Another Newbie
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Walkingthedog
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Re: Another Newbie
Welcome to the forum. Friendly helpful bunch on here.
And the Lord said unto John “Come forth and receive eternal life”, but John came fifth and won a toaster!
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teedoubleudee
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Re: Another Newbie
Welcome to our forum Mick
Most people are shocked when they find out how bad I am as an electrician
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Bandit Mick
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bulleidboy
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Re: Another Newbie
Welcome to the forum Mick - it's a great place. I too have the small bedroom (10x7) - SWMBO said build whatever you like - so I did 
Re: Another Newbie
Hello mick, you will get all the help and advice you need from the good fellows on this forum.
I have been allowed by head office (her indoors) to rebuild my layout in a bedroom at our new home but it is still full of furniture from our last house. Hope to start sometime in the new year.
Looking forward to watching your progress.
Puddles
I have been allowed by head office (her indoors) to rebuild my layout in a bedroom at our new home but it is still full of furniture from our last house. Hope to start sometime in the new year.
Looking forward to watching your progress.
Puddles
It does not take me long to do five minutes work.
Nostalgia is not what it used to be.
Nostalgia is not what it used to be.
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Mountain Goat
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Re: Another Newbie
Nothing is impossible in regards to fitting in a small bedroom as there are a variety of scales and gauges and designs to come to your aid.
With 00 gauge, it is recommended one uses second radius curves or larger but these do take space, where first radius are more space friendly. The only issue is that not all locomotives or rolling stock these days are built to run on them. (probably around a third can but if using these curves be mindful of this.
Of course, some locos and stock will take extreme curves and modellers like myself use this to our advantage in modelling in the next popular scale up but using 00 gauge track in the form of 7mm narrow gauge and I have curves on my layout which fit within a 2ft wide board which I find is not only space saving, but using the Hornby 0-4-0's as donor locomotives I end up with a cheap and cheerful means of modelling.
Others go down a different route in their answer to modelling in a small space of choosing a smaller scale and gauge, and there are certainly some small ones out there!
00 gauge in the UK (H0 if one lives elsewhere) is the most popular scale and gauge so it does tend to be the easiest to model in, though prices these days tend to be high. What I mean by this is that in the past 00 gauge was thought of as a poor mans 0 gauge in that the working class had both smaller houses and less funds to play with, so the likes of Triang and Jouef Playcraft came to cater for this. Hornby Dublo was always really well made and not cheap so it was out of reach for most.
Today in 00 gauge the detail is going higher and higher but so are the prices! But the good thing is that secondhand one can pick up some good models at reasonable prices now one has the internet to help track them down.
Yes, buying secondhand is risky as one may not know if it will run, but so is buying new in some cases as due to them being made in smaller batches compared to the past, and also being rushed to get them into production ahead of their competitors mistakes have been made with the dreaded mazak rot in the chassis block and other metal components being one of them which can take a year or two or even a decade to develop before trouble starts.
Fortunately though entire production runs of some models were effected, this is still overall rare, and with the models effected, it is rarer to find them still running to come on the secondhand market unless they are sold as a non runner or "As seen".
Some older models are safe bets. I have personally found Lima diesels (No longer in production *) to be like this as they are simply made and simple to repair if they do act up.
* Lima went bankrupt. Hornby took over some of their moulds and revamped the chassis and produce them as a small part of their "Railroad" range.
There have been a lot of improvements made in recent years. Even Hornby now has nickel silver track and it is pretty good too, especially compared to the past, and good old Peco are still there making their excellent track. If running older models stick to code 100 if in 00 gauge, and with Peco points, one may need to slightly "Open up" the point flangeways to help the older models run, but check the back to back measurements before trying this. It is usually with the older versions of the Triang models that one needs this, though Lima do tend to skim on the bottom a little due to the depth of their rolling stock flanges, though they run so well and keep to the track so well I would not change the wheels.. They just behave which is much that can be said for some of the modern models out there, some of which don't seem to like running on rails!
(Or could it be my track? ).
Anyway. Welcome to the forum. Any questions, feel free to ask and someone somewhere will have a go at answering your questions.
With 00 gauge, it is recommended one uses second radius curves or larger but these do take space, where first radius are more space friendly. The only issue is that not all locomotives or rolling stock these days are built to run on them. (probably around a third can but if using these curves be mindful of this.
Of course, some locos and stock will take extreme curves and modellers like myself use this to our advantage in modelling in the next popular scale up but using 00 gauge track in the form of 7mm narrow gauge and I have curves on my layout which fit within a 2ft wide board which I find is not only space saving, but using the Hornby 0-4-0's as donor locomotives I end up with a cheap and cheerful means of modelling.
Others go down a different route in their answer to modelling in a small space of choosing a smaller scale and gauge, and there are certainly some small ones out there!
00 gauge in the UK (H0 if one lives elsewhere) is the most popular scale and gauge so it does tend to be the easiest to model in, though prices these days tend to be high. What I mean by this is that in the past 00 gauge was thought of as a poor mans 0 gauge in that the working class had both smaller houses and less funds to play with, so the likes of Triang and Jouef Playcraft came to cater for this. Hornby Dublo was always really well made and not cheap so it was out of reach for most.
Today in 00 gauge the detail is going higher and higher but so are the prices! But the good thing is that secondhand one can pick up some good models at reasonable prices now one has the internet to help track them down.
Yes, buying secondhand is risky as one may not know if it will run, but so is buying new in some cases as due to them being made in smaller batches compared to the past, and also being rushed to get them into production ahead of their competitors mistakes have been made with the dreaded mazak rot in the chassis block and other metal components being one of them which can take a year or two or even a decade to develop before trouble starts.
Fortunately though entire production runs of some models were effected, this is still overall rare, and with the models effected, it is rarer to find them still running to come on the secondhand market unless they are sold as a non runner or "As seen".
Some older models are safe bets. I have personally found Lima diesels (No longer in production *) to be like this as they are simply made and simple to repair if they do act up.
* Lima went bankrupt. Hornby took over some of their moulds and revamped the chassis and produce them as a small part of their "Railroad" range.
There have been a lot of improvements made in recent years. Even Hornby now has nickel silver track and it is pretty good too, especially compared to the past, and good old Peco are still there making their excellent track. If running older models stick to code 100 if in 00 gauge, and with Peco points, one may need to slightly "Open up" the point flangeways to help the older models run, but check the back to back measurements before trying this. It is usually with the older versions of the Triang models that one needs this, though Lima do tend to skim on the bottom a little due to the depth of their rolling stock flanges, though they run so well and keep to the track so well I would not change the wheels.. They just behave which is much that can be said for some of the modern models out there, some of which don't seem to like running on rails!
(Or could it be my track? ).Anyway. Welcome to the forum. Any questions, feel free to ask and someone somewhere will have a go at answering your questions.
Budget modelling in 0-16.5...
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Bandit Mick
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Re: Another Newbie
Lots of valid points and advice from MG. At first it’s tempting to go for a room filler. I found that it would have been better if I’d gone for something smaller to start with in order to hone my skills. I seem to now get more pleasure from end to end set ups and even micro layouts. Combined with lock downs and short supply of some modelling resources, my large layout has remained untouched for a long time. Go on, have a go at a micro - you know it makes sense!!!
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