about) and beginner questions are certainly welcome for discussion, sometimes it's surprising what the old section hands can learn from newcommer. :D Good luck with your planning, be sure to keep us posted and ask any questions about the forum and modeling that you want.
Guess I'm sort of long winded too :D
Cheers Willis
 
Thank you Willis, and thank you for your help yesterday, I really appreciate it.

My friend and I have already started with drawings, matter of fact he faxed me a drawing this morning of Flat Top Tunnel, to which I faxed him back a drawing of Ice Lake, so we're starting to throw around ideas. He and I both are above average with building, remodeling, design, etc...but neither of us are very apt with railroad creation...so we'll be learning as we go.

I plan on getting a couple of manuals on benchwork and wiring, although a majority of our benchwork will be installed directly into the walls using the studs as support for the benchwork framing.

Our first "problems" are going to be with grade fluctuations, and learning just how much grade the trains can ascend and descend within set distances and turns without problems. Once we learn that we'll get a better handle on the overall height of our plans.

We have already decided that a majority of our builds will be using the pink/blue/grey foam insulation boards, and then cutting, rasping, and molding them as need be. Most of our buildings will be painted directly onto the walls as backdrop, with a few of the "main" buildings we'll build directly out of the walls with either balsa wood, or another lightweight wood,metal, etc.

We're going to get some ideas down on paper in both HO and N scale, and then when we get a better idea of space, we'll have a better decision on the final scale of the project.
 
Welcome to the forum and best wishes on your project. It sounds like fun. Take a long, hard look at the scale issue. They both have their advantages/diadvantages.
 
grande man said:
Take a long, hard look at the scale issue. They both have their advantages/diadvantages.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have a few engines in both HO and N scale, and some accessories in both scales, some rolling stock, vehicles, poeple, a little bit of track, etc.

Picking scale will be the biggest decision in the next month or so...once the scale is decided on, then finding the engines and cars we need will be the next step as far as stock.

Also, once we finalize our scale size, we can start cutting into the walls and attaching the framework for the layout supports into the studs.
 
My layout is built with 2 X 2's hanging on the wall. They look similar to what is below. The top is about 24" to 30" according to what part of the layout you are on and the uprites are about 36" long. I then cut 3/4" plywood into 5" wide strips and screwed and glued some boxes out of these strips with a cross brace on the boxes about every 24" and one of the below brackets on every other stud. I then glued some 1 1/2" pink stryofoam on top of that. The next time I will use the blue styrofoam because the pink has a dip every 16" which gas to be filled with something to have a smooth surface for the track to lay on. This set up will allow me to dismantle the layout if the need arises, just cut the track and a couple of place in the scenery and it is ready to move. My train room is 10' 5" X 15'. The layout look like a big elongated C. Here is a link to my website where you can see some pictures of my layout. Excuse my website I have not updated it in over a year, to many honey do projects to complete.
http://members.iquest.net/~leghome/index.html

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X X This line is supposed to angle for the 4th X to the X next
X X to the bottom but I have yet to figger out how to make
X X this work here.
X X
X X
X X
X X
X
 
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Welcome Ballhog! If you have any more question please feel free to ask me, or someone else on this great forum! Hope to learn more about you soon.
Hear from ya later,
Chris Moore
 
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