Bob's Train Hobby
This site is sort of a way for me just to document what I have in the way of locomotives, rolling stock, track, track plans, and anything else I can think of. It started out as a way for me to keep track of my track, so to speak. I have a bunch of Bachmann track that I wanted to catalog, and I made some track plans with it to fit on a 4x8 train table. Also, I have a bunch of locomotives, each with a story, so I wanted to list all those.
It's a fun hobby, and there's always more to learn, so as I try new things I'll try to add them to this site.
My First Layout
My first layout was a 4x8 layout using the Mountain Valley Scenery Kit. It turned out pretty good and was kind of fun to construct. The kit had very good instruction which were simple and easy to understand. Almost everything needed was in the kit. The kit had all the natural landscaping part. All that was left was to provide the track itself and the buildings.
Locomotives
I have about a dozen locomotives in various states of running. Some have sound and lights while others are from the dark ages and barely run. Some have even met their grave, or if lucky, have been resurrected from the grave. Each has an interesting history, and each models an interesting locomotive. Some I am keeping as DC-powered, but most are being upgraded to the more modern DCC which provides smoother operation and more realistic lighting a sound. These are a work in progress.
Track Plans
Over the years, I have collected a bunch of 18" radius curves, 22" radius curves, 9" straight pieces, and a variety of switches, straight, and curved sections of track. So I put them all together, figured out how much of each one I had, and made some track plans using SCARM that I felt would make some interesting layouts on a 4x8 traintable.