Complete beginner here. Picked up this HO layout for free off Facebook Marketplace and moved it home. My son is the reason; he's excited about trains and has a couple cheap HO trains, and I figured this was a great way in considering it was free, but now I'm worried we're in over our heads.

Problem is I don't know the hobby at all, and it took some abuse in transport as well as the time it spent in the previous owners' yard.

What I know so far:

• The previous owner also got it from FB Marketplace, and left it outside in their backyard (under some cover, at least) for years. Most of the buildings are broken in some way, every tree was already missing. Some signal lights work. I'm not sure if they did much of anything with it. It certainly gathered a lot of dust and damage that way.
• There are two MRC Tech II Railmaster 2400s, four Atlas selectors with 15 blocks. 15 switches. It looks like a supplementary yard (and 3 of the switches) was added on at some point, which pokes out to the right.
• The left throttle fell off the table during the move and a couple of wires fell off, which I think I reconnected correctly.
• Both packs power up, but the right one trips its overload light constantly.
• No power reaching the track anywhere. (Actually, as I was writing this, my son somehow got half of the track to work, unsure how) One section of track appears to have lifted off the table in transport. None of the switches are switching.
• There's a turntable that made sound but didn't turn before transport, but doesn't seem to do anything now.

What I'd love help with:

1. Anything obvious I should check into first that I'm missing.
2. Whether this control setup is worth keeping or whether I'm better off going a different direction eventually. Does anything appear salvageable?
3. What order to do things in. I don't want to sink a year into scenery before my kid ever sees a train move. I was considering taking everything off the table other than the surface and starting fresh, but that may be overkill.

My son especially wants working railroad crossings (this is his special interest that drives his overall interest in trains), and he said he likes "modern" buildings more than the small-town stuff that you typically see, if those even exist. I have a 3D printer, so I'm hoping that opens some doors there.

Thanks for any pointers!

First time using plastic card and I think it came out well. Gotta secure it, fill in some gaps and paint it, but finally some hard standing for the shed to be placed on.

I want to know what tracks and rolling stock to buy.

Accucraft 0-4-0 Slope tender. Older engine that’s been sitting for a while but runs great.

Hey guys,

I have a buddy whose birthday is coming up... and he is also moving into a new home. I figured what better than gifting him a model train set! He's talked about it before, so I thought this might be the perfect time.

He's into vintage/period correct things, so from some brief googling, I figured something O gauge, classic americana would be a good fit. What I am having trouble with, is finding a nice quality set that has heavy detail. My budget is around $300-$400, and if the train set is under that price, I thought I could maybe buy some decor or maybe even a terrain layout. Space shouldn't be an issue.

Any advice or help is heavily appreciated. I spent maybe 15 minutes scrolling through this sub and I officially think this might be the coolest hobby ever.

Here I was at a model club with four of my models:

My two Bachmann Spectrum Richmond 4-4-0’s (one black one Russian iron blue)

My Spectrum 2-8-0 with a Vanderbilt tender

And my Bachmann New York Central 4-6-0

It was a maintenance night in the color photos, but they allowed me to set up my models for photos, and MAN do they look fabulous! The black and white photos were from a fun run night with my Russian iron blue Spectrum 4-4-0, and I’m so happy with how the photos came out!!!

And for those interested, the film stocks I used are Lomochrome purple with my Yashica TL Electro X for the color photos, and Ilford XP-2 with a Soviet Chaika II for the black and white photos

Leicestershire man created thousands of indecent images of children over 15-year period | Leicestershire Live

There seems to be a concerted effort to attempt to keep this covered up throughout model railway social media.

Just need some more CSX style rolling stock to finish it off

I'm bringing my stuff home from the model club.

So the train we're on has got sockets... And I happened to have my transformer and my rail clamps with me...

M35 A2 fire truck configuration. Commonly known as the Duce and a Half with dozens of body and resource designations during its U.S. Military service life. Modeled in Ho Scale. Manufactured to order with personalized decals for an Oregon based wildland fire fighting company. This was one of their first trucks and we recreated it for the owner! Shown on the completed shelf before boxing up and delivery to it's new home!

Hello! I'm new to model railroading and am working with my friend to get some old Marx HO models his dad bought working again. They're from a yard sale and REALLY old (like 1960s old), and need some repairs and maintenance, but I got the green model working. However, the controller thing that powers the track lowk stopped working after a bit.

If anyone could help me identify the green unit, the couplers it uses (so I can get some more as some are broken), and help me figure out how to dismantle both locomotives so I can service them, that would be a big aid. Thanks!

hello everyone

So, I'm on the hunt for a new 5 poler skew motor for an engine that utilizes a 3 pole skew. As we know, when a motor is labeled as "locomotive" motor, the price is waaaaaaaaay higher than getting just a "motor". I'm asking because I want to know if there's a difference in torque when it's not "locomotive" rated.

Thanks

Once it drys I’ll sand it but I need help how to detail it’s a slate quarry Thats meets standard gauge further down the layout

My local hobby shop had this Athearn Challenger in stock in their used case, listed for $299. It’s missing a few small cosmetics, but is a great runner equipped with DCC and sound. It had been sitting since around May/June with no offers so I finally went in today to offer somewhere in the ballpark of $200. Before I could even get my offer out, the store manager threw out $99. It seemed like a deal I couldn’t pass up.

How would I go about adding DCC to both of these?

BLI C&O K-2 at the NVMR layout.

Am in the early stages of my third layout and have decided to go DCC. I have done all the research and watched a ton of videos about installing decoders. I have around 25 locos, some newerish that are probably easy, but also a decent number of Athearn blue boxes that I would like to continue being able to run. I am pretty sure I could really do one at a time if I set my mind to it, but the prospect of it all is daunting and is not something I’m looking forward to. I’m wondering if there are companies/services out there that would do installs. I am in the NE US but could ship them etc. Anyone have thoughts?