The most common reason people make the decision to build model railway trains and scenery is because of their childhood memories.
So many of us our drawn to this hobby because of those wonderful past experiences, and that speaks volumes about the rise in popularity of model railroading.
If you're just beginning in this hobby, or even if you've been involved with it for awhile, being provided with a few good tips about how to get started, and enjoy model railroading to it's fullest certainly won't hurt.
You see, the things is, building model railway trains and scenery can be very challenging, and requires that you set aside a reasonable amount of time to do your due diligence.
Not unlike any other new venture, being properly prepared will prevent you from spending money unnecessarily, and will help you avoid future disappointments as you proceed with this new venture.
Typically, when you start building model railways, you begin with selecting the model scale for your trains, and this is where the confusion begins for most inexperienced hobbyist.
Therefore, the first order of the day, is to learn the difference between gauge and scale.
Scale: The comparable difference in size between the model and the real life prototype.
This difference is represented in fraction form for the model.
For example, an N scale model train is 1:160th the size of the actual train.
Gauge: This is simply the distance between the outer rails and nothing more.
After determining your choice in model scales, the next step is to decide which of those model scales, and there are several to choose from, that you would like to display in your layout.
Having chosen your model scale, the question to address next is where, and what to display them on.
You can elect to purchase a pre-built benchwork, or actually build one yourself.
This is a personal choice, and relates more to time available and skill set then anything else.
The next stage of building your model railroad involves the planning and designing of your track layout.
This can be accomplished through doing careful research, or by purchasing software that will accomplish this task for you.
Now that you've designed your track layout, getting your trains to run efficiently and smoothly is the issue at hand, and to do this you'll have to bring yourself up to speed about the various electrical components and how they work.
There are a variety of well written books on this subject, and your best source is to browse those that are available at Amazon.
com.
At this point, you have the scale models trains you've selected, your benchwork, you've designed your track layout, and you have all of the electrical components that are necessary to run your trains.
No model railroad is finally complete until it is complimented with scenery.
This is where you have an opportunity to really impress your friends and family, and maybe even yourself with your artistic talents.
You can create all of your scenery from scratch, using any number of things that you can find around your home, or you can elect to visit your local hobby store and buy ready made scenery.
Once again, this is a personal choice, and its possible that you may want to combine the two.
Ultimately, your goal is to create the most awesome scenery that you can to surround those mighty little trains that you have running around that great track layout that you designed!
So many of us our drawn to this hobby because of those wonderful past experiences, and that speaks volumes about the rise in popularity of model railroading.
If you're just beginning in this hobby, or even if you've been involved with it for awhile, being provided with a few good tips about how to get started, and enjoy model railroading to it's fullest certainly won't hurt.
You see, the things is, building model railway trains and scenery can be very challenging, and requires that you set aside a reasonable amount of time to do your due diligence.
Not unlike any other new venture, being properly prepared will prevent you from spending money unnecessarily, and will help you avoid future disappointments as you proceed with this new venture.
Typically, when you start building model railways, you begin with selecting the model scale for your trains, and this is where the confusion begins for most inexperienced hobbyist.
Therefore, the first order of the day, is to learn the difference between gauge and scale.
Scale: The comparable difference in size between the model and the real life prototype.
This difference is represented in fraction form for the model.
For example, an N scale model train is 1:160th the size of the actual train.
Gauge: This is simply the distance between the outer rails and nothing more.
After determining your choice in model scales, the next step is to decide which of those model scales, and there are several to choose from, that you would like to display in your layout.
Having chosen your model scale, the question to address next is where, and what to display them on.
You can elect to purchase a pre-built benchwork, or actually build one yourself.
This is a personal choice, and relates more to time available and skill set then anything else.
The next stage of building your model railroad involves the planning and designing of your track layout.
This can be accomplished through doing careful research, or by purchasing software that will accomplish this task for you.
Now that you've designed your track layout, getting your trains to run efficiently and smoothly is the issue at hand, and to do this you'll have to bring yourself up to speed about the various electrical components and how they work.
There are a variety of well written books on this subject, and your best source is to browse those that are available at Amazon.
com.
At this point, you have the scale models trains you've selected, your benchwork, you've designed your track layout, and you have all of the electrical components that are necessary to run your trains.
No model railroad is finally complete until it is complimented with scenery.
This is where you have an opportunity to really impress your friends and family, and maybe even yourself with your artistic talents.
You can create all of your scenery from scratch, using any number of things that you can find around your home, or you can elect to visit your local hobby store and buy ready made scenery.
Once again, this is a personal choice, and its possible that you may want to combine the two.
Ultimately, your goal is to create the most awesome scenery that you can to surround those mighty little trains that you have running around that great track layout that you designed!
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