It's Come a Long Way!


N

Ned Torbin

Member
Hello everyone,

I was born in 1970, and I became interested in trains at age 7. Back then we lived in East Lansing, Michigan. I remember seeing many Grand Trunk, Chessie, and Canadian National trains when my Dad would take me by the local tracks running through town. I had a minimal HO oval track, which I later expanded somewhat in my early and mid-teens. I loved reading Model Railroader, was always impressed by the prototypical scenes, but didn't have the patience back then as I preferred to run my train with the time I had available.

Now I live on Long Island, NY. A few years ago I tagged along with a buddy of mine to a hobby store that had trains running, and I was blown away by the lighting and sound details the locomotives now have! The level of emersion created by those extra features and ability for independent control was really impressive. Getting back into the hobby has been on my mind since that day, and I finally am starting to act on it. Plus, I have more patience now than I did at 15 :)

I find I'm interested in the 70s and 80s era, which makes sense as those were my initial years of exposure. I haven't committed to specific road names yet, there are so many to choose from. I have a room I plan to use that is about 11ft x 13 ft., with some quirky dimensions. I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos and playing around with SCARM, and I'll likely post a few track plans I have been creating with it in the appropriate layout forum. I'm sure I have a ton to learn, and I look forward to any input from those willing to share!

Ned
 
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I love how you used the term “initial years of exposure”!
Much like the flu or any bug that has you running to the free clinic, (Canadian joke) model railroading is often referred to as a bug that you catch!
Good idea testing the waters as they say by watching youtube and “playing” with track planning software instead of just jumping right in as many do.
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
 
Welcome Ned,

I highly recommend that you check a few different sites out:
Custommodelrailroads dot com and
Layoutvision dot com, and of course our competing forum (I love both)
modeltrainforum dot com

so many great resources and ideas on these and many other great websites!
 
Thanks everyone for the welcome!

@Rico , yes I can see this as a "healthy illness" haha, in aviation we always joke around how we all caught the aviation bug. I am eager to get into this but I would hate to mess up and try to fix things later. I did just post a few ideas with images from SCARM in the Layout Design forum, hope to hear any thoughts you might have!

@BigGRacing thanks for those suggestions. I like the idea of being able to get professional assistance from those experienced builders if I ended up needing it. I do have a disability that limits my hand dexterity, so something like those services might come in handy at one point. Thank you again!
 
There is so much that I am still learning as I move forward, but definitely some great resource out there for sure. They also actually make sense.
 
While it is possible to beat it, model railroading is an addiction that is almost impossible to cure! You may go into remission for a period of time, even years, but you will almost always relapse 😆 I have been affected for seventy years, off an on. So welcome. Have fun! Stay well and safe!
 
Ned Torbin said:
I haven't committed to specific road names yet, there are so many to choose from.
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Yeah that is a hard thing to do, but I highly recommend the "commit" part. I didn't and now I have an enormous collection that doesn't go together or match in any way. I am now certain that by choosing a specific theme and sticking too it, then the focus would be more rewarding, and certainly cost less both $ and time. When you see some really cool expensive thing, it wont be tempting because "it doesn't fit the theme".
 
Iron Horseman said:
When you see some really cool expensive thing, it wont be tempting because "it doesn't fit the theme"
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And at what point do I, does the modeler transition over to, not being temped? o_Oo_O
Seriously, I felt like I pretty much focused on a specific theme (GN). I am constantly tempted to pick up another piece of rolling equipment, because it's different and has a strong possibility that it had run on the GN line. It's the actual refrain from buying the piece is were I'm weak....ok, pretty weak🤪
 
2Tracks said:
And at what point do I, does the modeler transition over to, not being temped? o_Oo_O
Seriously, I felt like I pretty much focused on a specific theme (GN). I am constantly tempted to pick up another piece of rolling equipment, because it's different and has a strong possibility that it had run on the GN line. It's the actual refrain from buying the piece is were I'm weak....ok, pretty weak🤪
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Well, freight cars are any road any time because of the interchanges. Locomotives not so much. On the GN there could be Northern Pacific and Milwalkee locos occasionally because of a train re-routing through foreign territory. Definitely SP&S and CB&Q because of shared power arrangements or short term seasonal leases, even DM&IR in that case.

Let me go through my journey as quickly as possible as a case study of what you don't want to do.
1965? 4th grade, My first not hand me down locomotive was a V&T 4-4-0. So that is what I'm going to model. I thought Virginia was the state not the city.
My serious start (1969) was in N-scale in Santa Fe because that is what I grew up with both Grandparents and Uncles farms were on the trans con main.
Got interested in Burlington because of their early diesel equipment, so added that and choose Trinidad Colorado where the two lines overlap.
Then add in D&RGW and CW because they were also in Trinidad. So far no problem.
Then I learned about freelance and decided to make my own railroad. I could buy anything because I was going to repaint it anyway!
1975 I am in Woolworth's at Christmas Time and find a passenger car painted blue! Great Northern big sky blue specifically. Santa Fe, Burlington, and the D&RGW all had stainless silver passenger cars. I was intrigued at a passenger train that was not stainless. Also a really cool goat logo. So off to the library and got books on the Great Northern. I was hooked. I decided to keep the N-scale but model the Great Northern in HO.
Further study of the GN transition era I figured out that they had really strange locomotives with the Belpaire fire boxes. At the time the only ones made were brass. And Pennsy's weren't close enough to be a good stand in. Plus the Big Sky Blue paint scheme was modern and didn't match transition era. Mostly for the love of the Z-6 Challenger I switched to Northern Pacific. Great looking much more standard locomotives that Rivarossi and some Bowser units could "stand in" for. A few years and suddenly I liked the Raymond Lowe North Coast Limited. Oops once again not the transition era. In a moment of insanity I decided to go era less. NP regardless of the time. I bought USRA 0-8-0s, 2-8-8-2s, U30C, FP7s, etc.
Another couple of years and I can't choose a location to model, AND the NP has no Alco PA units. What is up with that. Hmmm neither does GN.... Neither does CB&Q. Well that is a deal breaker.
Back to Santa Fe but in HO. And oh yes D&RGW too. no no Back to freelance, but this time in HO scale.
Started collecting fantasy fruit crate reefer cars.
I made a trip back east by Amtrack and saw the amazing railroad features that are absent in the west. 4 track main lines, fly over tracks, massive junctions and crossovers. Maybe I should model something more intense like the Pennsy? Fortunately I didn't run with that one.... Other than starting a collection of GG1 locomotives.
But now trying to decide I hit on "This is so complicated maybe I should do a short line" Started with the Louisville and Wadley. Only 10 miles of track in the prototype. Collected Central of Georgia locomotives and boxcars from all sorts of deep south roadnames. But by this time I had been a member of a club for a long time and I wanted bigger operations than a two mixed trains daily type railroad could deliver.
A few more minor switches. Finally ditched the N-scale all together in 2003.
Thinking a lot I decided to do Pueblo Colorado in the early to mid 1960s. Santa Fe, D&RGW, Burlington, Missouri Pacific, Rock Island, CW, Plus at the time the Burlington was leasing both GN and NP power so it was not uncommon to have those road names sitting in the yard and on trains.
Seemed perfect for a while. But mid 1960s there was exactly one steam locomotive in service on the Burlington. darn.
Plus No Santa Fe transcontinental traffic. All my massive trains Chief, Super Chief, El Capitan, Grand Canyon, California Limited, etc are way out there in the prairie at La Junta. Plus by the mid 1960s many of them were being cancelled. The SuperChief and El Cap were combined......

So here we are. Over 50 years of accumulation of miss matched equipment and no cohesive plan for all this stuff! Don't do this.
 
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Thanks for the advice on committing, I can see that being tough to do as well. Your sharing of experiences & challenges, and lessons learned is very helpful. I do find myself interested in the road names I saw frequently early on, which included the "wet noodle" of GT, CN, CV. My first locomotive was a red & grey Burlington SD7 (or 9?), which captured my imagination in childhood. I also find myself liking the look of the Santa Fe, BN, BNSF, and Union Pacific. So much cool stuff out there! The elevation changes out west are appealing, while the moisture driven greenery of the eastern US is interesting as well... *sighhh*

It's going to take some time to ready my hobby room, which is good as it gives me more time to keep on thinking & learning as I browse through your experiences for sure.
 
I sometimes say that I wish I would have just purchased books all that time. A good story or reference is always valuable. But I think the more I read the more interesting things I find that I would like to model. I caught myself buying equipment just to re-create pictures I've seen in a book.
 
Iron Horseman said:
Don't do this
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I think a lot of guys do this, just in their own way. I, have done this, in my own way. I've stayed pretty focused on the era so I don't have the deviation in stuff that you do, but the results are the same.
Iron Horseman said:
Locomotives not so much.
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I respectfully disagree! Not even considering the variety of steam engines, I'm doing GN in the trans.era. There are all the first gen EMD freight motors, FT's, F3's, F7's and the B units to go with them, and all the different running configurations. The Alco A-B versions of what GN bought, and their running configurations. There is all of that, in the other two roads that pulled trains to klamath at that time, SP&S and Western Pacific. Right now, I'm keeping a look out for a set of A-B FT's in the WP green scheme. Then there's the numerous first gen switch engines. And the passenger versions of these roads...(I'm not doing passenger trains either besides steam), Then there's the Demonstrator versions of first gen stuff (check avatar). I have acquired several pieces of Demo stuff, I want more. The one thing that curbs the urge to buy motors, is the price....but, if I really want it.......Houston, we have a problem! 🤣
 
2Tracks said:
I respectfully disagree! Not even considering the variety of steam engines, I'm doing GN in the trans.era. There are all the first gen EMD freight motors, FT's, F3's, F7's and the B units to go with them, and all the different running configurations. The Alco A-B versions of what GN bought, and their running configurations. There is all of that, in the other two roads that pulled trains to klamath at that time, SP&S and Western Pacific. Right now, I'm keeping a look out for a set of A-B FT's in the WP green scheme. Then there's the numerous first gen switch engines. And the passenger versions of these roads...(I'm not doing passenger trains either besides steam), Then there's the Demonstrator versions of first gen stuff (check avatar). I have acquired several pieces of Demo stuff, I want more. The one thing that curbs the urge to buy motors, is the price....but, if I really want it.......Houston, we have a problem! 🤣
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Oh your right, as far as variety of types of locos. I meant "not so much with the locos" to go with the "any road name any time". Example: there is no prototype excuse for a Seaboard E unit pulling a train through Spokane. However do have a picture of there NYC U28Cs on the point of a CB&Q train in Western Illinois.

I have a set of the Baldwin 1953? TrainMasters demo units. I love them. But still to have spent as much time and money as I have on model trains and not have a pleasing, photogenic, magazine article worthy pike to show for it, is a bit discouraging. I was going for V&O and ended up with Captain Kangaroo's toy trainset.
 
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