Greetings from Texas

PrairieTrains

New Member
I have just started this new hobby! I am looking forward to being an active user of this neat forum. I have a "game" room upstairs that is all my own!:mrgreen: I plan to take quite a while deciding the scope, design and layout. My plan includes building for the future and not just starting small. I have great patience and thankfully time. I have found a couple of hobby shops in my area with guys that are eager to help. I have already discovered that train folks are helpful folks with obvious enthusiasm. I haven't found any clubs - anybody know of one in the North Texas area?
Thanks for this forum and its obvious value. I know I will need mucho advice! :wave:

Norman (Pat) Patrick
 

rogerw

Active Member
Hello and welcome to the gauge. You will find a lot of good people here with a lot of good advice.
 

rogerw

Active Member
Where is Grand Prairie at in that country of Texas. I spent some time at fort hood and really enjoyed the friendly people in Texas
 

PrairieTrains

New Member
Where is Grand Prairie at in that country of Texas. I spent some time at fort hood and really enjoyed the friendly people in Texas

Grand Prairie is equidistant from Dallas and Fort Worth bordered by I-20 and I-30. Makes it easy to shop in both cities! Pat
 

bob neill

New Member
wild bills in irving is probably the closest hobby shop. there are several clubs around, unfortunitly, i have not found time to search them out. around christmass/newyear the association of clubs hold two shows, one in fort worth stock show arena and the other in dallas at the convention center. i,m in cedar hill

bob neill
 

RonP

Member of the WMRC
Hello and welcome to the best railroading forum on the net.

Yes there are other great forums this one is good and biggest so that must count for something.

Ask any questions you come up with, we never laugh or put anyone down for any type of question concerning railroading.
 

steamhead

Active Member
Good to have you "Onboard"....!!! I too am in TX....Just a little (like 10 hours...) south of you...and everybody else in the US.....!!!
 

PrairieTrains

New Member
Thanks guys - you see what I mean in the first post - ready, willing, able and kind to newbies. Hang on to your cap - I hope to pickup the 2" 4x8 PINK fiber boards (three of them) either tomorrow or Wednesday. I've made ample room for an L-shaped layout - 16' long with a 3x4' extension -- all against the wall. I already have the supporting cabinets. Where can I get a 25' long landscape orientation scenic background - clouds or something??? Any hints welcome. Got to really go to Bed now. :p Hope you had a good Memorial Day.

Pat Patrick
Retired, LTC, US Army
 

scubadude

Member
:welcome1: Pat, I'm from Richardson...glad to have another Texan on THE Gauge. Seems a lot of folks here are from Canada, but don't hold that against them! sign1. Try MAL Hobbyshop off of Irving Blvd in Irving. I usually go to Discount Model Trains in Addison, a little far from your house, but they have EVERYTHING! A great Saturday morning road trip...There are a couple of great train shows in Ft. Worth (fall) and Plano (Jan) to look out for.
ps - Why don't we have more Texans around here???

edit: Where did you find 2" pink foam, I could only fine 3/4", at Home Depot and nothing at Lowes....
 

PrairieTrains

New Member
edit: Where did you find 2" pink foam, I could only fine 3/4", at Home Depot and nothing at Lowes....[/quote]

Hi! Thanks for the leads. I got a referral from Buddy at Train's Crossing in Fort Worth. The company is E.O. Wood Insulation. E O Wood Commercial Industrial Thermal and Acoustical Insulation. I've got my fingers crossed as they just cater to industry. I've got an email in to them and haven't heard back yet. Hope to meet you someday. We Texans have to stick together! Pat :thumb:
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
I would not try to do a commercial backdrop that big. I think I would do one of 2 methods. You could take a drive out into the country where you can see for miles on a nice cloudy day, and take a series of pictures to use as a backdrop. The other method would be to paint your own. Start with white at the bottom, and a "sky blue at the top. Paint a 50/50 mix of white and blue in the middle and then blend it all together.

The following is a tutorial here on the Gauge on how to paint clouds with home made stencils.

http://forum.zealot.com/t96115/
 

PrairieTrains

New Member
Backdrop

Thanks Russ. I have finished my backdrop - and I think it came out good. Thanks for your and other guides. I'll share a picture if you'll tell me where to post it, etc. I also have finished the initial benchwork and have "installed" the 2" Pink Foam (L-shaped). Looking good - bought some layout books and think I have a good start on that - at least the local hobby shop guy -thinks so!
I see below that you can attach jpg files - so I'll try that here - if there is a more appropriate place please let me know. Hot (weather) in Texas!!! Pat :p
 

Attachments

  • DSCN1249.jpg
    DSCN1249.jpg
    149.6 KB · Views: 10

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Looking good Pat. Feel free to post pics of your work in any thread you start, in the weekly photofun threads, or any other place where they seem to make sense. :)

Ralph
 
Top