Hello!
I've actually been playing with HO trains off and on since I was young. However, I've never had a place to set up a permanent track with landscaping and the like. All previous HO experience has been with temporary track and relatively inexpensive (read: cheap) train sets from Tyco and LifeLike.
Well I finally have some space, albeit small, to set up something in the nature of 4x8 or maybe a little larger. Also, I may be able to run a long and skinny section to another part of the room. So, I'm looking for a good resource for beginner planning/designing and building of my first real model railroad. I'll be using DCC, very likely an NCE PowerCab.
However I'll not be near as serious in to realism as many of you are. I love both steam and diesel, and I plan on running both. I'll not be faithful to a specific line (though I may set up one train to be specific) nor to a specific time period. I currently own an E7 A/B pair, an EMD switcher, and even a Consolidation. All with sound and DCC.
I like to kitbash but I don't have the time or patience for anything but the simplest scratch-built.
From reading here and a few other places, looks like 3/4" OSB or plywood would be good for a structure top. But some of you use foam on top of that. I'm guessing that makes modeling easier and cuts down on noise and such. Where can I get details on what type of foam, where to get it, and how thick?
Though I don't have a lot of space, I really want to maximize my track length with multiple levels and such. Can you recommend any plans that focus on a small area yet really provide more track than scenery? Again, I'm not looking for proto realism, but just some fun train-watching and modeling.
And for help on this project I'll have my 9-year old son and 7-year old daughter.
Thanks for reading. I'll see you around!
I've actually been playing with HO trains off and on since I was young. However, I've never had a place to set up a permanent track with landscaping and the like. All previous HO experience has been with temporary track and relatively inexpensive (read: cheap) train sets from Tyco and LifeLike.
Well I finally have some space, albeit small, to set up something in the nature of 4x8 or maybe a little larger. Also, I may be able to run a long and skinny section to another part of the room. So, I'm looking for a good resource for beginner planning/designing and building of my first real model railroad. I'll be using DCC, very likely an NCE PowerCab.
However I'll not be near as serious in to realism as many of you are. I love both steam and diesel, and I plan on running both. I'll not be faithful to a specific line (though I may set up one train to be specific) nor to a specific time period. I currently own an E7 A/B pair, an EMD switcher, and even a Consolidation. All with sound and DCC.
I like to kitbash but I don't have the time or patience for anything but the simplest scratch-built.
From reading here and a few other places, looks like 3/4" OSB or plywood would be good for a structure top. But some of you use foam on top of that. I'm guessing that makes modeling easier and cuts down on noise and such. Where can I get details on what type of foam, where to get it, and how thick?
Though I don't have a lot of space, I really want to maximize my track length with multiple levels and such. Can you recommend any plans that focus on a small area yet really provide more track than scenery? Again, I'm not looking for proto realism, but just some fun train-watching and modeling.
And for help on this project I'll have my 9-year old son and 7-year old daughter.
Thanks for reading. I'll see you around!