Track purchasing

[eds@acnrep.com]

I'm new to bachmann trains with a gift of Thunder Valley starter kit.
My goal is a shelf system around a portion of a finished basement.
Rather ambitious I know and it would require 68 lineal feet of track.
What's the best plan to purchase that minimum amount of track.
I've found '30 sections available does anyone sell longer sections?

[rogertra]

I'm new to bachmann trains with a gift of Thunder Valley starter kit.
My goal is a shelf system around a portion of a finished basement.
Rather ambitious I know and it would require 68 lineal feet of track.
What's the best plan to purchase that minimum amount of track.
I've found '30 sections available does anyone sell longer sections?

Before you build anything, repeat anything.  buy some Kalmbach books on track planing.  Pick or adapt one you like.  From the plan, you can figure out what track you need.

36" or thereabouts, some is metric so is sold by the metre, is the longest length you can buy.

Also, decide if you want non scale code 100, not really needed these days with everything having finer scale wheels, or code 83 rail.  Better looking and a scale size rail.

Don't rush into building before you do some research.

That's the best advice I can give.

Merry Christmas.

[Doneldon]

ed-

The Bmann's store is down for maintenance so I can't check whether you have black roadbed with steel alloy rails or gray roadbed with nickel-silver rails. In either case, I strongly urge you to use the gray track as the nickel-silver rails, while not perfect, are much better than the steel alloy when it comes to cleaning, corrosion and electrical conductivity. There's also a better selection of turnouts (switches), crossings, crossovers and special track lengths in the NS line.

A shelf layout is an excellent use of railroading space so I endorse your decision to go that route as opposed to a table (like a 4x8). However, Roger's advice that you study and plan a little more before you commit to a track plan is solid gold. It's a lot easier to plan a little, and wait, than to jump into something and then have to make changes. If you just gotta see moving trains, go watch the real ones or hook up a few lengths of straight track so you can check your own set out.

You really have quite a few decisions to make. At the risk of overwhelming you I'll mention a few: Do you want a point-to-point railroad where trains must be disassembled and manually turned at each end or a loop-to-loop layout which will permit you to runs trains continually? DC or DCC? DC is cheaper but potentially more complex to wire. DCC allows you to actually operate the trains, not the rails, but you'll pay more for that feature. Do you want sound? If so, it's superior with DCC because you can actually control it. Manual turnouts or remote? Do you want to concentrate on freight or passenger operations? What era interests you? Where will your train live, in the mountains, plains, farm country, a big city or by the seashore? What kinds of skills do you bring to the hobby? One of the most important aspects of the hobby for me is that there are many, many different things to do and learn (not generally in that order). Do you already have some basic carpentry, electrical and model assembly skills or will you need to learn everything? It can be a steep and challenging learning curve if you need to learn everything. But I can confidently assure you that there aren't any parts of the hobby which are too hard to learn. So ... don't let yourself get discouraged. And it feels really good when you master some seemingly arcane technique.

Welcome to the hobby and this board. I've been a model railroader for nearly 60 years and I'm still stimulated and challenged from time to time. And model railroading makes you a cool dude with the grandkids!
                                                                                                                  -- D

[jward]

thunder valley is an n scale set, which explains the original poster's reference to 30" track sections. n scale flex track comes in 30" sections while HO is 36".    n scale track has been all nickel silver for as far back as I can remember, at least since the early 1970s. contact issues precluded the use of steel or brass track.

my advice for procuring track for an extensive layout would be to look at several of the online retailers:
modeltrainstuff.com
trainworld.com
http://www.thefavoritespot.com/

the favourite spot is one that I and many others here have dealt with. they have low prices, fast service. I've never had a complaint with them.

if you live near a hobby lobby, they often have 40% off coupons in the local paper, and a selection of basic sectional track pieces. hobbytown usa will have a pretty extensive selection of track from Bachmann and others, but will be more expensive. it's a good bet if you want to get a feel for what's available and how much room it will take up.