[davenic]

As a n00b with no real idea, what would you recommend someone buy as a first set?

I'm not really interested in digital tbh, as my set is going to be more about the scenary and model building than the trains.

What I'm after is a good quality set with a fair amount of track provided - either HO or OO.

My scene is to be based on an English village, but as far a trains go, I'm willing to bend the rules of artisitc license!!!

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Chinahand]

Hi Dave,

The first things you need to establish are:-

1) The amount of space you have available
2) Do you want end to end running or a tail-chaser
3) Main line or Branch line (I would guess at branch as it's a village setting)
4) Modern or steam era.

Once these are decided it will be easier to make recommendations for locos/train sets etc. though rather than buying a 'train set', which will probably come with just a plain oval of track, I would suggest you get hold of a layout plan book (Peco do one but there are many others) then buy your trackwork separately to suit your chosen design. That will enable you to buy locos etc which match your chosen theme/period.

Regards,

Expat.

 

[davenic]

QUOTE (Expat @ 24 Mar 2008, 17:27) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Dave,

The first things you need to establish are:-

1) The amount of space you have available
2) Do you want end to end running or a tail-chaser
3) Main line or Branch line (I would guess at branch as it's a village setting)
4) Modern or steam era.

Once these are decided it will be easier to make recommendations for locos/train sets etc. though rather than buying a 'train set', which will probably come with just a plain oval of track, I would suggest you get hold of a layout plan book (Peco do one but there are many others) then buy your trackwork separately to suit your chosen design. That will enable you to buy locos etc which match your chosen theme/period.

Regards,

Expat.

Thanks for the reply, Expat.

I have a good sized area (6m x 1.1m) and what I'm planning to do is have two loops with a City bound and an outbound passenger train with a goods train running if I want to.

The setting will be old style with a 60's trend but artistic license will be stretched.

The main reason for this is the modelling and scenary and to learn as much as possible about the hobby without it being too technical.

So far I've thought of buying two Blue Pullman sets and a Goods Master set. The loops will run thru the scene, then behind a visual block.

The track behind the VB will just be straight and thru the scene, I'd like some curves, points etc.

The scene itself will be a small village with maybe an orchard or fruit industry and a nice station and shopping strip.

The reason I'm leaning towards these three sets is they are fairly good in terms of track provided and I'll have 3 functioning trains from the start.

My only worry is the Pullmans running OK on the radius 2 curves....

 

[Guest]

QUOTE (davenic @ 24 Mar 2008, 01:36) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>As a n00b with no real idea, what would you recommend someone buy as a first set?

I'm not really interested in digital tbh, as my set is going to be more about the scenary and model building than the trains.

What I'm after is a good quality set with a fair amount of track provided - either HO or OO.

My scene is to be based on an English village, but as far a trains go, I'm willing to bend the rules of artisitc license!!!

Any help would be appreciated.

Get a hornby one. I would reccommend the flying scotsman or the royal scot

The Flying Scotsman priced around 300 bucks australian

http://www.railway-models.co.uk/l.aspx?k=2595093
The Royal Scot Priced around 300 dollars

These are both analogue.

Hope this helped.

Think carefully about how you want to lay your track before you build hills. trust me.

 

[80class]

I would go for either of the two top starter sets (premier boxed sets), they are both analogue but have a better controller than the standard set. They also have better quality coaches. All in they work out as better value:

http://railsofsheffield.com/the-master-cut...t-JJJA4219.aspx

http://railsofsheffield.com/the-premier-bo...t-JJJA4218.aspx

Rob

 

[tekin65]

Hi,

For what it's worth;

Building kits and all, I assume, are more wide-spread in HO scale. Many people say that the difference is tolerable but since this is going to be a layout with artistic values accented, I'd suggest using HO or OO exclusively.

Digital sets are way easier to use and price difference is not that much.

Good luck.

All the best,

Cem.

 

[80class]

As a first foray into model railways with simple track work of what sounds like a double track oval with a few points, I would not worry about 00/H0 debate. The difference when it comes to buildings really is very small so unless you are modelling a very specific location, its not a problem.

I am a huge fan of DCC. However, in this case I would recommend starting out with DC to see how you get on. If you wire the layout well (as you should do anyway, for example add more track feeds than the single one recommended by Hornby) then if you do decide to go DCC one day all it will involve is replacing one controller with another.

As a final bit of advice, if you are looking at DCC, avoid the Hornby Select AT ALL COSTS!

Good luck and ask as many questions as you want,

Rob

 

[neil_s_wood]

Dave,

one thing that hasn't been mentioned is how much the postage is going to cost you. I recently was going to buy my son an Underground Ernie set from Hattons and was told the postage would be 85 quid. Surface mail was 65 quid. Obviously I cancelled this. If any package is going to be over 2Kg and a certain size then the postage will be seriously steep. I would suggest that you either go to Hearns Hobbies in Flinders St just by the station and talk to John in the Train dept and see what there is. If he doesn't have it he will order it in for you. He is very helpful and full of advice. He has saved me a lot of money over the years.

Branchline in Croydon is another alternative but nowhere near as helpful. There is also Train World in Cheltenham or there abouts which is closer to you but I am not as familiar with them. They have seemed quite freindly when I have been in there before.

Buying a train set from any of these will be more expensive than from the UK but you will get hammered with postage if you buy from the UK which will take it way over any savings you would have made. Incidentally I have not had this problem buying train sets from Germany as their postal cost structure is different. It is more economical to buy large shipments from Germany whereas when buying from the UK you really want to keep it under 2Kg.

 

[davenic]

Thank you for all the replies, I'll definitely be looking around for the best deal and seeing how far my money can go.

QUOTE (80class @ 26 Mar 2008, 03:46) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>As a first foray into model railways with simple track work of what sounds like a double track oval with a few points, I would not worry about 00/H0 debate. The difference when it comes to buildings really is very small so unless you are modelling a very specific location, its not a problem.

I am a huge fan of DCC. However, in this case I would recommend starting out with DC to see how you get on. If you wire the layout well (as you should do anyway, for example add more track feeds than the single one recommended by Hornby) then if you do decide to go DCC one day all it will involve is replacing one controller with another.

As a final bit of advice, if you are looking at DCC, avoid the Hornby Select AT ALL COSTS!

Good luck and ask as many questions as you want,

Rob

80class, is there any reference material for wiring up track feeds and extensions? Do you just run leads to parts of your track in series? How many do you'd think I'll need? Do i just solder these leads onto the track?

Any other advice before I fire the first train up?

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (neil_s_wood @ 25 Mar 2008, 22:04) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Incidentally I have not had this problem buying train sets from Germany as their postal cost structure is different.

Very true, often I am amazed at how little it costs for postage from Germany to the UK, compared to UK to Germany.

Royal Snail seem to be striving to charge more & more for less & less.

 

[80class]

QUOTE (davenic @ 26 Mar 2008, 04:10) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thank you for all the replies, I'll definitely be looking around for the best deal and seeing how far my money can go.

80class, is there any reference material for wiring up track feeds and extensions? Do you just run leads to parts of your track in series? How many do you'd think I'll need? Do i just solder these leads onto the track?

Any other advice before I fire the first train up?

A very basic description is to run two wires (or bus) under the baseboard for each of your tracks. Connect dropper wires soldered onto the bottom of the rail to the bus wires, the right hand rail to the right hand wire and vice versa.

A quick search of the forum will reveal that this has been discussed quite a few times before. It is very simple and will result in better running no matter if you are using DCC or DC. Another big advantage is that if you do decide to go over to DCC, it will be very easy transition.

Another good source of wiring information is http://www.wiringfordcc.com/ . It may be a bit over the top for what you need right now, but there is a lot of useful information.

Once you have decided on a rough track plan, if you either upload a picture of it of describe it well, we can advise you how best to wire it up to avoid short circuits and so on.

Hope I haven't confused you too much!

Rob

 

[davenic]

QUOTE (80class @ 26 Mar 2008, 21:58) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>A very basic description is to run two wires (or bus) under the baseboard for each of your tracks. Connect dropper wires soldered onto the bottom of the rail to the bus wires, the right hand rail to the right hand wire and vice versa.

A quick search of the forum will reveal that this has been discussed quite a few times before. It is very simple and will result in better running no matter if you are using DCC or DC. Another big advantage is that if you do decide to go over to DCC, it will be very easy transition.

Another good source of wiring information is http://www.wiringfordcc.com/ . It may be a bit over the top for what you need right now, but there is a lot of useful information.

Once you have decided on a rough track plan, if you either upload a picture of it of describe it well, we can advise you how best to wire it up to avoid short circuits and so on.

Hope I haven't confused you too much!

Rob

Mate, this stuff is gold - just what I'm after.

Here is a rough (very rough!!!!) plan of my track:

 

[80class]

hi,

Sorry for the delayed response, been quite busy!

Basically you have a double track mainline.

Wiring this for DC will actually be slightly more involved than for DCC, but no harder to understand! You will need four wires running the length of your board following the profile of the track. Two for track A, two for track B. Connect wires soldered onto the base of the track to the appropriate bus wire every meter or so. Basically Track A Rail A will be connect to wire 1 each time. Track A rail B will be connected to wire 2. Track B rail A will be connect to wire 3 and track B rail B to wire 4.

Now, wires 1 and 2 will be connected to DC controller 1 which will control track A. Wires 3 and 4 will be connected to DC controller 2 which will control track B.

If you then wise to go DCC, simple connect wires 1 and 3 to one of the track outputs and wires 2 and 4 to the other.

If you wish to add points in between tracks A and B, simple use insulating rail joiners where the two points meet.

Hope this makes sense,

Rob

 

[davenic]

QUOTE (80class @ 28 Mar 2008, 10:11) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>hi,

Sorry for the delayed response, been quite busy!

Basically you have a double track mainline.

Wiring this for DC will actually be slightly more involved than for DCC, but no harder to understand! You will need four wires running the length of your board following the profile of the track. Two for track A, two for track B. Connect wires soldered onto the base of the track to the appropriate bus wire every meter or so. Basically Track A Rail A will be connect to wire 1 each time. Track A rail B will be connected to wire 2. Track B rail A will be connect to wire 3 and track B rail B to wire 4.

Now, wires 1 and 2 will be connected to DC controller 1 which will control track A. Wires 3 and 4 will be connected to DC controller 2 which will control track B.

If you then wise to go DCC, simple connect wires 1 and 3 to one of the track outputs and wires 2 and 4 to the other.

If you wish to add points in between tracks A and B, simple use insulating rail joiners where the two points meet.

Hope this makes sense,

Rob

Makes perfect sense, Rob. Thanks.