first trainset for great grandson

[roy_palmer]

 

just returned to 00 model railwaying' when i bought 4 year old great grandson his first trainset for christmas.Hornby 00 gauge highlander goods set, also voluteered to make a base board for him . only downside is he's in glasgow i'm in london roll-on parcelforce. with a absentee dad his mum  and granny will become constructors. so will be here often for modern advice.

roy

[Alessio]

Welcome to the forum Roy. There are plenty of experienced modellers here who'll be only too happy to help so feel free to ask away!

[RDS]

Yes, welcome to the Forum Roy.  

 

As Alessio says, there is a lot of experience on here to help you.  Let us know how you get on.

[LCDR]

 A 4 year old will need some help setting it up, and although modern children grasp things quite fast there are some pitfalls that need to be avoided.

 

A board to support the track is essential for smooth running. It is possible to run the trains on the floor but carpet fluff can be fatal to electric trains.  9mm Plywood makes a good layout base but needs to be braced or supported. At least a batten round the edge is necessary. 19mm x 28mm batten is probably sufficient.  Heavier or stiffer board material like MDF can be used but it is heavy and difficult to move about and a nightmare to cut. Chipboard is brittle and messy.  A minimum size layout needs a board at least 1000 by 1200 mm but to allow for future expansion if you have the room go for 1200 by 1800. More if possible.

 

There is a section of this forum written by Chrissaf at the top of General Discussion about Getting Started using Track Extension Packs , which is excellent and very well worth reading (highly recommended) . It explains simply but comprehensively how to build up a model railway from a train set using Hornby components.  Important to do is to make sure that the rails are correctly connected. It is very easy to misalign the rail ends. The rails needs to sit snugly in the rail joiners and the best way to do this is to place both track pieces on to a flat surface before bringing them together. Run a finger over each joint to feel that the track is connected properly. Misalignment causes derailments.

 

Rails can easily be knocked out of alignment accidentally, especially by small hands. To prevent this the track should be pinned down.  Driving pins into ply is reasonably simple, but into MDF is horrible, another good reason not to use it. I find a pin hammer with a narrow flat end is a good way to avoid  bashed fingers. To deaden noise some people use an track underlay.  Opinions vary but foam is usually best at reducing noise.

 

If you intend to paint the baseboard, do this before laying the track. Paint causes havoc if it gets on the rails. You may choose to stick a trackmat down in the board instead.

 

Best of luck.