Starting a Model Railroad - Some Basic Layouts

Basic Layout with elevation

If you are thinking about starting a model railroad hopefully you have an idea in mind about what you plan to model. It's always best to begin with a theme - What is your railroad all about?

Do you know your railroads purpose? That is, what will your railroad do?

What location will you be modeling? 

Have you chosen an era to model?

Have you decided on what scenery you are going to be using?

If you're just getting started and haven't thought about these things check out this article on choosing a theme.


Model railroading has been called the worlds greatest hobby and for a very good reason. Model railroading has so many facets, such as:


* Create your own little empire that you can get away from it all and just enjoy.
* Unique skills to master; wood work and all that goes with that, wiring and programming; from your controllers to lighted homes, painting, creating scenery and rolling stock, and so much more.
* Model railroading is easily the most rewarding enjoyable hobby around.


OK, enough of that. Even if you're still working out a theme, even if you don't own a train set yet we can get started looking at some basic and some not so basic track layouts.

How to Build a Model Railroad - Planning Stage

You’ve decided you want to learn how to build a model railroad that you’ve dreamed of since childhood. Maybe you’re remembering the fun you had running your first track around the Christmas tree, maybe you’ve visited your first train show or maybe you’ve seen videos of some of the great layouts on the internet? Whatever the reason, you want to build your own model railroad.

First off, let me welcome you to the worlds greatest hobby! My hope is help you along the way, help you avoid some of the most common pitfalls, and have fun along the way.

 The great thing about model railroading is that it can be whatever you want it to be. It can be as small you want - a z scale that could fit in a suitcase or a G scale outdoor garden train. It can be very expensive or relatively inexpensive. It’s all up to you!

The most important part of building your model railroad is the planning stage. There are numerous things to plan out. In this post I’ll go over what I consider the basic three things to consider before starting.