Hello from Boston


T

toe knee

New Member
Good evening everyone.

I'm Tony. From the Boston area. 39 years old. My brother and I had an N gauge layout when we were in our teens and we helped my older brother around the same time with his N gauge layout. I've always been a huge fan of model railroading and am interested in getting into the hobby again. This time my interest is in HO scale.

My knowledge of the hobby is limited but I know for sure that I still get a genuine kick out of the whole thing. It truly is amazing how things have progressed and much there is to learn.

I've already purchased a starter kit. Mostly because I wanted to see if I'd be as interested as I thought I might. I bought the Bachmann DCC set up with 2 Engines. (the same ones I had as a kid, only bigger) I realize that the EZ command unit is NOT the best on the market but I am certainly having a blast playing with it so far. Like I said-it's amazing how things have progressed.

I'm sure I'll have MANY MANY questions and figured that the friendly thing to do is to introduce myself before driving everyone nuts with questions. LOL

Thanks,
Tony
 
Hey Tony, sounds like it runs in the family, eh?
Having fun is important, so have at it!
 
Hi Tony & welcome to the forums..

I hope when I eventually win the lottery & get to watch the Red Sox play at Fenway Park that I get an invite to see your railroading empire! I'm sure by the time I win the lottery you'll have an empire! lol...
 
Hi Tony. There are a few of us in the Boston area already on this board!

You might consider joining one of the local clubs, even if you have trains at home. The ones closest to the city are in Hingham, Wakefield and Shirley, and one in the city at Roslindale Square, and at MIT in Cambridge.

Otherwise, get building!
 
Welcome back to the hobby!

I Actually have 2 Bachmann EZ COmmands and 13 Bachmann DCC OnBoard locos. I have one for my "regular layout" and one for my "Under the Christmas tree" layout. I love the simplicity and ease of use, and can't beat the price. It also has thusfar given me nearly 6 years of service!

While you can only program in 2 digit codes I have meticulously written which engine is on which #. I avoid #10 as it CAN be used to run DC and control the lights. I DON'T mix at all with DC for fear I'll fry somehting. I only run DCC,and I don't do sound.

YOu can actually Assign 2 locos to each number, AS LONG AS YOU DON"T try to RUN both the assigned to a single number AT THE SAME TIME.
SO with 9 #s assigned to two locos each, you can program up to 18 DCC locos. I put a tiny printed lable maker sticker on the top of each loco so I can easily see which is assigned to what number, AS WELL AS have the description and 4 didgit number ont he loco written in the little boxes.

Just be sure that you don't run more than 2 locos at once, as the amps for the EZ C is low. You CAN buy a 5 amp booster box that will allow you more locos to run to up to 10 at the same time.

I also find the Bachmann DCC Onboard locos to be reliable and have only one the growls on start up. They are aslo reasonably priced, especially here:
http://www.wholesaletrains.com/HOProducts2.asp?Scale=HO&SPECIAL=0 , where the left side pull down menu for "bachmann" will give you a list of locos available by name ofr classification. THe DCC ones are clearly labeled.

*sigh* should I ever have a layout that can actually run 10 locos!!! HA.
Enjoy your EZ C and your foray into DCC, You won't look back to DC.

{BTW IF and when I update to another DCC controller it will probably be teh Digitrax Zephyr Xtra {spelled right} which has 3 amp and COULD run up to 5-6 trains without sound that only draw 1/2 amp each.

GOOD luck with your endeavors!
 
thanks for the welcome and thanks for the information!!!!!

I'm leaning towards atlas track with the brown ties as it seems like a popular choice for a lot of layouts here. I'm also looking to go with a 4x6 layout to start with. I'm still in the information gathering stage and don't really see going forward until I digest a little more info. I DID by my first locomotive though. I bought a 0-6-0 dcc with vanderbilt tender. Nothing fancy. Just something to keep me interested I guess.

I haven't decided on a layout plan yet and I'm open to suggestions if anyone can point me in the right direction. I've seen a few 4x6 layouts on atlas' web site but I'm sure there are other sources that I've just not come across.
-Tony
 
Hi Tony and welcome to the forum!

It's a great group of helpful guys & a few gals on here, I'm sure you'll enjoy the group.
I've been involved with RR'ing for the past 60+ years but still learning too which is a neat thing.

What I wanted to mention to you, and I'm not trying to confuse things for you at first but hopefully give you a little different perspective, is to consider an L shaped layout rather than just a rectangle, with an oval, if you want some type of continuous run with the ability to have some various sidings here and there for operation.

The main reason I suggest the L shape is it breaks up the monotony of always watching the train/s go around the same oval. You'd be surprised what a difference adding a couple of different curves can make. Providing of course you have the space to have an L shaped layout or possibly even a U shape? In either case there can be a return loop at either end like I have that transitions from the lower single track inside line, on my layout, to the upper line. Look up my photo gallery to get a better idea, the inside line on my layout is the lower main line that climbs up on either end to the upper single track main with passing sidings.


The other thing you need to consider is that with HO you will need twice the distance basically between locations compared to N scale to feel realistic but we each have our restrictions and limitations too and have to work with what we have.


As far as the track, if your going to be running lighter weight smaller equipment like your 0-6-0 or even some moderately larger steam loco or some of the smaller Diesels code 83, especially with the brown ties, is more than big enough and will look a lot more appropriate in comparison to the size of the equipment. Code 100 is just too big in my opinion as a photographer to look right.

Hope this helps a bit?
 
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Hi Tony! I live in Boston as well. If you need any help, feel free to PM me (send me a private message) on the forums, (or ask publicly so that everyone else can read it and learn).

Depending on which part of Boston you are in, I can also stop by and help you out should you ever need it!

I don't claim to be a master modeler, but I've learned quite a lot in the past few years in this hobby and I don't mind sharing what I've learned.

Since you're doing HO, the BEST hobby shop around the Boston area is Charles Ro Supply. They appear to be a Lionel outfit (they claim to be the largest train store in America due to the fact that they carry everything on the current Lionel catalog if it is in stock) but they do have 4 aisles worth of HO stuff and pretty much anything that you would need. Since Charles Ro is a manufacturer (they're the retail outlet of the G gauge manufacturer USA Trains) they can sell stuff at a steeper discount than most other train stores (they make up for it by selling stuff faster and buying in bulk). If you do decide to check it out, say hi to Ted who works the counter at the HO department. They're also open late on Fridays (9am to 9pm) so that's usually when I go there to do my shopping. They also have a clearance table full of goodies and oldies but goodies (good place to find out of production and antique stuff) but they tend to remove it as the holidays swing around because they don't want someone clueless buying that stuff because it's cheap and pass over the goof stuff.

Eric
 
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