Advice needed for an hesitate beginner

[Carl]

i`m now thinking about buying a model railway,beause i like the technicality and the exspanion of it all/the maount of models buildings etc.
But my problem is i`m on a very tight budget for a set,and i`m not sure wether after a while i`ll get bored.Can anybody get me any advice,be it what book to read,place to go,or set to buy, as i`m confused.I popped into my local model shop,and the stuff in there seems pretty expensive.

Any help greatly recieved.

[Toddington Ted]

Welcome to the world of model railways, it doesn't have to be as expensive as full sized railways or golf but it can be pricey so my first bit of advice is be careful what you buy and shop around!
I'm not an experienced modeller but I am the Treasurer of our local railway society and we do run a popular model railway show every year during the first weekend of September at Grantham (shameless plug!) and so I have picked up some hints and tips as I've mixed with "them wot knows."
1. Decide what gauge you want and go for it. N gauge is getting better and better but I find it too small and fiddley - but many people don't have this problem with it and it is a space saver.
2. If you want Continental stuff then it can be very expensive but again, very good.
3. I recommend OO gauge personally but if you are a purist you will want to go EM or finescale and build everything from scratch!
4. The OO gauge British outline ready to run market is currently, IMHO, really good, after all why the heck would manufacturers be bringing out obscure or mundance locos like GWR ex ROD 2-8-0s (thank you Bachmann!) or SDJR 7Fs if they didn't think they would sell, so its a good time to do it.
5. Do you want to model a prototypical layout or make one up or follow a plan? I tried to copy a real location (Andoversford Junction) and sort of succeeded but its a bit too much of a compromise for me (16 feet too short in fact!) to be really accurate.
6. Choose between DCC or traditional control. If you are new to the game then go DCC, its more expensive but its good. I don't think I ever will.
7. Whatever you do you will want to go back after a while and do it better so don't nail everything down too much!
8. Decide whether you want to go modern image or a particular period. If your layout covers a specific time period then you will need to do some reasearch (eg: the GWR painted their station buildings dark and light stone but after Nationalisation a daffodil cream yellow colour was introduced.)
9. The default setting for a model railway layout is not a GWR branch line (or is it?!).
10. Do you want your layout to be fixed or portable (for shows, displays etc)?
11. If you have a lot of money, time and room then "Stoke Bank" in OO gauge is a possibility. If you ever get the chance go and see that layout!

Hope this helps.

Alternatively there is golf.

[Carl]

Originally Posted by Toddington Ted

Welcome to the world of model railways, it doesn't have to be as expensive as full sized railways or golf but it can be pricey so my first bit of advice is be careful what you buy and shop around!
I'm not an experienced modeller but I am the Treasurer of our local railway society and we do run a popular model railway show every year during the first weekend of September at Grantham (shameless plug!) and so I have picked up some hints and tips as I've mixed with "them wot knows."
1. Decide what gauge you want and go for it. N gauge is getting better and better but I find it too small and fiddley - but many people don't have this problem with it and it is a space saver.
2. If you want Continental stuff then it can be very expensive but again, very good.
3. I recommend OO gauge personally but if you are a purist you will want to go EM or finescale and build everything from scratch!
4. The OO gauge British outline ready to run market is currently, IMHO, really good, after all why the heck would manufacturers be bringing out obscure or mundance locos like GWR ex ROD 2-8-0s (thank you Bachmann!) or SDJR 7Fs if they didn't think they would sell, so its a good time to do it.
5. Do you want to model a prototypical layout or make one up or follow a plan? I tried to copy a real location (Andoversford Junction) and sort of succeeded but its a bit too much of a compromise for me (16 feet too short in fact!) to be really accurate.
6. Choose between DCC or traditional control. If you are new to the game then go DCC, its more expensive but its good. I don't think I ever will.
7. Whatever you do you will want to go back after a while and do it better so don't nail everything down too much!
8. Decide whether you want to go modern image or a particular period. If your layout covers a specific time period then you will need to do some reasearch (eg: the GWR painted their station buildings dark and light stone but after Nationalisation a daffodil cream yellow colour was introduced.)
9. The default setting for a model railway layout is not a GWR branch line (or is it?!).
10. Do you want your layout to be fixed or portable (for shows, displays etc)?
11. If you have a lot of money, time and room then "Stoke Bank" in OO gauge is a possibility. If you ever get the chance go and see that layout!

Hope this helps.

Alternatively there is golf.

lmao you joka . Yer it kinda somewhat helps be it a bit to confusing for me hehehe.

[Toddington Ted]

Originally Posted by Carl

lmao you joka . Yer it kinda somewhat helps be it a bit to confusing for me hehehe.

No, terribly sorry old chap, I don't understand your banter.

[Belmont Road]

Originally Posted by Carl

lmao you joka . Yer it kinda somewhat helps be it a bit to confusing for me hehehe.

Me too I don't understand this???

[steam for ever]

Originally Posted by Carl

lmao you joka . Yer it kinda somewhat helps be it a bit to confusing for me hehehe.

I think I get you.

Hornby sell low price sets, starting from £40, and their track packs and railroad range (the budget range) can help you expand.

Here is a link to the train sets they offer and to help you, I have used the price ascending option:
http://www.hornby.com/sets-123/categ...&productClass=

And there is a link to the various tack packs:
http://www.hornby.com/search.html?i=...goryHandleLbce

And also the railroad range:
http://www.hornby.com/railroad-145/

I hope that helps mate.
Like you, I started out as a novice, and over several years I have built up a good collection and a decent railway. I'm not bored yet, and as long as you have somewhere to put it you will never get bored.
If you look around the rest of the hornby site you can find various accessories.

You will notice that each of the products made by hornby have a code beginning with 'R'.
If you give that to your model shop, they can probably tell you if you have what they want.
Otherwise, just ask them what their budget products are, mostly, they will be obliging to help.

Any more questions just ask me.

[Carl]

Originally Posted by Belmont Road

Me too I don't understand this???

Originally Posted by Toddington Ted

No, terribly sorry old chap, I don't understand your banter.

Ok so what imeant was toddington ted said that

Originally Posted by Toddington Ted

"Alternatively there is golf"

and isaid u joka,which is modern day terms means like he`s funny,as i said i can`t spend alot,and gold is freaking exspeeeeennnnnnnnsive
And lmao means laughing my a*$e of.

Hope this has clarifyied,and thanks for the help steam for ever,though i prefer diesel myself

[MeirionGwril]

I expect we'd have understood ore if you'd used a spell-checker. Frankly it's difficult to work out what you were saying in any of the posts!