| Many of us got started with model railroad trains when | | | | it's portable and gets put away when they need the |
| we received a small set for Christmas. Can you | | | | space for something else. The most ambitious spend |
| remember the thrill of that discovery, even to this day? | | | | countless hours and money creating large exact scale |
| Model railroading has been called "The Worlds | | | | model railroads, building scenery and buildings from |
| Greatest Hobby," though undoubtedly there are others | | | | scratch. |
| that would argue for candle making. | | | | The scale models go from super tiny ("T" scale, which |
| Model railroading has captured the imagination of | | | | is 1:450) up to 1:4. Live steam powered riding models |
| hobbyists for a long time. This is a hobby that has | | | | are generally 1:8 scale, these run outdoors. 'HO' scale, |
| been passed on from father to son (and even | | | | at 1:87.1 is the most popular of the scales, offering a |
| daughters). While some enthusiasts are content to | | | | balance between size and amount of detail. |
| collect locomotives, if you desire to go beyond that, | | | | Creating layouts can be quite creative, where a |
| you will be engaged in designing and building a world | | | | realistic scene is constructed over the course of a |
| (or at least a part of one) of your own making! I dare | | | | lifetime, or, you can set up your tracks on a piece of |
| you to name one other hobby like that! | | | | plywood, place some buildings you've bought or made |
| Toy trains and model railroad trains have been around | | | | from kits, and run your railroad around and around! It's |
| since the 1840's when 'carpet railways' came about. | | | | really up to you! |
| Today, model trains are exact scale replicas of | | | | So remember back to when you first saw that model |
| locomotives and rolling stock, and you can find them | | | | railroad. Perhaps it's a memory of a real train, during a |
| from any era of the Iron Horse. | | | | trip, or in your town. The mystery of movement. The |
| Model railroad enthusiasts are involved in the hobby in | | | | sound of the whistle as it rolls into the station, or |
| many different ways. While owning one locomotive | | | | through a crossing. What is it that grabs you? Follow |
| qualifies you, many have some sort of layout, even if | | | | that feeling as you build your model railway! |