[Buckster]

Hi, everybody.

A little background on my interest in model railroading:

I had a pretty cool HO layout going when I was a kid. When my family moved in the late 80's my layout was torn down, boxed, and never set up again.

Now I'm nearing 50. My eldest son is in college, has moved out, and I've got some nice space in the finished basement where he was living. This summer my father downsized his residence and found a box of train stuff amidst his hoard of junk. It somehow wasn't my train stuff, but it included a bunch of track, a couple cars, a non-functional diesel loco, and a depot. I bought a couple odds and ends on ebay to get it going.

So, now I've got an 8x4 table in the basement and the youngest daughter (she's almost 5) and I are putting together a layout. Christmas is coming and the missus and I just gleefully bought a bunch of little people and a tree-building kit to give the kid. I think this will be a fun project she and I can work on together for years. I'm hoping her older sister (16) who is a very good artist will become interested as well and want to contribute.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to checking out this forum, interacting with you'all, getting inspiration, and maybe eventually contributing some myself.

Howdy!
-Buckster

 

[Tom_C]

Hello. So, do you still have your original train stuff, or was it contributed to the landfill when you moved?

 

[DonR]

Buckster

Welcome to our merry band of train guys.

All that old stuff is probably going to need
TLC...cleaning out the old lube and putting
in fresh plastic friendly lubes...LaBelle's has
a stock of what you need.

If you run into any problem let us know...our
guys have the years of experience to solve
whatever may come up.

Don

 

[Buckster]

Hi, Tom.

My father never throws anything away. I found it very odd that it seemed like the one thing he no longer had was my old train stuff. He's got a couple storage units and it's possible (likely?) that the stuff is in one of those. But I probably won't see it until he dies and my brother and I are forced to sift through the ol' packrat's collection. When he was moving, we tried to chuck some of the junk but he kept dumpster-diving and packing it away. He will NEVER open those boxes again. I love my father dearly but he truly needs to figure out how to part with things.

It's totally okay. If it still exists I'm sure it's pretty smashed up after all this time. I'm looking forward to building something new. Meanwhile, my lost box of old train stuff will grow in mythical, legendary proportions. It was really just cheap, mass-produced stuff from the early 80's and I can find a lot of it on ebay if I really want it back. I admit I already purchased one of those billboards with the built-in whistle. My daughter gets a real kick out of it and I love the nostalgia of the thing.

 

[Buckster]

Thanks, Don!

I already have questions and I'm searching through past forum threads. I'll take a few pictures of the layout once Christmas arrives and we can add all the groovy new pieces we just bought.

I don't think we'll have a fixed layout for a while. It might be more fun for my daughter to move the track around. If/when we find something that works nicely then we can really get down to building scenery. That was always my fascination as a kid - I really enjoyed building scenes by hand. I had a ballpark with bleachers, a church with a graveyard, a farm with a vegetable garden, stuff like that.

 

[Magic]

Buckster, you might look in that old church graveyard and find your old train stuff there.

Good luck with your new build and hope you and your daughter enjoy it.

Magic

 

[Spence]

Welcome to the forum. That's great that your daughter is interested in the trains. That will be a nice project for you & her.

 

[Buckster]

Thanks, Magic. You're probably right.

Thanks, Spence. Yes, I'm hoping her interest continues. Right now we've got one train just going in circles on a featureless expanse and she loves it. The kid has a good imagination.

 

[traction fan]

Welcome aboard!

Hi, everybody.

A little background on my interest in model railroading:

I had a pretty cool HO layout going when I was a kid. When my family moved in the late 80's my layout was torn down, boxed, and never set up again.

Now I'm nearing 50. My eldest son is in college, has moved out, and I've got some nice space in the finished basement where he was living. This summer my father downsized his residence and found a box of train stuff amidst his hoard of junk. It somehow wasn't my train stuff, but it included a bunch of track, a couple cars, a non-functional diesel loco, and a depot. I bought a couple odds and ends on ebay to get it going.

So, now I've got an 8x4 table in the basement and the youngest daughter (she's almost 5) and I are putting together a layout. Christmas is coming and the missus and I just gleefully bought a bunch of little people and a tree-building kit to give the kid. I think this will be a fun project she and I can work on together for years. I'm hoping her older sister (16) who is a very good artist will become interested as well and want to contribute.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to checking out this forum, interacting with you'all, getting inspiration, and maybe eventually contributing some myself.

Howdy!
-Buckster

Buckster;

Welcome to the forum! I'ts nice to hear that you and your daughter can share an interest in trains. For now, since she's having fun with that bare 4x8 and a loop of track, that's fine!
If, in the future, you want to do something more permanent, the files attached below may help you. I wrote them for new people starting their first model railroad. I realize you're not new, since you did have a layout before, but browse through them if you wish. You may find some info that will be useful.

again welcome;

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:

View attachment WHERE DO I START rev 4.pdf

View attachment 1 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 2 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 3 & 4 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 5 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment 6 How to build a better first layout.pdf

View attachment All AboutTurnouts rev 5.pdf

View attachment Paintbrush Pine Trees.pdf

View attachment MODEL RAILROADING ON A BUDGET.pdf

View attachment Model Railroad Terminology 3.pdf

 

[Buckster]

Woah! Thank you so much, traction fan! This is fantastic.

 

[Patrick1544]

Welcome! Im sure you'll find everyone here is very helpful!

 

[Buckster]

Thanks, Patrick.

Hey, Traction Fan, I read through those docs. Very helpful information. I appreciate you sending them to me. I agree with you about the 4x8 table and the Atlas layouts. But I figured it was still the best approach to get the 4 year old interested. If she enjoys the hobby and wants to keep working on it with me we'll eventually graduate to more of a dogbone type thing. I've got a great room for a big layout.

I must admit that I'm interested in something that can run by itself to some extent. I am planning to move my office down there (I work at home) in the future and I think it might be kind of neat to just have trains running in the background throughout the day.

 

[billwiz]

What section of PA do you live? I'm in Southeastern PA (border of Chester/Lancaster and Berks Counties). My daughter (11) still helps me with the trains.

 

[Buckster]

Hey, billwiz. I know where Morgantown is. We live near Boyertown.

What age was your daughter when you got started?

I'm looking on ebay at all those old operating cars - the log dumper, coal dumper, mail car, etc. I had a few when I was a kid. I think that might really interest my daughter to see some stuff moving around even though they're kind of cheesy.

 

[billwiz]

I was literally in your area today! If you go to the train show part of the forum, look up the Polar Express and Craft Event, which I'm a part of - it's in Honey Brook on Dec 14th - not too far for you! Lots of trains.
My daughter started helping me around 5 years old. She first ran the trains before she was 2!