[howaboutme]

Hi everyone.

I just joined. I'm a life long enthusiasts but have never gotten my feet wet and want to start doing so now. I'm in my mid 40s, kids are older and it's go time. When I told my family that I was interested in getting started, they rolled their eyes because I still have the following active hobbies:

RC Helis and cars (though not so much cars anymore)

Saltwater Reef tank

Plus golf but don't need an image for that.

I'm going N scale, keeping it small. Today I downloaded SCARM and started to play with it. Already hooked.

Looking forward to receiving advice from everyone!

 

[Stumpy]

Welcome aboard.

Nice looking tank. I'm a former reefer (20 years ago, Berlin method) and there's at least one other active reefer here.

 

[Big Ed]

Welcome to MTF. How large is the tank?

 

[howaboutme]

Welcome aboard.

Nice looking tank. I'm a former reefer (20 years ago, Berlin method) and there's at least one other active reefer here.

Thanks! Massive changes in the hobby in the 20 years! Make a come back?

Welcome to MTF. How large is the tank?

It's just a 27G but with a sump in the cabinet for filtration so the total water volum is about 35G. Here's a complete photo from a while ago:

 

[Big Ed]

How much room do you have to use for the table?
I am running O scale but I have a small N scale layout.
My N scale story thread, Ed's N Scale
Took me 5 mins to toss the buildings on it to take a short video.

 

[howaboutme]

That's a cool video! Thank you. I'm still toying w/ the exact area but likely around 24x48, which looks like yours?

I'm wanting to do everything on it but afraid that I'll bite off more than I can chew. I'm still researching but here's what I know I'd like to have (still learning the lingo, btw):

• Running 2 trains at once continuously
• Ability to run other trains in operation
• Switching
• Change in elevation (but not necessarily 2-tiered) for visual interest
• A theme that has both passenger and cargo
• Would love both a "city" and a non-city (whatever that means) layout
• DCC controlled

The biggest question mark is how do I translate all of that into a design. I've been watching Youtube videos like my kids! Have plenty of ideas but want to do something on my own.

I'm currently playing w/ SCARM so the first order is to learn that software but figuring out what all of the track #'s and what they mean is a full time job by itself!

 

[DonR]

It's always a pleasure to welcome new
folks to the Forum.

You are saying that you want a layout with continuous running
of more than one train and with plenty of switching.
You have the right idea. Your choice of DCC makes it all
easy. Just a couple wires to the track (well, drops every
six feet or so to a 2 wire bus). You can run 3, 4 or more
trains at the same time with individual control of each.

For ideas check the layouts posted in our
Layout Design forum. The idea is to look
at the various existing track plans...you'll see
that plan A has something you like...plan B
has a nice yard...plan C has an interesting
bridge over a creek...and so on. Take a little
of this...a little of that and some of the other
and create your own layout.

For switching, make sure you have a car
storage yard, a loco service area, and a number
of spurs that are lined with small companies that
ship and receive rail freight.

Consider flex track...it makes it easy to build
a layout to your specs not those of the
track seller.

Don

 

[howaboutme]

It's always a pleasure to welcome new
folks to the Forum.

You are saying that you want a layout with continuous running
of more than one train and with plenty of switching.
You have the right idea. Your choice of DCC makes it all
easy. Just a couple wires to the track (well, drops every
six feet or so to a 2 wire bus). You can run 3, 4 or more
trains at the same time with individual control of each.

For ideas check the layouts posted in our
Layout Design forum. The idea is to look
at the various existing track plans...you'll see
that plan A has something you like...plan B
has a nice yard...plan C has an interesting
bridge over a creek...and so on. Take a little
of this...a little of that and some of the other
and create your own layout.

For switching, make sure you have a car
storage yard, a loco service area, and a number
of spurs that are lined with small companies that
ship and receive rail freight.

Consider flex track...it makes it easy to build
a layout to your specs not those of the
track seller.

Don

Thanks Donr!

I've been playing w/ the Kato Unitrack pieces on SCARM and was planning to do that (but ballast the track) just to make my life a bit easier the first time. However, I have found that I often have sections that don't fit an exact piece. What do people do in that case? I saw they have an extender but it visually looks different. In SCARM, I also see at the connections, 2 parallel lines rather than the usual 1 that symbolizes a perfect connection. What does that mean? Example below:

 

[Conductorkev]

Thanks Donr!

I've been playing w/ the Kato Unitrack pieces on SCARM and was planning to do that (but ballast the track) just to make my life a bit easier the first time. However, I have found that I often have sections that don't fit an exact piece. What do people do in that case? I saw they have an extender but it visually looks different. In SCARM, I also see at the connections, 2 parallel lines rather than the usual 1 that symbolizes a perfect connection. What does that mean? Example below:
View attachment 598382

I don't use scarm but it looks like it might be short to fitting meaning thats two end points just a little bit apart. Of course I could be wrong but that would be my interpretation

 

[Ken ELack]

Hello All. Great to be a member of the forum.
Been on and off modelling in HO with focus on historical periods of 1900 - 1970 D L&W, Lackawanna, Erie and LNE. Specific local Deleware Water Gap, E. Stroudsburg, Slateford, Portland and Bangor PA.

Present build converted from DC to DCC two years ago. Love DCC.

One area that drives me crazy is using, laying and wiring turnouts. Insulated vs. non-insulated and running older locos with iffy pickups, especially Steam is always a short out challenge.

Looking forward to finding and sharing latest and greatest information.
Thanks all.

 

[Stumpy]

Thanks! Massive changes in the hobby in the 20 years! Make a come back?

Perhaps after I retire. If so it'll be on a much smaller scale. We had a 90 gal. before with a 20 gal. quarantine.

 

[howaboutme]

Hello All. Great to be a member of the forum.
Been on and off modelling in HO with focus on historical periods of 1900 - 1970 D L&W, Lackawanna, Erie and LNE. Specific local Deleware Water Gap, E. Stroudsburg, Slateford, Portland and Bangor PA.

Present build converted from DC to DCC two years ago. Love DCC.

One area that drives me crazy is using, laying and wiring turnouts. Insulated vs. non-insulated and running older locos with iffy pickups, especially Steam is always a short out challenge.

Looking forward to finding and sharing latest and greatest information.
Thanks all.

Welcome! Just so you're' not wondering what's going on but this thread was created by me to introduce myself. It's not a general thread. So you can get what you want out if your post, you may want to create a new thread.

 

[DonR]

Ken

We're glad to have you join us, but somehow
your post ended up in a Thread by Howaboutme.

Please repost over in the HO Forum and our
folks will be happy to welcome you.

Donj

 

[Steve Rothstein]

Thanks Donr!

I've been playing w/ the Kato Unitrack pieces on SCARM and was planning to do that (but ballast the track) just to make my life a bit easier the first time. However, I have found that I often have sections that don't fit an exact piece. What do people do in that case? I saw they have an extender but it visually looks different. In SCARM, I also see at the connections, 2 parallel lines rather than the usual 1 that symbolizes a perfect connection. What does that mean? Example below:
View attachment 598382

welcome to the hobby and the forum. The double line in SCARM means that it is a match you can make work but it is not quite a perfect match. There is a setting for controlling how far off it is. Under tools there is an option for settings. I believe the setting for this is under edit. It has two boxes for the tolerance allowed. One is the millimeters of distance and the other is the angle. I believe the default is 2 millimeters and 2 degrees of tolerance.

I use the extenders to make a perfect fit, but I am not as interested in the layout looking scale. There is a way to trim a regular piece of Unitrack to fit exactly. I have never done this, but here is one of many YouTube videos on how to do it:

 

[howaboutme]

welcome to the hobby and the forum. The double line in SCARM means that it is a match you can make work but it is not quite a perfect match. There is a setting for controlling how far off it is. Under tools there is an option for settings. I believe the setting for this is under edit. It has two boxes for the tolerance allowed. One is the millimeters of distance and the other is the angle. I believe the default is 2 millimeters and 2 degrees of tolerance.

I use the extenders to make a perfect fit, but I am not as interested in the layout looking scale. There is a way to trim a regular piece of Unitrack to fit exactly. I have never done this, but here is one of many YouTube videos on how to do it:

Thank you for the explanation! If I needed to mod the track, the task doesn't seem to bad at all. Thanks for the video!

 

[traction fan]

Hi everyone.

I just joined. I'm a life long enthusiasts but have never gotten my feet wet and want to start doing so now. I'm in my mid 40s, kids are older and it's go time. When I told my family that I was interested in getting started, they rolled their eyes because I still have the following active hobbies:

RC Helis and cars (though not so much cars anymore)

Saltwater Reef tank

Plus golf but don't need an image for that.

I'm going N scale, keeping it small. Today I downloaded SCARM and started to play with it. Already hooked.

Looking forward to receiving advice from everyone!

howboutme;

Welcome aboard.

Retired ,74, & long time N-scaler here. From Stumpy's response, I just learned a new meaning for "reefer ." For me it meant refrigerated RR car or possibly an old name for marijuana. 😄

What sort of space do you have available for your N-scale layout? Do you have a favorite railroad company that you would like to model?
My N-scale layout is a shelf type attached to the walls of my garage. I model the Milwaukee Road's passenger operations out of Seattle Union Station. The Station belonged to the Union Pacific, so their trains are featured too. Right across the street is King St. Station, which once hosted the passenger trains of the Great Northern, and Northern Pacific. (Amtrak today)

The files below are some I wrote for "newbies" like yourself, just starting out with Model railroading. They may help you get started designing, and building, your railroad. The las file is a sort of dictionary of model railroad terms. If you see an unfamiliar word here on the forum, you can look up its meaning. Also feel free to ask any & all questions.

Reading through this thread, I found your want list. Unless you have a lot of space and a lot of money, you may have to whittle it down a little. This is quite normal for new modelers. Nearly all newbies, being normal humans, want more stuff on their layout than they can possibly fit, and sometimes more than they can afford.

One of the best ways to start out small & simple, yet be able to easily add on later, is sectional construction. You can build a section at a time, learning as you go. I built my layout in sections and I'm very glad I did. A household move to another city, and age plus disability, have all been handled, while still keeping my layout. I highly recommend sectional construction.
Model railroading tends to be a lifetime pursuit. We often spend years, or even decades, building our railroads. So while you're still relatively young, you will get older,, and its wise to plan for the very long term.

Good Luck & Have Fun;

Traction Fan 🙂

 

[howaboutme]

Thanks @traction fan !!! I will look through the PDFs. I believe I've seen you offer these to others so I appreicate your contribution.

I know that my layout will be roughly 2x4, not huge but just enough to scratch this itch. Believe me, the itch is strong and when it's strong, I usually go all out. That said, I know my plans are ambitions and in playing with SCARM I've already found out that my size will be limiting some of my "wants". However, the ambition is still there!

Although I'd love to be able to add on, I know that this layout will not be that because of space and other constraints. It has to be a layout that I will be satisfied with and must be furniture-like. It won't be rushed. I'm pretty handy, good with electronics, soldering, etc from my other hobbies and profession so I feel fairly confident I'll get the hang of it. But there's so much to learn!

I will likely be posting separate threads with specific questions, the first is likely about layout advice and suggestions.

 

[traction fan]

Thanks @traction fan !!! I will look through the PDFs. I believe I've seen you offer these to others so I appreicate your contribution.

I know that my layout will be roughly 2x4, not huge but just enough to scratch this itch. Believe me, the itch is strong and when it's strong, I usually go all out. That said, I know my plans are ambitions and in playing with SCARM I've already found out that my size will be limiting some of my "wants". However, the ambition is still there!

Although I'd love to be able to add on, I know that this layout will not be that because of space and other constraints. It has to be a layout that I will be satisfied with and must be furniture-like. It won't be rushed. I'm pretty handy, good with electronics, soldering, etc from my other hobbies and profession so I feel fairly confident I'll get the hang of it. But there's so much to learn!

I will likely be posting separate threads with specific questions, the first is likely about layout advice and suggestions.

Two feet by four feet is pretty limited space, even for N-scale, but we work with what we have. My standard sections are 4' x 16" but there are many of them. Your little layout might be part of a bigger railroad someday, if you can acquire some more space. It sounds like you have all the necessary skills to get started. Good Luck. Below are some photos of my layout. Possibly future inspiration? The second photo shows one of my 4' x 16" sections. Notice the arches & shelf on top.

Traction Fan 🙂

 

[Conductorkev]

With a 2x4 layout you might be better off with a switching layout. Ya you won't have those continuous lines but it will give you plenty to do

 

[howaboutme]

Two feet by four feet is pretty limited space, even for N-scale, but we work with what we have. My standard sections are 4' x 16" but there are many of them. Your little layout might be part of a bigger railroad someday, if you can acquire some more space. It sounds like you have all the necessary skills to get started. Good Luck. Below are some photos of my layout. Possibly future inspiration? The second photo shows one of my 4' x 16" sections. Notice the arches & shelf on top.

Traction Fan 🙂

These are fantastic photos! Thanks so much.

Yes, 2x4 is small but I look at it like a challenge. I see similarities in thought between this hobby and my other "reefing" hobby. There, people say go big too! I went small and enjoy it. Sometimes it's more of a choice. But like I said, I already see limitations and compromises once you put actual track to table (in my case, on SCARM).

With a 2x4 layout you might be better off with a switching layout. Ya you won't have those continuous lines but it will give you plenty to do

I thought about that too! I've thought about a lot but one thing I don't want to compromise is the ability to see a train go around and round. Luckily, there are a ton of small examples online. Steve's Trains is one example. He's done a heck of a job at the 2x3 size!

I can't wait to get feedback of my layout but I'm a ways away from even showing it.

Such an addicting hobby, I can already tell....