[davenic]

Hello to everyone.

I'm a 30yo from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. I had a Hornby set as a kid and I am looking at getting back into the hobby later in the year.

I have a shed in the back yard which will allow me enough room to have a 6m X 1.5-1.8m area in which to build a track.

I am interested moreso in the model building and decoration of the table than as a pure 'train set', so it's more a question of quality than quantity.

I am also more interested in the trains running around than shunting but I have much to learn!!!

I like the idea of having a 'fantasy' township but I am concerned with the width of my table, it may look silly in HO/OO. I would like to have an island type scenario, with a main village/town, a mining/quarry area, a seaport etc. I'd like to have a passenger train that runs and a goods train as well. Ideally, two to three lines running with no more than three lines side by side.

A few questions:

How tight a radius can HO trains run?
How long is a loco and two or three carriages?
Can I realistically fit this into my table without it being 'crowded'?
Would N scale be more viable?
Is N scale too fiddley?

I've got a million questions but that should do for now.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to the advice.

Dave

 

[SRman]

Hi Dave.

Welcome. I'm in Blackburn (also Victoria, not Lancashire!).

Are you a member of the British Railway Modellers of Australia? I'm not sure if you wish to join such an association but the reason I asked is that there are several members down your way who are very active modellers and have a wealth of knowledge and skills between them, and they are usually more than willing to share their collective expertise.

Having plugged the BRMA (I hope I haven't broken any rules here - I don't get any financial gain out of it), I have to say that there are many skilled and knowledgable (and helpful!) modellers on these forums as well, so you have done the right thing by joining in.

 

[Brian Considine]

Hi Dave & welcome to MRF, there are quite a lot of members here from your part of the world.

Nice amount of space available, although the width may be a little restrictive for a continous run.

HO can run on R2/438mm (some stock on R1/371mm) but does not look very realistic - is there any chance to can go all the way round the shed, even is this part is non-scenic ?
An HO mainline locomotive & three coaches is about1200mm.
"N" is more fiddly but many people are active in N - it's really down to how you get on with using it - there is more available in HO than N.

Hope this helps.

Please keep us up to date with progress.

 

[davenic]

Hi SRMan. Thanks for the reply. No I'm not a member but I'll definitely have a look.

I am always surprised how many 'shed dwellers' there are once you scratch the surface. I was involved in 1:32 slot cars for a while (my taste has matured!!!) and there are so many people out there with expertise.

How large is your layout and what are you running?

 

[davenic]

QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 20 Mar 2008, 17:50) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Dave & welcome to MRF, there are quite a lot of members here from your part of the world.

Nice amount of space available, although the width may be a little restrictive for a continous run.

HO can run on R2/438mm (some stock on R1/371mm) but does not look very realistic - is there any chance to can go all the way round the shed, even is this part is non-scenic ?
An HO mainline locomotive & three coaches is about1200mm.
"N" is more fiddly but many people are active in N - it's really down to how you get on with using it - there is more available in HO than N.

Hope this helps.

Please keep us up to date with progress.

The shed is a 6x6m garage but if I used it all the wife would kill me!!!

I may be able to get away with a few areas that are out of view or hidden to create loops - in fact I'm aiming to have hidden loop to allow at least one train (most likely a goods train) a continous run.

I'm even open to having one main track with sidings to allow the trains to cross and pass.

I'm open to any suggestions or track plans as at this stage, I have no freaking idea what I'm doing.

 

[7113]

Hi from one Dave to another,

Welcome to the forum - I just wish I had that much space!

Regards

 

[neil_s_wood]

Hi Dave,

welcome to the forum.

I live in Victoria too near Jeff (SRMan). If your into UK modelling joing the BRMA isn't a bad idea. I did and have found it very helpful and have met lots of other modellers, like Jeff. As Jeff said there are a few BRMA memebers down Mornington way so you may meet some people who live near yu who can give you some ideas and help.

I also have a layout in my Garage but its about half the size of yours.

cheers

Neil

 

[SRman]

My own layout is not in a shed but inside the house in what was a "Rumpus Room". It is (very) approximately 12' x 11' in the old measure. Enough to run six-coach main line trains.

 

[Swingcats]

Morning, gosh if my layout was 6m not 6 feet by 2.5 feet I'd go for oo mate.

Why there are so many sheds is a simple formula,

Wife + Shed = escape

 

[SRman]

Or, restating that formula:

shed - wife = escape

 

[7113]

QUOTE (SRman @ 21 Mar 2008, 09:10) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Or, restating that formula:

shed - wife = escape

Or very expensive divorce!

Regards

 

[Guest]

QUOTE (davenic @ 20 Mar 2008, 06:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hello to everyone.

I'm a 30yo from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. I had a Hornby set as a kid and I am looking at getting back into the hobby later in the year.

I have a shed in the back yard which will allow me enough room to have a 6m X 1.5-1.8m area in which to build a track.

I am interested moreso in the model building and decoration of the table than as a pure 'train set', so it's more a question of quality than quantity.

I am also more interested in the trains running around than shunting but I have much to learn!!!

I like the idea of having a 'fantasy' township but I am concerned with the width of my table, it may look silly in HO/OO. I would like to have an island type scenario, with a main village/town, a mining/quarry area, a seaport etc. I'd like to have a passenger train that runs and a goods train as well. Ideally, two to three lines running with no more than three lines side by side.

A few questions:

How tight a radius can HO trains run?
How long is a loco and two or three carriages?
Can I realistically fit this into my table without it being 'crowded'?
Would N scale be more viable?
Is N scale too fiddley?

I've got a million questions but that should do for now.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to the advice.

Dave

N scale is fiddly but worth it in the long run.

i'm from aus to