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Layout Model Railroad There are those who collect expensive models and keep them in glass enclosures. There are those who simply mount a layout on a sheet of plywood and put it on the floor when they wish to utilize it. There are some people, of means, who build elaborate large scale outdoor setups. These are called 'garden layouts'. Most hobbyist are somewhere between these examples. Years ago I worked in a mall and one of the stores was occupied by a local railroad hobby club. They had a large layout model railroad about four feet off the floor with trap doors so the enthusiasts could reach some of the remote areas of the layout. I have a friend who only collects old Lionel products. Many guys...myself included...had a small floor layout model railroad when we were kids. This memory fires up nostalgia and feeds the desire to maintain an interest in the hobby. When I was a boy, many girls showed some interest in trains but at that time it was not an inclusive thing. Now, more and more girls are becoming active in the fun stuff hobby.Often there are husband and wife teams involved. When they have children, it is a natural move to have the whole family involved in the hobby. When my young grandson reached age 3 we bought him the wooden tank engine kit. As time passed we kept adding pieces to it. By the time he was 6, he had a huge layout of these trains which covered the whole floor. When he became 8, we bought him his first HO layout model railroad. His father mounted it on a sheet of plywood and set it up in the garage. This year he turned 9 and we bought him his first kits to assemble buildings for his railroad. He is well on his way to becoming a serious hobbyist. Some newcomers to the hobby get confused by the number of scales or gauges of the layouts. We will take a minute to explain some of the more popular sizes . the Z scale is the smallest of the group. This size is best utilized by those who are extremely limited as to the amount of space they can devote to a layout. On the extreme other end is the G gauge. This kind of layout is typically found in the outdoors because of its rather huge size. Also one should realize that most of us simply can't afford to spend the amount necessary to set up one of these 'garden layouts'. the O gauge used to be very popular but has declined in recent years. Many collectors of older rolling stock concentrate on this size. The N scale is a very popular size for small areas. You can have a nice layout on a surface that is kitchen table size. The final gauge or scale is the HO which has become the defacto leader in sales in America. Make your layout model railroad into a diorama model. Using information from diorama models and miniature and fantasy you could build a diorama right around your layout model railroad. Visit these pages for complete information.  This site is without a doubt the best entrance page for those who are looking for a complete introduction to the hobby. It includes great photographs of layouts, lists of various hobby clubs and organizations. It is really a treasure of information for both the seasoned and beginning hobbyist. Have a look at the Greatest Hobby
This is a fun place for you to look at some of the equipment available. Here you will find items for both the beginner and the advanced hobbyist. Enjoy a visit to Discount Trains Online Z scale is the smallest of the layout model railroad scales available. It is perfect for the person who wants to enjoy the model railroad hobby, but lacks the space necessary for the larger scale layouts. If you wanted to accurately model something thirty (30) foot in length, you would make the object 1:220 the size of the real object. Thus, your created object would be 1.636 inches in length. A comparison of scales would show that the caboose of your z scale freight train would be 1.220 the size of the real caboose, and in HO scle the same car would be 1.87 the size of a real caboose. Here is a site that specializes in Z Trains |
