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Just started down this road. My 6 year old son decided he wanted an HO scale layout which opened the door for me to get my old trains back from my folks place and start planning a model train kingdom. So far I've just got some old Bachman and Life-Like trains a track plan and a few layers of foam on a 9x5, but it's coming along.

Anyway, I'm just curious to hear who here is a model railroader, what scale, what kind of layout or club layout they participate in, etc.

My father was a model railroad enthusiast, I fondly remember seeing the huge table he'd set up in the garage when I was a kid. I think it's what got me interested in miniatures and gaming.

I was into it for a while, but O scale. I had these grand ideas of building a 40K themed train world that could also double as a table to play huge apocalypse games on. Never happened and I sold all my train stuff a while ago. Would have been a fun project if I didn't have a job killing all my free time :(

 Necros wrote:
Would have been a fun project if I didn't have a job killing all my free time :(

If you'd finally go to rehab for your crippling addictions to clothing, food and shelter then you wouldn't need to have a job. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

I used to love model railroads as a kid, and like ScarletRose is probably a big reason I got into wargaming. Tanks and dragons did eventually supplant my preference towards trains though.

I had a small HO scale track as a little kid with a single train. My dad and grandpa built me a nice table for it. It was really cool. But then, one day I started playing Dawn of War and got hooked on 40k. So I pursued that instead of model trains. The train table has been repurposed as a cool gaming table for miniature wargames.

Have a fair bit in boxes, with no space to set it up.

used to have a 24'x13' loft, ok the track plan was pretty basic, started out being planned in "N" (1:148 on 9mm track), never got beyond a single loop though.

Re-started on OO, using the Lenz digital system, its great fun, wonderful excuse to make model kits, but takes up far too much space to do it the way I want to. Teaches you wonders about making terrain though.

It also makes you think of 40k as a cheap hobby...

When you have the space to run a pacific A4 and a 13 coach rake behind it you discover its somewhat expensive... then chuck in a £50 digital decoder, can easily run to £500+ for a single train, though what you end up with is amazing.

Myself I bought slightly cheaper stuff and repainted it...


As hobbies go its dying out, modern houses lack the space and its way too expensive for younger generations to get into

I used to, and still have my trains - but no place to set up. I was raised on HO (my first train was the Tyco Silver Streak -loved it to death).

I tried to get my wife into it and bought an N-scale set for her. It never really interested her, so now the buildings and such have been claimed for Battletech.

I've got a brother-in-law who is into trains.

From Z-gauge up to the smaller ride-ons. This is Edgeworth David, one of his trains.(Named after this guy: http://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/library/resources-and-research/local-history/edgeworth-david - geologist who found several major coal seams in the area)

Not currently a railroader but I used the help my uncle work on his HO layout.

I am thankful for all of the skills that I learned while building the town and countryside.

Definitely helped when building my Armies on Parade board this year.

All of the attention to detail that he taught me, laid the foundation for making stuff easy now.

I used to be into model railways. I mostly did 1:24 scale minimum gauge stuff (9mm to 16.5mm track representing about 71/4" to 18" real life gauge). It's a fairly obscure branch of the hobby but an enjoyable one. Due to the nature of the types of line modelled, namely tiny industrial or tourist lines which often make or heavily modify their own locos and rolling stock there's a lot of space to scratch build your own designs and the large scale allows you to really indulge in tiny details that simply aren't possible in smaller scales. I used to enjoy putting things like readable newspapers and small animals on my layouts for people to find. Though making a building out of scale bricks and mortar did drive me more than a little crazy.

Sadly I don't have any of it any more as it's variously been damaged in house moves or by being stored in damp condition. It is a hobby I would like to get back into but I would have to give up my tabletop gaming and that's not something I'm willing to do. Maybe in a few years I might be able to throw something together but not right now. Though I do occasionally help my dad with his Austrian HO Tram layout so I do get to indulge in model railways occasionally.

Coming from a wargaming background I have to admit I do find one element of model railways extremely vexing and that's the awful human figures model railways so often have. The builders often spend hundreds of hours making beautiful landscapes and either buy pre weathered trains or weather them themselves but then just slap down a load of figures that only have basic painting (usually pre-painted) and next to no detail on them. All they'd need to do is give the figures a wash and they'd look fantastic but those basic figures stand out like a sore thumb to me and often ruin an otherwise wonderful display of model making.

Interesting responses all around. Seems like model railroading was a prelude to wargaming and/or an inspiration for it.

NIck,
I do agree about the HO miniatures. Every time I see them I think that a wash and matte varnish would do them some good.

Chromedog,
That's fantastic. Ride-on Railroaders and Real-Steam fans are a breed unto themselves.

Necros,
As a result of running 28mm mech events and building intact structures I'm actually in the position of having all the buildings necessary to completely fill an O-scale near-future urban layout. I've even got an elevated train line that will support O track. When I asked my son which scale he wanted to do though he said HO though so the buildings are staying in their crates until convention time.

Leopard,
It can be fantastically expensive. I'm doing a good job keeping things cheap so far. A buddy is donating a digitrax system and 2 engines and Except for flex track and turnouts I'm hitting train shows for the rest. Of course I'm dealing mostly with low-end stuff. I can't even look at fancy passenger cars...

to be fair, he IS a boilermaker, so it's a hobby where his training helps out. He's part of a couple of local hobby railway and live-steam groups.

One of those groups got damaged pretty bad in a bushfire recently (deliberately started) and they lost a huge chunk of their rolling stock (full sized rebuilt steam trains).

I got evil looks for suggesting that his HO layout would look better with a couple of platoons of armour rolling over it ...
(I played moderns back in the late 80s in HO, with the Roco minitanks line and Esci infantry).

It’s interestimg to see how many people were involved in or whose dad was involved in model railroading.

My dad was big into it and always had plans for big railroads, but he never got much beyond the bench work as it takes up a ton of space and time. He also had a ton of HO scale stuff he had built and then started switching over to O scale. When you pay over $1000 for one engine, wargamming looks like a deal lol.

My grandpa also had a nice layout built in his garage that had a big part that folded against the wall. My uncle also had one in his basement. My grandpa worked for the Rock Island all his life and both my dad and uncle worked for them when they were young. All their model train stuff was based around Rock Island stuff.

 Eilif wrote:

Anyway, I'm just curious to hear who here is a model railroader, what scale, what kind of layout or club layout they participate in, etc.

My dad is, and I suppose I am by proxy. He generally gets bitten by the bug around Christmas, but it fades during the other 9 months of the year. Myself, I like the scenery way more than I like the trains themselves, but I'm pretty sure he pointed me at GW because of his love of model railroading.

Anyway, seeing as you're in Chicago; ever hit up the train museum in Union?

 dogma wrote:

Anyway, seeing as you're in Chicago; ever hit up the train museum in Union?

I've been there a couple times. It's pretty darn amazing and well worth the trip.

Perhaps unsurprisingly considering our history, there's alot of support for model railroading around Chicagoland. At least 6 shops in a 35 mile radius and probably 4 clubs within 40 miles or so.

Also, every month we have the "Great Midwest Train Show" In Wheaton. Two weeks ago I went for the first time since I I was a kid. Amazing source for deals and I got some great bits for wargaming terrain kitbashing as well.

 Eilif wrote:

Also, every month we have the "Great Midwest Train Show" In Wheaton. Two weeks ago I went for the first time since I I was a kid. Amazing source for deals and I got some great bits for wargaming terrain kitbashing as well.

Huh, I hadn't heard of that. My parents live in Glen Ellyn, so that's right in their backyard, I'll have to check it out next month.

 Eilif wrote:
Also, every month we have the "Great Midwest Train Show" In Wheaton. Two weeks ago I went for the first time since I I was a kid. Amazing source for deals and I got some great bits for wargaming terrain kitbashing as well.

Whilst I've never been to that particular show (wrong continent for me ) I have to agree that model rail shows are definitely worth checking out for terrain and converting parts. Also I find I get all sorts of inspiration from the layouts on display. I've not been to a show since I was actually displaying my own stuff but there is a rather excellent permanent exhibition of model railways near me that I must visit again to borrow some ideas from.

One final thought for small scale gamers a lot of N and Z scale scenics can be used almost out of the box for wargaming, the same goes for 20mm and OO stuff. Even O scale bits and pieces could work reasonably well with the modern trend towards 32mm scale games.

My Dad's into Raiway modelling. Craziest model I've seen is someone building a 5" gauge Western Deisel Hydraulic with a complete working scale model of the Maybach engine.

dogma wrote:

 Eilif wrote:

Also, every month we have the "Great Midwest Train Show" In Wheaton. Two weeks ago I went for the first time since I I was a kid. Amazing source for deals and I got some great bits for wargaming terrain kitbashing as well.

Huh, I hadn't heard of that. My parents live in Glen Ellyn, so that's right in their backyard, I'll have to check it out next month.

Yeah definitely worth visiting.

Nick Ellingworth wrote:

 Eilif wrote:
Also, every month we have the "Great Midwest Train Show" In Wheaton. Two weeks ago I went for the first time since I I was a kid. Amazing source for deals and I got some great bits for wargaming terrain kitbashing as well.

Whilst I've never been to that particular show (wrong continent for me ) I have to agree that model rail shows are definitely worth checking out for terrain and converting parts. Also I find I get all sorts of inspiration from the layouts on display. I've not been to a show since I was actually displaying my own stuff but there is a rather excellent permanent exhibition of model railways near me that I must visit again to borrow some ideas from.

One final thought for small scale gamers a lot of N and Z scale scenics can be used almost out of the box for wargaming, the same goes for 20mm and OO stuff. Even O scale bits and pieces could work reasonably well with the modern trend towards 32mm scale games.

We've had really good luck with O-scale buildings in 28/30mm gaming. We've used them in sci-fi, post-apoc and zombie games. Technically the doors might be a smidge too big, with O being 1/48 and 28mm being 1/56. However, the bulky size of most wargaming figs, the 3mm height added by bases, and the compression of scale that many o-scale buildings have makes them look great on the battlefield.

I've also got a fair amount of N-Scale stuff for my 10mm sci-fi gaming.

Still into model railroading ..right along side my wargamming .. O and N scale on the railroading ..28mm and 10mm for wargamming...Honestly if i was starting over thou I would stick to N scale and 10mm gaming ..cheaper, easier and less space But Ehh now my wife wants me to build a huge O scale layout for her Hogwarts by lionel set ...Lots more building to scratch build ...

I want to build a railroad that goes around the ceiling in my house, probably HO scale. I don't think I have the time or money to go full bore on the train hobby though.

morfydd wrote:Still into model railroading ..right along side my wargamming .. O and N scale on the railroading ..28mm and 10mm for wargamming...Honestly if i was starting over thou I would stick to N scale and 10mm gaming ..cheaper, easier and less space But Ehh now my wife wants me to build a huge O scale layout for her Hogwarts by lionel set ...Lots more building to scratch build ...

Have you seen my reviews of the $1 Harry Potter figures? They're 38mm (about 1/43) which is a smidge bigger than the 1/48 of O scale, but they look good and O scalers use 1/43 vehicles all the time anyway.
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/?s=harry+potter
You might find them usefull.

Also a group of O Gaugers are looking at doing this as well, you might find their thoughts useful.
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/thinking-about-hogwarts-castle?reply=76748553614965497#76748553614965497

orkybenji wrote:I want to build a railroad that goes around the ceiling in my house, probably HO scale. I don't think I have the time or money to go full bore on the train hobby though.

A round the room ceiling ring is actually a pretty affordable way to model railroad. A bunch of shelf brackets, some plywood and a ring of track and you're golden. long pieces of Flex Track are pretty affordable (especially when bought in bulk).

Always think of Sheldon for some reason when I see model trains. I have seen some really impressive diorama and what not, and I remember going to the hospital when i was little and being infatuated with them. I think this too is what got me into wargaming.