A return to the hobby

[HookedAgain]

Hi everyone,

 

I have been lurking around this site for quite a while, reading as much as I can and trying to catch up with modern modelling methods.  The hobby has certainly come a long way since I was last involved.

 

I thought it would be the right time to introduce myself:

 

From an early age I was fascinated by all things mechanical and on the rare occasions I managed to catch a glimpse of a steam locomotive, I was beside myself.  Moving forward nearly 50 years and having relocated to, what I hope will be, our forever home; I have built a dedicated space within the garage, free from the intrusion of "wifey's things".  I had hoped that the entire garage would be mine, but that was just too much to hope for! 

 

Originally I had planned a U shaped tail chaser but alas, the space now available will probably not allow this.  I will be modelling in OO gauge and whilst the time available to me currently precludes building my own track and rolling stock, I would like the layout to be as 'prototypical' as possible. 

 

During the pandemic, I built a functioning DCC++ control station and a basic mimic panel, whilst I am computer savvy and will use the likes of JMRI to setup the layout, I don't want to be running the layout exclusively by computer, so I have also built a couple of handheld wireless throttles.

 

Well, I think that I have probably bored those of you that took the time to read this post and for that I apologise.

 

I hope that you will not mind the inevitable dumb questions as I progress.

 

p.s. I was chatting with another member on this site about options for my layout and they suggested that it might be worth posing the question in the layout forum, do you think this would be acceptable?

 

Many thanks

 

Hooked Again

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Hi there, if you scroll through the list of Forums, there’s a “Layout & Track Design” sub-forum as part of the “Skills & Knowledge Centre” which I’ve found really useful when developing layout ideas.  That might be a good place to start, as it sounds like you k ow the space you have and the Scale you want to model in.  Just a thought, Keith.

[Huw Griffiths]

Welcome aboard.

 

Keith makes some good points about the "Layout & Track Design" section - and the "Skills & Knowledgde Centre" area in general.

 

I suspect it would be only a matter of time before you're asked for more detail about your planned layout - the space available and other constraints - and a track plan drawn to scale. Chances are that questions like these won't be about "tying you in knots" etc - but rather about identifying your real options etc.

 

I suspect that lots of planned "dream" layouts would probably have been seen to be "nightmares" at this point - shown to be unbuildable, unworkable for the intended model trains, or otherwise not worth pursuing. This might be uncomfortable at the time - but, at this stage, it costs nothing - it's much better than throwing lots of time, money and specially built stuff at fatally flawed concepts.

 

If / when you decide on a workable layout, I suspect that lots of people here would almost certainly be interested in seeing how you get on - cue a new layout thread / blog etc.

 

Some people here are probably already interested with talk of self built DCC, JMRI etc - I wonder if you might have considered joining MERG. (Don't worry - I might run a MERG Zoom group - but I won't subject you to a high pressure "sales pitch". The only reason I'm mentioning MERG is that a lot of members - but not all - are interested in stuff like that.)

 

 

Anyway, returning to your layout plans, posting in the "Layouts & Track Design" section sounds like it could be a good move.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Huw Griffiths

[HookedAgain]

Hi Keith & Huw,

 

Thank you for your messages and for your advice.  I will post in the Layouts & Track Design as suggested.

 

With regard to MERG, yes I am interested and will probably submit my application within the next couple of weeks.

 

Once again, thank you

 

Hooked Again