Here's a diagram of my currently planned layout. Please excuse the crudeness of the drawing since I did it in MS Paint on my break at work.



The image doesn't look quite right when compressed in the forum, so if you can't read it, here's a direct link:

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k193/bigsol81/TrainTableLayout.jpg

Sorry, I meant GP-Series....

I was wondering if there are any companies out there that are in the business of producing custom rolling stock and locomotives for private parties?

For example, if I were to send in a logo and a basic color scheme for a G-Series locomotive, the company would already have a blank locomotive ready, they'd paint it to match my color scheme, then paint my logo on it, and then mail it to me. Obviously, there'd be a steep price...cost of the loco itself plus the paintjob, which would mostly be handled by a computer or machine anyway.

Same for rolling stock. Wondering if anyone out there knows of such a company.

Well, as I mentioned in another post, I plan to start off pretty small by using a 10x10 self-built table, though I may actually make it an L-shaped corner table to make access easier. Most likely, it will be a simple plywood surface, upon which I'll place corkboard to lay my track on. I suspect my first layout will most likely begin with a single, unbroken L-shaped oval, which I'll add switches and secondary routes to once my finances will permit it.

My local shop has a ton of Bachmann stuff, and all of Bachmann's stuff seems fairly priced and plentiful, so I'll probably go with that.

I'm now regretting not having paid $5 for the Bachmann 2007 catalog they had there...I'll have to remember to pick that up once I get off work (Graveyard shift...what fun!)

  Okay, I've only been on this site for a few hours, I haven't really gotten into the hobby yet (I'm a newbie, really, with only a hint of past experience with model railroading) and I've been looking at DCC for the future. The simplicity of DC has always sort of irked me, and the idea of being able to control different engines at different times while all on the same track is much more appealing than having to either have them all go or all stop at once.

However, I've read that DCC is unreliable and, apparently, it 'burns out' fairly quickly and can be costly to maintain and repair.

Is this true? If so, perhaps I need to wait until the technology is a bit more stable before I go out and spend money on some of these locomotives and other kits.

BTW, I work as a network designer and I support computer networking equipment for a living, so I understand the whole 'network/train address' and how commands are sent over DCC. It sounds extremely versatile and like it'd be great to use if the rumors of reliability are overstated.

Hey. My name is Justin, and I'm getting into the hobby of...well, what do we call them? Model trains? That seems to fit best. A little history, first.

My great grandfather, whom raised me, was the first one to get me into trains. I was always fascinated by them, and he had two model trainsets. One of them was a G-Scale, I believe...G or O...it was large, anyway. The second was my personal favorite, HO scale. Now, when I was a kid, I was a destructive brat...my favorite thing to do was run the trains at full speed and watch them fly off the tracks in tight turns. If I ran across my younger self today (I'm 26 now), I'd probably slap myself upside the head for not appreciating what I had, especially now that it was all lost in a fire about ten years ago. My great grandfather's setup was very basic...track, trains, and that was basically it. Very little in the way of scenery, though we used matchbox cars in places, which weren't quite on scale with those trains.

My grandfather had a very impressive, albeit small, setup of his own, also HO scale. This was also over a decade ago. He lived in Vegas, and had set up his own miniature representation of the Las Vegas / Pahrump area. He'd actually put work into it. There was grass, trees, buildings, people, cars, roads, you name it. It was an ongoing project of his and, unfortunately, he never lived long enough to complete it. What's worse is that he and my grandmother didn't quite get along, so after his death she simply trashed his entire setup, all of his trains, locomotives, track, everything. Such a waste, too, since he had thousands of dollars invested in it.

I personally don't have much experience with trains. Most of what I've learned actually came from playing Railroad Tycoon. For those that don't know, it's a series of computer games where you build a railroad and connect cities, manage shipping lanes, buy industries, etc. That game, along with my grandfather and great grandfather, got me interested in trains in the first place.

So, here I am starting into the hobby on my own. I don't make much money, so I'm buying it a little at a time. Before I go and spend TOO much money on this, I have some questions along with personal input.

First off, I prefer HO scale. N scale I can see has the clear advantage of space, given that you don't need as much space to set up a track, and space is an issue for me as I live with my great grandmother and don't have much room to set up a model set. However, N scale trains just seem too small and 'dinky' to me, no offense to anyone, and HO just feels more solid to me. That being said, on to the questions:

1. I'm not a pure enthusiast in that, while I understand the appeal of laying your own track tie-by-tie, rail-by-rail, it's not something that appeals to me. I want to spend as much time 'playing' with my set as I spend building it. That being said, can anyone give some advice as to the best type of track to buy? I've seen both the older type of track which is put together using small metal connectors and then nailed onto corkboard, and I've seen the newer 'snap-together' kind. The snap kind seems almost too 'toy-like' to me, but I've never used it so I don't know.

2. I spent around $40 today at a local hobby shop and got myself a basic locomotive (F9) and a handful of cars, two of which use the wrong couplers and I'll need to return. Turns out only the Bachmann cars I got have the right connectors. However, the loco I got is the 'simple' type. That is, it goes forward or back based on the current flowing through the track. At first, when I saw locomotives 'on sale' for between $70 and $120, I thought to myself 'Yikes! This hobby is more expensive than I thought!'. However, I then learned about digital control, which implies that now each train can be run separately even if they all share the same track, which is great compared to what I'm used to. The question here, I guess, is "How much can I expect to pay before I can create a simple setup?". What I'm looking for is something small, preferably that will fit into a 10'x10' area, with at least two circular routes that I can use switching to move between. Scenery is optional at first. In fact, it's optional at all, really, since my love for model trains revolves more around operations than appearance, though I do hope to eventually have a setup that looks as good as it runs.

3. Once I get going, I want to simulate cargo weights on my trains. Meaning, I want a train that's more cargo-laden to travel slower, hence simulating the need for additional locomotives in certain cases. Along those lines, I was wondering about how safe for the equipment this is. Obviously, I don't want to burn out any motors. Along the same line, I was wondering if any of the older models of engines are available in HO scale, such as the Iron Duke or, heavens forbid, the Grasshopper, and if these older engines have less pulling power than the more modern engines just like their real life counterparts. I've noticed that 90% of the locomotives in my hobby shop are all G-Series locos, with a few of the F-Series thrown in. Very few steam locomotive models, and even fewer of the classics, like the Consolidation, Iron Duke, Mikado, etc. In fact, the only steam engine I saw in the shop that was HO scale was a Pacific. Are these uncommon? Or is it just that the G-Series are more popular and there's not as much demand for the older models?

That's it for now. I thought I had more questions, but that's all that came to mind. I'm at work, too, so time is short. In any event, hopefully I can dive headlong into the hobby and find a way to fit it into my limited income.

Happy trails, everyone.