I highly doubt that many will reply to this, but...

How many model railroaders do we have on here? What scale do you work in? How big is your layout? Include those answers in your reply.

Only model railroaders will really know what I mean by those questions.

Thanks!

I work in HO scale, 5ftX6ft

I have two model railroad sets, both are HO scale (Because that scale is pretty closely scaled to hot wheels)  One is a modern work engine, and the other is an old steam engine (Probably about 10-15 train cars between them, along with a little extra track.)  While they don't come out often, they do get set up for some special occasions, and I intend to give them to my two sons when they get old enough to take care of them properly.

In addition to the two train sets, I actually have a large amount of terrain and buildings.  Those are used almost exclusively for playing Warhammer though.

GateKeeper_A :
That is an interesting use for them. Do you have any pictures?

I don't really have anything set up at the moment, so I cant take any pics right now.    I could take some pictures of just the train sets & terrain though if you are just interested in seeing what I have?  The set with the modern engine is one I received for a Birthday present one year.  And the old steam engine set is something that I found second hand for $15 after my boys were born.

The trains usually get set up for my two sons birthday and Christmas along with one or twice more during the year as the mood strikes me.  For now, I just do a simple round track with an engine and 2-3 cars just so they can watch (They are just over 2 years old, so they aren't old enough to actually play with it yet.)  and they do love to play with their hot wheels around it when I am running the train.    As they get older, I want to do things like set the train up around the Christmas tree for when they wake up Christmas morning and other little things like that.  I'll try to remember to take pictures next time its out (It may be a while, it was out recently for their birthday.)

As for the Warhammer terrain, I have a large assortment of flat/rubber lakes and rivers that can be laid out easily.  It works great at model train terrain.  Also, there are a lot of fencing, trees and other generic terrain that makes simple cover for a game of Warhammer, yet works very nicely for model trains when you are trying to set up something simple for your train set. (And can be found easily on eBay.  If you shoot me a PM, I'll be happy to send you the links to a couple of the stores I commonly buy that kind of thing from.) 

For that matter, I've found that a lot of the Christmas and Halloween buildings that they sell in the knickknack section of Hallmark or other similar stores scales well for HO scale train sets (Most of mine comes from second hand stores, or is bought from the clearance isle after the holiday in question is over.

While I do not yet, as soon as I move out and go to New York, I'll be starting. I already have some plans in mind, but I'll still have to learn all about modelling, and all the terminology and such.

thelastrequim : My recommendation is to start simple and do your homework before getting started.  Find a book or two on the subject so you can learn a little about it before you jump in.  Also, try to find a used set for your first train (eBay has some decent deals a lot of the time, or for that matter, sometimes you can luck out with your local second hand store or online garage sale sites.)

Check out your local second hand stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other stores like that) in search of items that you can use to build your display.  There are a surprising number of buildings and other items that scale well with model trains.  Then you can replace those pieces with better ones one or two at a time as your budget allows.  Also, you can look up a lot of model train modeling tutorials online that will guide you through how to build your own stuff (Often making it much cheaper than if you buy prefabricated items.) 

If you have a chance, also take a little time to look up paper models online.  You may have to search for the specific type of building you want in order to find what you are looking for, but you'd be surprised at the scope and quality of the items you will be able to find.  I've used paper models in the past and have always been pleased with how easy they are to build and how well they scale to some of my own projects.  If you do start making paper models (Also known as papercraft), I highly recommend using card stock as the models you build will hold up much better and tend to look a little better when they are done.

A lot of used book stores will have a few beginners guides for the model train hobby too.

I hope that at least a little bit of that is helpful to you!

My father was train collector when I was growing up. He collected S gauge - specifically American Flyer. He tried building 2 different layouts but he never got to the model part of either one - he seemed to be more into acquiring. I collected a few tin-litho Marx sets when I was a boy but the urge to pursue it any further died out a long time ago.

GateKeeper_A :
thelastrequim :
Facepuncher :
farmboy8 : I don't know if any of you have seen this but CBS Sunday Morning did a piece a few years ago about the sale of the world's largest collection. Beautiful and amazing!

thephantombrain : Wow, that is a truly amazing collection.