Anyone into HO scale model trains?

[SuBXeRo]

Hey all, i have been out of the train hobby for about 10-12 years, i have o-27 lionel trains, a lot of nice ones, i had 2 4x8 sheets put together to make the layout but its a large undertaking, costly and i just dont have the room to do that setup again. Lionel is great but they no longer produce HO scale trains. Anyone have suggestions for solid brands? I am a huge fan of the steam locomotive, and am looking for such trains. I was thinking i would do a simpole 4'x4' sheet with a snow nature scene or a summer nature scene. I was even contimplating a harrypotter hogwartz type deal. Just ideas floating around.

I've been check out atlas trains/tracks, athearn, and bachmann. any suggestions?

[Groomlakearea51]

Stuff's hard to find (in good condition anyways..). When I was a "teenager", I had alot of track and rolling stock for HO scale WW-II war game scenarios. Still have the tanks, halftracks, etc. etc. (all worth a fortune now....), and I also have some rolling stock, couple inoperative locomotives, a number of buildings, bridges, terrain building mats, etc. It's in storage boxes, but I can pull it out and take pictures if you want. I'm keeping the models themselves though. Send me a PM if interested.

[H]

[JJkizak]

I always had trouble putting the cars on the tracks (couldn't see them). Always had trouble with dirt on the rails causing the engine to stop. Then I n oticed they had this "T" gauge. Very expensive and very small. Or was it "N" gauge, I don't know anymore. Wish they had a "rail burnisher car" to clean the rails.

JJK

[dtel]

About 45 or more years ago, the whole setup with landscaping in the garage. My dad was an engineer for the public belt railroad in NO so he set it all up. Wish I still had it, there worth alot now, they weren't cheap then either.

We had it also with the race car track in the same landscaping, I probably played with it more.

[BigStewMan]

at my size, i can't get into them. i wish i could, sounds like fun zipping around the room in a train.

[Groomlakearea51]

The model railroad folks are like Klipsch fans..... Fanatics - in a good way though!! [Y][Y][Y] It's a whole 'nother world! Lotsa' very nice folks. Last year when I was unboxing the HO armored vehicles, getting ready to sort and paint with the Paasche airbrush, etc., I started researching paint, decals, extra plastic for mods, etc. Talk about a detailing nightmare!! LOL!! It's alot of work and the HO folks are very, very picky about models, buildings and RR stuff. Has to be "time period" accurate. Everything ready to go, but still have not started []

[H]

[SuBXeRo]

can anyone point me to a good train forum at all?

[Boxx]

can anyone point me to a good train forum at all?

.

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7

[jorjen]

PWK was into building model trains. Not HO as I recall though. He once sent a soft drink(in a can) to me on a flat car from his shed/garage in his backyard to where I was standing by the elevated track adjacent to his lap pool. Never forget it. He was one WAAAAY cool customer.

[BigStewMan]

PWK was into building model trains. Not HO as I recall though. He once sent a soft drink(in a can) to me on a flat car from his shed/garage in his backyard to where I was standing by the elevated track adjacent to his lap pool. Never forget it. He was one WAAAAY cool customer.

dont' stop now, it was just getting exciting...what kind of soft drink?

[jorjen]

Are you kidding BigStew, I can barely remember what I did last week let alone a soft drink brand from 28-29 years ago. [] We did not drink them as we were there for lunch with he and very gracious Ms. Valarie and had already eaten, he just showed us what he used the little flat cars for, it was quite amusing. He also told us that he would travel(the states, Europe, etc.), looking for trains he liked and take all kinds of photos of them. He would return with photos in hand and build the trains form scratch.

Myself and the other three gentlemen with me also had the pleasure, or should I say honor that day to hear Ms. Valarie play her Bosendorfer and Steinway pianos. Both pianos were in the same room and she played the same song on both so we could hear the difference between the two. Those are the kinds of things one NEVER forgets.

[artto]

Yeah, I am. (YIKES)

I was out of the hobby for about 10 years during the 90's. Things sure have changed!

For a layout (4'x4') why not just go N scale? A lot more bang for the buck size wise.

I currently have a 18'x6' HO layout with 2 track main line, double loop (about 100' track each line). I'm expanding it to about 12'x21' with a third main line that has 48" radius curves and a second yard.

If you go N scale Kato locomotives are about the only way to go. All the others seem to expire.

In HO a lot has changed. Many manufacturers have more than one product line. For instance, Athearn still makes their older style locomotives, and they also have their Genesis line which is far superior in details, paint and lettering quality, and (as they say) can pull a stump out. They have fantastic pulling power. Similar situation with Bachmann & Bachmann Spectrum or Walthers LifeLike Proto1000 or Proto2000. For HO Kato, Athearn Genesis, LifeLike Proto2000, and MTH are my favorites.

IMHO (and I guess Model Railroader Magazine too), the newest Athearn Genesis have far better detailing and paint than the best brass examples, and they run better. For the most part this is true of a lot of the newer premium "plastic" stuff. And its the same for steam or diesel.

You're probably aware of DCC (digital Cab Control) which uses AC (like O gauge Lionel) makes wiring and individual train control easier. On a small layout you probably won't need it. I'm still using regular DC but the new mainline and yard will be DCC from the start.

There's also DCS (Digital Control System) which operates on DC. It's made by MTH Trains. (BTW, MTH makes a lot of O scale lionel type stuff). It has it's own proprietary digital control with a lot more features than DCC but it only works with their equipment. But if you're into steam they have a lot of that.

[artto]

I've been check out atlas trains/tracks, athearn, and bachmann. any suggestions?

For track I'm using Atlas SuperFlex for re-tracking my layout. Apparently I was one of the early users of HO Flex-track and some of it had engineering plastic ties that were not to "spec" resulting in tie shrinkage over the years (25) which really screwed up the track rail spacing, especially around curves.

Some people feel that Micro Engineering's flex track looks the best. Shinohara is OK too. I like the Atlas because it's so smooth and flexible, easy to work with and still looks decent. PECO apparently makes the best turnouts now but I've decided to stay with Shinohara. There is a slight difference in the size of the rail web in the PECO rails and they don't work well with the other brands rail joiners, especially insulated rail joiners.

If you want to get really detailed in your track work and turnouts checkout Andy Reichert's Proto:87 and Accurate Track Emporium. This is museum quality stuff and kind of tricky and tedious.

EDIT: BTW, how about all the rock stars that are into model railroading? Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton. Neil Young is even an owner in Lionel and created the sound systems.