Just getting started huh?  Well, it’s probably a great suggestion to start basic to start.  It’s great to conceive of the primary basic track design as one of three possible seeds that you are going to develop into a larger more tangled design.  Each of the kernels will grow into a slightly different kind of tree.  So how should you go about it? Here are some tips:

Just like in real estate, the major aspect to consider in the beginning is “location, location, location”:

Remember that the more area you have the more options you give yourself for expanding your empire.  Be aware there are some fundamental area requirements under which you really won’t be able to have any track at all.  Your tracks need their elbow room for turns.  Too sudden a turn and you will have constant derailments, so don’t try to do too much in too little of an area.

What is the minimum location?  

Let’s review the minimum requirements real quickly.  You can never get too huge but you can definitely get too small.  Its 2’ x 4’ for N size locomotives.  If you have HO models like one of the many beginner kits made by Bachmann, then you’ll need a 4’ x 8’ area.  If you you’re into those O size Lionel trains, you’ll need an 8’ x 16’ space.  This is also about what you’ll need for those German garden trains, but those you should really put in your backyard instead of keeping them imprisoned indoors.  Also, remember these are minimum requirements not tip requirements.  If you want more than a simple oval then the price is more real estate.  You should really think of them as a starting point and not a goal.

What can you do within these basic requirements? 

The three basic designs are oval, figure 8, and concentric circles.   The donut shape is the most popular and straight forward setup for most beginning toy train enthusiasts.  You leave the inside vacant like a donut hole or fill it with a creamy peak or jelly model city and then just wrap a track around the edges.  I once saw one that circled around a mountain that looked like the Matterhorn at Disneyland.  It worked pretty well.  The figure 8 makes a different type of effect.  It divides the track into four areas, though none really leaves much room to do much.  Not into the scenery or toy city?  You’ve discovered your track.  Finally, there is the concentric circles set up where you have two concentric circles for your train to go around.  Most beginners end up making this into a locomotive yard and then expanding outward from this seed.

Any other tips for rookies?  

My giant suggestion would be that you use what are called hobby tables.  With these tables you can configure your display location to any shape you can imagine.  This is a big help as you start to rethink your circuit design.  Wife bothering you about what an eye sore your circuit has become? Just move it.  It’s no huge deal with train tables.  So you’ll still be able to park your car in the garage.

My major advice though is to get going.  A lot of the sorts of complications that you might anticipate are easily answered as you get into the process of creating your model railroad. But figuring out a solution to a seemingly untenable problem can be half the fun of toy trains.  So why are you still here?  Away you go!   

Here is more information on Model Train Track. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.

Just throw it on the floor like your laundry in college:  

The lazy solution is to just leave it on the ground.  This preserves the time and trouble of getting or constructing a hobby surface, but it is not very good for tinier locomotives.  Bending over and kneeling down do not make for the best hobbying experiences for adults.  This sort of an overview of the smaller gauges just makes them look tiny and uninteresting.  Not to mention that your locomotives are much more likely to be stepped on and damaged in careless moments.  You really need a display hobby locomotive surface for the HO and tinier variety trains.  Even O trains look better on a display area.

Pre-existing shelves  

In some houses there are natural display areas or elevated spaces that lend themselves to hobby locomotive layouts.  Again, the main benefit of this is that you don’t have to go through the extra labor and cost of setting up a toy train table.  Very few of us are this blessed however.  There are some obvious problems to most random display spots.  These spots tend to be too small for a model train setup and they tend not to be configured in the right way.  So, such areas dictate a host of limitations to your hobby training.  This is never a good way to grow your toy train empire.

Another lucky possibility is that you happen to have a spare area just lying around somewhere:  

Sometimes you get lucky and serendipitously come across an area at home.  This helps in that you can carry it to the spot you would like, but most tables that are not specifically built for hobby training have other drawbacks.  Not only are many such tables wobbly, but you still have to adjust your train display to conform with the pre-existing measurements of your table rather than the opposite way around.

Home-made toy locomotive tables:  

Since lots of us enthusiasts are good with our hands a very popular decision of toy trainers is to make a surface ourselves.  Often we handymen and women will extend an existing space to make it work for the toy locomotive layout we had in mind.  You can also really give your train table some unique personality in this manner.  The obvious negative here is the amount of time and skill that it takes to make such a surface.  Just as huge of a problem is the fact that such tables tend to be permanently one size and as your toy training empire expands you have to go through the trouble of building yet another area to increase your surface space.  Also, if you are pressed for time, this will really add a substantial amount of time that you have to spend getting ready before you even start your actual model training.  I won’t put down homemade surfaces except to say that if your engineering talents don’t extend beyond model locomotives, trying to build a table can really be a black hole of time and effort that you may not have much to show for on the other side.

Hobby surfaces, the decision if for those who are willing to shell out the clams:

There are these special kind of hobby surface that is just perfect for toy training.  These sturdy but lightweight tables come in 2’ by 4’ cutouts that are designed to be connected together in any fashion that you would like so that multiple areas can be put together to fill any space.  These tables do away with many of the spatial limitations that you might have had with other table choices.  This rights the balance of power between you and your table making it so that you dictate the shape of the area rather than the surface dictating the shape of your layout.  Also, because they are lightweight they can more easily be moved out of the way and since they can easily be changed and added to as you see fit, they can grow with your model locomotiveing ambitions.  You can also more easily transport your surface if you want to show your design around.  For this reason, these areas are really the best option for model locomotive displays.

With your [table|surface|area] [choice|decision|option] out of the way you are now free to really embark on your [model|toy|hobby] [train|locomotive] adventure.  Good blessed and happy modeling!   

Here is more information on Model Train Track. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.