Model Railroading

[ClakarEQ]

I was curious if there are any NT'rs that have this as a hobby. I've begun to build a N-Scale layout on a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood. I had a HO scale there before but it was very basic.

This n-scale I'm planning to do a bunch of scenery and such.

Was just curious if other folks here have this as a hobby that I may want to pick their brain now and again.

[Spazz]

I think ho looks best. I did that shit up for a while when i was a kid but it costs tooooo much.

[Gargamellow]

mr. rogers kicked ass

[Xaiveir]

I dabbled in it alittle, it was alot of fun. However being very expensive, i didnt continue. Im actually thinking of picking it back up here soon though.

[Gargamellow]

my uncle bet me 100 bucks once that he would build a train on a shelf around the top of the living room...he has moved from there since then and never gave me the hundred bucks

[ClakarEQ]

HO has a lot to offer but a huge minus is the size. my 4' x 8' sheet would hold a mian loop and a figure 8, little room for scenery, buildings, etc.

The N-Scale I've got going (and hell yeah it is expensive, much more than I thought when I started), has a ton of space available. To give an idea, an HO figure 8 would consume nearly the entire 4' x 8' sheet, the n-scale figure 8 doesn't take but 2' x 4' roughly.

I've been browsing some model train forums and I was looking for some advice on building a wooden trestle around a long curve. It appears to buy something like this is 150.00 plus but to build your own is about 20.00 but a ton of time. I was looking to find short cuts :P.

[Gargamellow]

i would be interested in seeing how this thing turns out...post pics

[Arlos]

Unfortunately, when you're building something to scale like that, and your object is to make something that looks realistic and believable (if you want it to be more "realistic and believable" than Stealth, anyway), there are no shortcuts. I am sure you could whip something up with a few sheets of plywood in 15 minutes that would function, but it would look like complete ass.

That's the expensive thing about that hobby: making small-scale objects with enough detail such that they're convincing replicas of their real world counterparts. I've never been into making model trains myself, but I've seen a few really amazing setups before, that would easily dwarf a 4x8 sheet. Multiple loops, different track spans, mountains, other terrain, bridges, big switch-house, etc. I can't imagine how much they spent on setups that elaborate.

-Arlos

[ClakarEQ]

I'm not looking to emulate the real world per-say but what I plan to build would be "possible". I'll post up some pics over the next day or so but this type "project" is typcially measured in years or months, not days or weeks. So I'm building to scale in the sense of it "could" exist, but I'm not looking to emulate some PA RR from the 1800's either.

That is one thing I've noticed though in the forums, folks seem to want to emulate some site they've seen. I'm just pulling the ideas out of my head as I go and so far it's worked out ok.

I'm going for the wow factor more than anything and yeah I've seen some huge layouts before where folks have sunk 40k into it.

I'm not planning on doing the modeling down to painting the trains, cars, etc, (yet anyway). I'll post up the pics and I'm sure I'll get some "feedback" LOL.

Hell I've only got two loco's and about 15 cars, so I'm a big time newb at n-scale.

[araby]

my brother is into models but not railroading though he has mentioned it before. our cousins' father's hobby was model railroading/trains and I remember being completely fascinated with it, he had a room of his own, waste-high counters-my little brother was in heaven and for christmas one year he made me a dollhouse.

I obsessed over the dollhouse because it was so good, but I wanted more, and I had a friend who's father made her a model dollhouse and he wired it for electricity ^_^ so I pleaded with my parents to let me do it and they wouldn't let me. I wanted to do it myself, the entire project. sucked to grow up poor

someone said it-the detail is the kicker-it's what fascinated me then and still now. too bad it's an expensive hobby.

[Harrison]

Model Railroading

I came into this thread with VERY different expectations...

[Jay]

Model Railroading

I came into this thread with VERY different expectations...

[Tossica]

Run a train up in this bitch!

[Mop]

It always looks like a fun hobby to do when you have time, but im sure its expensive. Everytime I see one that is done well I want to do it, then I get home and wanna whoop my co workers ass in madden football.

[Diekan]

Yeah, it is a cool hobby, but damn costly. Plus, you need damn near a whole room to house everything.

[kaharthemad]

I did this when I was young. I ran HO scale systems and had 2 4x8 attached to gether for my track system. I think I prolly had over 2 grand into it. Mind you that was 20 some years ago. Jesus I feel old.

The lady I currently rent my house from is moving the storage unit closer to the house. the Unit itself would be able to house a 8x8 sheet with room to spare. would like to start up again with my kids. It was always something fun to do with My father.