How to get HO Scale Model Trains

so I've been collecting model trains for the past two years originally I was planning on having just one model to use as a reference for my Minecraft Builds but I ended up buying a lot more since then at first I really had no idea where to buy model trains so I had to figure it out over time and I would like to share with you my experience we will go over things like what is a model train what brands the different types where do I buy the model trains how much they cost and some general advice warning model trains are very very very expensive now what is a model train a model train is a miniature scaled replica of a real-life train part of model railroading they are different from toy trains because they put an emphasis on realism and detail there are several different scales the most popular being ageoscale 1 to 87 followed by N-Scale half the size of ho and there's also O scale which is where the term ho comes from half of O there's also double O for British trains along with a few other scales like Z and G personally I think HO scale is the best skill because it has a good mixture of detail in your pricing it's not too big and not too small and since it's the most popular it has a really wide product range although N-Scale may be better if space is an issue or if you're into those really long Japanese trains one thing to keep in mind is not every train will have a model of it ready made off the shelf that you can just go buy even if it's a major railroad I'm from New York City we have the Long Island Railroad Metro North and the subway I would love to have a modern model train like an M8 or an r160 but it's practically non-existent except for some old vintage trains or it is owned by a museum you would have to custom build it from a kit and if it does exist there is a limited quantity you see model trains are made in batches they take one or more years from pre-ordering to production so there is a limited amount in each run based on how many trains to manufacture orders from the factory so if you miss one run of it you would have to wait a while to order it again because they are not constantly producing them Brands Brands vary on their level of detail and build quality some brands have separate tiers for the level of detail scale trains has Museum quality rivet counter operator Athen has Genesis and roundhouse Atlas has masterline and train men Walters has Proto and Mainline Bachmann has spectrum and regular Bachmann so be aware not all Rolling Stock even among the same brand are gonna be equal some Brands don't do this like Rapido trains katos exact rail Intermountain so which brand should you buy from my favorite brands are scale trains in Athen because they are often the most detailed and realistic however you will find that you cannot just rely on one brand alone each brand specializes in certain areas so you will have to mix and match depending on which Rolling Stock you want oftentimes there are multiple variations of the same thing they may look similar but they will have different logos details or are from separate eras so it just depends on what you want what you can afford and what's actually in stock where do I buy model trains I buy all of my model trains online I think it's the best way because it's easy to search and you can also compare prices between retailers just be aware of some dodgy websites out there if something is too good to be true where it's not in stock anywhere else and at a cheap price chances are it doesn't actually exist and they are Drop Shipping it I do have a list of legit online model train stores that I post on Reddit I will put the link in the description if you guys want to check it out just like manufacturers you cannot rely on just one store for everything but I do have some recommended stores that I've bought from Tony's trains Lombard hobby model train stuff train World Yankee dabbler White Rose Hobbies Midwest Model Railroad train life these stores have a good wide selection train world and model train stuff are the biggest but they do include sales tax train life is the only retailer to sell exact Rail and to pre-order on Lombard hobby you have to fill out a form but the system works pretty well in my experience I've also listed some other model train stores I've ordered from Charles roll and Spring Creek model trained successfully although I wish they had a larger range you can also buy directly from the manufacturer which I listed here usually they have an inflated MSRP so it's cheaper to buy from a retailer with the exception of scale trains which offers also free shipping for orders over a hundred dollars if you can't find an item in stock you can also check out ebay.com in my experience I have no problems my first rolling was actually from eBay it is the only place online to get the twin stack well cars which are out of production usually amazon.com is the go-to place to buy stuff online but it's really not the case for model trains because prices will be higher and their range is quite limited I would only use it if they have a good price for some Kato uni track sets by the way when you're shopping you might notice that there are duplicates of the same thing this is usually because they have different Road numbers the car's ID number if you are assembling a unit train with the same type of car you do not want to have a car with the same exact number again and again also there might be some cars that don't show the wheels Intermountain and I am told that it is because they don't have the artwork ready and the wheels are included but I don't know it doesn't make sense to me because there's another one with wheels in it how much do model trains cost let me say this again model trains are expensive my first model trained two years ago the scale trains rivet counter gevo cost 160 dollars and this is a DC silent model DCC sound models cost a hundred dollars extra a quick lesson DC are analog controlled so you can only move in One Direction at a time per track while DCC are digitally controlled so you can control each locomotive individually also its Lighting and Sound I save a lot of money just by sticking with DC silent many people will recommend DCC but honestly for me it's not necessary and the trains themselves do make noises naturally from their motor and the track scale trains budget here which is operator in DC would cost around a hundred dollars an operator with DCC would cost 200 for after locomotives like an sd70 ace they are currently 220 dollars they have went up since the supply chain issue and inflation though for Rolling Stock they will vary depending on how big they are the detail on the brand and they can range from twenty dollars to a hundred dollars a walther's Mainline boxcar Hopper can be around 25 all scale trans rivet counter Hopper would be around 45 Intermodal well cars they cost around a hundred dollars but they have five or three unit cars while containers can cost 10 or 15 dollars but you also can't run trains without Trek I mainly use kado uni track I think they're the best for pre-built track and they looked pretty great I started off with the hm1 starter set and that was 150 and the hv2 passing siding which costs 75 dollars my first Rolling Stock the eBay freight car lot I got for eighty dollars for six rail cars so if you add all that up 150 for the star set 75 for the siding 80 for the Rolling Stock 160 for the locomotive that costs 465 dollars for a basic train and layout of course you can get some cheaper models there are some basic starter sets from Walters and blockman which bundle up everything in one package for like 200 but they're not going to be the most detailed or realistic unless it's like the Excel Express which costs 400 so yes model trains are costly but if you can't afford that I would recommend just building them in Minecraft which is what I've been doing for years for free I did not grow up with model trains I only had those Tommy toy trains so I am still new to the Hobby and there's still a lot of things to explore and that's why I make these unboxing videos so people can invite carelessly experience what's it like to have model trains from unboxing the package to looking around at the model and then running the trains but if you can't afford them they are really cool to have if you like trains and if you do old model trains I would like to hear what is your favorite online model train store or if you have any tips for the newcomers and you can leave that in the comments section down below also let me know how this video is like it's different from my typical video so I would appreciate some feedback if you guys enjoyed this video hit the like button if you did not hit the dislike button subscribe if you want to see more and I'll see you guys in the next one bye [Music]

Channel: CraftyFoxe

Views: 98,219

Keywords: train, railroad, railway, locomotive, model, realistic, crafty fox, craftyfoxy, ho scale, where to buy model train, model train store, how much do model trains cost, advice, tips, shopping, HO Scale model train, HO train, what is a model train, guide, tutorial, how to buy, info, explained, model trains explained, buying model trains, modeltrainstuff, trainworld, lombardhobby, hobby, model train, store, shop, list, tonystrains, midwestmodelrr, athearn, scaletrains, kato, review

Id: Xnq3mF3xuGA

Length: 7min 35sec (455 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 03 2022