Do's and Dont's of Model Railroading

K

Kanawha

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Apr 1, 2007
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There are many do's and dont's in life.announce1 For example, DON'T start dating a friend, DON'T spit into the wind, DON'T try to shave around a pimple, etc. Anyhow, I was wondering what are some of the big do's and dont's of Model Railroading in everyone's experience? :mrgreen:

In my experience I can say for one, DON'T lay a turnout in a tunnel, EVER. Just a bad idea. :eek: Because by Murphy's Law, that will be your most troublesome turnout. If you absolutely must, make sure there is access to it from every angle with pop outs or something.
 
Do not add another piece of wire of a new color to just finish up a connection with stuff that is available, free, handy, etc.. You will NOT remember all the variations in color, you will most likely add some more odd color sections because the first one was NO PROBLEM and so 20 years later after you have done this ? times you can now crawl under the layout to trace an electrical problem with wires of every color in every direction with no apparent logic! What fun!!!!!!!!! Dave
 
Like Kanawha...never put down anything you can't reach at a later date. That's where the first trouble spot will happen.
Allan
 
Don't lay a turnout on a vertical curve...a downward vertical curve. It will dramatically increase the number of accidents (speaking from experience!).

If you can't decide if you'll like what you've just done or not...don't try to justify it. Tear it out and redo it. Don't attempt to talk yourself into modeling a specific something that you don't really care for because of a temporary limitation...it will bug you in the long run. Set a plan and work towards it.
 
A goog deal is not always a good deal. When it comes to buying Engines beware of those marked down items at your local Hobby Store. A lot of those are returns or something someone damaged. Ask them to test run it before buying. :rippedoff:Remember the store could have shrink wrappers in the back! Jim


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You could be on the right track but if your standing still you could get ran over.
 
Sawdust said:
A goog deal is not always a good deal. When it comes to buying Engines beware of those marked down items at your local Hobby Store. A lot of those are returns or something someone damaged. Ask them to test run it before buying. :rippedoff:Remember the store could have shrink wrappers in the back! Jim
Click to expand...

My LHS is having their annual train show this weekend. They had some layouts set up and a bunch of nice sales. They do it primarily for three reasons (I think):
1) clear out stuff like you mentioned (it is labeled)
2) clear out overstocked stuff
3) try to get new people into the hobby (lots of heavily discounted train sets plus the layouts)

I picked up a Thomas trainset for my son for $25...it was labeled as a returned item, but runs ok. It does. They label defective stuff (engine runs rough, fuzzy sound on this decoder, etc).

I picked up a ton of B-man large scale curves for $1 a piece.


Do check around on the internet before buying stuff.
Don't ever pay list price unless it is a cottage industry or rare item...in which case it is fine.
 
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