my best effort

3duvalls

New Member
Hi all, I am a brand new member of this forum. I have been reading several posts and you guys have a goldmine of information here. I want to introduce myself and tell you my goals as a new member of this group. I am a disabled electrical engineer. I have Parkinson's Disease. With this being said, I have a little spare time on my hands and knowledege of techie things. My thirteen year old and I have been playing with the idea of building a model for several years. As time presses on, I see college a few years down the road and then who knows. So, now is the time for father and son to move on this. We love trains, completely! I have a nice finished room 15' x 15' designated for the new layout. We have hoarded away HO trains for a long time for the project. Now, I want to do it right. I looked in the tutorials and found some info on soldering. I am quite handy and eager to start but what first...lol

Where can I find an overview on how to begin the layout?

Oh, and have I met the requirements for the epass or idbadge? If not, please advise me.

Thanks again and I hope to be a productive member of The Gauge!!!
 

CCT70

Member
Welcome to you and your son. What type of layout are you thinking of building? Around the walls? Peninsula style? What era and locale?
 

Cannonball

More Trains Than Brains
Welcome aboard the board! :)

ePasses are not exclusive to the gauge. It's become an interesting side hobby that spans the globe. As far as the ID badge goes, I think that is pretty much open to whatever member decides to make one.

I'm jealous of your room already. 15x15 would be so cool.....
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
Welcome to the Gauge, sounds as if you've got things going in the right direction. Nice size room. There is a wealth of information here, as you have already found, and I know others are eager to help you along the way.

As far as ID badges and epasses, make them up to your liking and post them. We will then add them to the other ones in the Gallery. There is no "requirement", so get creative and go for it. :thumb:
 

3duvalls

New Member
As far as what is in my head, I am thinking of placing the layout along two walls. We actually designated this room for a train layout when we built the house. I am so excited to get to start on it. So, I have 15' and about 13' of wall space because of a 2' crawl space entrance at one end of one wall. I don't know about access to the wall side or back side of the layout though. Is that an issue for a wall type layout? We will probably make the era 1960s to 1970s. I selected this era because I am thinking I could run steamers and diesels in perfect harmony and still be correct? Is that a fair assumption? Since we live in what was once a tremendous coal mining area, I want to use lots of coal theme and maybe a working undergound mine entrance or two. I had an idea of putting an underground mine shaft visible and from the side maybe thru a small widow, coal cars that can move up and back down to carry the coal to the surface. Any thoughts? The coal cars and man haulers would be a cable run from the surface and no pulling engine would be required except for the wench type engine. I also like a logging theme since timber is deep rooted in Muhlenberg county's past (no pun intended)...lol Well, these are my thoughts. Thanks so much for the warm welcome.:wave:
 

Cannonball

More Trains Than Brains
3duvalls said:
I don't know about access to the wall side or back side of the layout though. Is that an issue for a wall type layout?
As long as you don't make it wider than you can reach, you shouldn't need backside access. Now if you were going 15x13x6ft wide, then yeah, you'd need a crawlspace to get to the back. About 3 ft wide shouldn't be a problem. 4 can be doable. Go over that, and you're gonna probalby have to crawl across the layout to reach the back if you don't have a crawlspce.
 
N

nachoman

As a general rule - use of steamers on mainlines ended before 1960, and the last steam engines were retired from branchlines by 1970. If you want to run steamers and diesels side by side - you are looking at 1950s. Where is Muhlenberg county?

Kevin
 

3duvalls

New Member
Thanks,,, Muhlenberg county is in western Kentucky. At one time, I believe Muhlenberg was classified as the US' largest coal producing county. John Prine wrote a song, Paradise, about Muhlenberg county. I do know that as strip mining came of age here, we had the worlds largest digging equipment in the work. I used to go with my dad and also with my grandfather to see these monsters dig. Muhlenberg has been home to my family and my wife's too for several generations and for the most part our families have been here since before the county's formation in 1798. There were two main rail lines that ran thru here. The first was the L&N railroad and the other was the IC railroad. I also remember a third very old "narrow gauge" track from when I was a boy. My grandfather told me that it was as old as the L&N and IC and had been of much debate a long time ago over its different gauge. I love local history and love to talk about it. Sorry if I seem to ramble...lol I would like our model to fit the coal and timber theme of our home.
 

Nazgul

Active Member
I would like to add my own "welcome to The gauge"...
You have stumbled upon one of the greatest resources for a newbie mrr. The Gauge is comprised of people with plenty of experience, knowledge, and patience (they haven't thrown me off here yet...LOL). I started mrring about a year ago...didn't know anything but thanks to the fine members here, it has become a truly fun and rewarding experience.
My advice would be to read this:
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=19575
It will help you sort out what you want and what you need and also help others understand the same.
Next, I would start a thread in the track planning forum. If you could attach a diagram of your space (with measurements and obstructions) it would greatly help. list your ideas, scale, and what you want to get out of this layout: rail-fanning (watching the trains roll through the scenery) operations (working the trains with purpose between industries and customers) or a healthy combination of both. You will find people here who want to help as little or as much as needed (and believe me, I needed a lot of help!)
Also, read, read, read everything you can get your hands on.
Anyway, those are my suggestions...
PS........I think seeing underground mine ops through a cross section or "window" is an AWESOME idea! Hang a string of lights in the shaft, cars moving toward the surface......I want one!!....LOL!
good luck and above all....HAVE FUN!
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
3duvalls,

Welcome! You've got some good pointers to get you going in the hobby, and here at THe Gauge.

Looking forward to seeing your layotu space in the Track Planning forum. My favourite layout of approximately your size is Mike Hamer's Boston & Maine, which has appeared in MR's special editions (GMR and MRP). While the theme is not exactly ;) like yours, he has some great ideas about staging and fitting scenes in a (relatively) small space. I have operated the layout numerous times, and it is a joy to work. It is rather popular with the local round-robin group - so much so that his crew lounge and workspace is about 3 times as big as the layout itself.

But I digress - welcome, and fire away with the questions! ;) :D


Andrew
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Hi and welcome! You're being very thoughtful in advance of actually constructing your layout so I think you're going to be pleased with your results. I like your concept but agree with the above reply by nachoman that you may find the 1950s more to your liking. Sounds great! I think very soon you're going to have to change your "Newbie HO modeler posted this..." It won't apply. :)
Ralph
 

Triplex

Active Member
If you want to run steamers and diesels side by side - you are looking at 1950s.
Or 1940s. I think of the 40s as "the rise of the diesel" and the 50s as "the fall of steam".
 

60103

Pooh Bah
and another welcome from me.
Have a look at nazgul's "don't laught..." thread to see what he managed to do in one year from nothing.
My layout is around the walls of a 16x18 foot room (I spent years telling everyone it was 16 feet square). It was originally point-to-point but my wife persuaded me to make it a full loop -- it's her laundry room we have to crawl into.
Shelf width is a consideration, and it ties in with layout height. My layout is about underarm height, and mostly 2 feet wide. One station goes out to 30" and I have problems with sleeves and arms catching on stuff at the front. I would suggest something much lower, and view from a chair (a rolling chair is nice).
With a narrow shelf like mine I can't put in turnback loops, so the layout was designed with a turntable at each end. (I'm in HO or OO). In N scale a loop would be possible.
 
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