500 S Salisbury Ave Spencer, NC
28159 1-800-334-2466
Your complete
source for
model railroading
since 1989
source for
model railroading
since 1989
Getting Started in the Hobby of Model
Railroading
Why would you want to play with model trains?
Sam Posey, the Grand Prix legend and model railroader, offers this explanation
in his book Playing with Trains.
"Trains are a part of our national heritage ---- and modeling them is too.
It's a hobby with proven staying power because so much is involved: Imagination. Building. Tinkering. Inventing. Self-expression."
By participating in this hobby, you will be exposed to many different skills and disciplines including photography, history, art, computers, carpentry,
collecting, reading and research. The great
thing about the hobby is that, while you will become involved in all of these
disciplines, you need relatively little prior knowledge to begin.
The practice of the hobby will lead you to explore these
areas in an enjoyable way.
This will be your model railroad and you can do whatever you want with it.
Build it as big or small as your space, and budget, will allow.
Model any time or anywhere you choose.
Put a vast amount of time and effort into detail on your layout or
be an arm-chair modeler and enjoy the many books, videos and magazines about railroading, both real and modeled,
that are available.
The first step is to do your homework.
There are many books and magazines available with articles on how
to get started in the hobby to provide all the basic information you need.
We stock many of these books in our store so
feel free to come by the store, browse our book selection and ask our
knowledgeable staff anything you might want to know.
We are always more than willing to help someone
get started in the hobby we enjoy so much.
If you can't make it to the store feel free to browse our
on-line inventory and purchase a book today, give us a call to
ask questions at 1-800-334-2466
or e-mail us at info@littlechoochooshop.com.
Basics
Here are some basic questions that you will need to answer in order to
get started in the hobby. The first issue is space.
How much space you have to allocate to your model
railroad will help you to determine which scale, or size, you will be working with.
Scale is the size of the model in relation to the real thing.
For example, HO scale is 1:87 scale which means that the
model is 87 times smaller than the real thing.
Here are the major scales listed from smallest to largest:
Z Scale 1:220
N Scale 1:160
HO Scale 1:87
S Scale 1:64
O Scale 1:48
On30 1:48 (But using HO Scale track)
Gn3 (G Scale) 1:22.5
Regardless of which scale you choose, a 4 foot by 8 foot layout is a
good size to start with.
This will be your learning railroad. Be sure to finish building this railroad.
Many beginners start building a layout and eventually find
something they don't like about it so they scrap it and start over,
or quit all together. With this layout you should be willing
to accept the mistakes you make. Use it to practice
techniques and decide which products to use for a more refined
layout in the future. Be sure to complete all phases of this layout
to gain experience with track layout design, wiring, scenery, and layout
operations.
There is one guarantee in this hobby; your likes and dislikes will change.
Over time you will learn about new techniques,
new railroads, and simply decide to try new things.
The great thing about this hobby is that you can always
change your layout and account for new tastes. You can constantly work to
take on more detailed and difficult tasks, expand
your layout, and simply add to the layout you already have.
Model railroading is a hobby you can enjoy for a lifetime.
Resources
One of the best resources for a beginner is simply asking someone
with experience questions about the hobby.
Feel free to contact anyone on our staff via the information
listed on our Contact Us page.
There are also a number of books available to get you started in model
railroading.The following is only a small sample of books available that
we carry in our store. Use the Item ID listed next to each title to search for the books
on our On-Line Shopping page.
ID: A00579 Beginners Guide to Large Scale Model RR $18.95
ID: WA05814 Atlas Beginners Guide to HO Model RR $4.80
ID: A11841 Getting Started in Garden Railroading $6.95
ID: A11760 Getting Started in N Scale $6.95
ID: A11762 Getting Started in Toy Trains $6.95
ID: M01283 Art of Lionel Trains $26.00
Why would you want to play with model trains?
Sam Posey, the Grand Prix legend and model railroader, offers this explanation
in his book Playing with Trains.
"Trains are a part of our national heritage ---- and modeling them is too.
It's a hobby with proven staying power because so much is involved: Imagination. Building. Tinkering. Inventing. Self-expression."
By participating in this hobby, you will be exposed to many different skills and disciplines including photography, history, art, computers, carpentry,
collecting, reading and research. The great
thing about the hobby is that, while you will become involved in all of these
disciplines, you need relatively little prior knowledge to begin.
The practice of the hobby will lead you to explore these
areas in an enjoyable way.
This will be your model railroad and you can do whatever you want with it.
Build it as big or small as your space, and budget, will allow.
Model any time or anywhere you choose.
Put a vast amount of time and effort into detail on your layout or
be an arm-chair modeler and enjoy the many books, videos and magazines about railroading, both real and modeled,
that are available.
The first step is to do your homework.
There are many books and magazines available with articles on how
to get started in the hobby to provide all the basic information you need.
We stock many of these books in our store so
feel free to come by the store, browse our book selection and ask our
knowledgeable staff anything you might want to know.
We are always more than willing to help someone
get started in the hobby we enjoy so much.
If you can't make it to the store feel free to browse our
on-line inventory and purchase a book today, give us a call to
ask questions at 1-800-334-2466
or e-mail us at info@littlechoochooshop.com.
Basics
Here are some basic questions that you will need to answer in order to
get started in the hobby. The first issue is space.
How much space you have to allocate to your model
railroad will help you to determine which scale, or size, you will be working with.
Scale is the size of the model in relation to the real thing.
For example, HO scale is 1:87 scale which means that the
model is 87 times smaller than the real thing.
Here are the major scales listed from smallest to largest:
Z Scale 1:220
N Scale 1:160
HO Scale 1:87
S Scale 1:64
O Scale 1:48
On30 1:48 (But using HO Scale track)
Gn3 (G Scale) 1:22.5
Regardless of which scale you choose, a 4 foot by 8 foot layout is a
good size to start with.
This will be your learning railroad. Be sure to finish building this railroad.
Many beginners start building a layout and eventually find
something they don't like about it so they scrap it and start over,
or quit all together. With this layout you should be willing
to accept the mistakes you make. Use it to practice
techniques and decide which products to use for a more refined
layout in the future. Be sure to complete all phases of this layout
to gain experience with track layout design, wiring, scenery, and layout
operations.
There is one guarantee in this hobby; your likes and dislikes will change.
Over time you will learn about new techniques,
new railroads, and simply decide to try new things.
The great thing about this hobby is that you can always
change your layout and account for new tastes. You can constantly work to
take on more detailed and difficult tasks, expand
your layout, and simply add to the layout you already have.
Model railroading is a hobby you can enjoy for a lifetime.
Resources
One of the best resources for a beginner is simply asking someone
with experience questions about the hobby.
Feel free to contact anyone on our staff via the information
listed on our Contact Us page.
There are also a number of books available to get you started in model
railroading.The following is only a small sample of books available that
we carry in our store. Use the Item ID listed next to each title to search for the books
on our On-Line Shopping page.
ID: A00579 Beginners Guide to Large Scale Model RR $18.95
ID: WA05814 Atlas Beginners Guide to HO Model RR $4.80
ID: A11841 Getting Started in Garden Railroading $6.95
ID: A11760 Getting Started in N Scale $6.95
ID: A11762 Getting Started in Toy Trains $6.95
ID: M01283 Art of Lionel Trains $26.00
Created and Maintained by
Matt Kessenich, Little Choo Choo Shop Inc. 2006
Matt Kessenich, Little Choo Choo Shop Inc. 2006