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It may seem obvious how to get started in the world of model railways; go out and buy some track and a locomotive. Beware though it is not as easy as it first looks, there are any number of questions that need to be asked before you can immerse yourself or someone else into model railways.

If you coming into the hobby for yourself one of the first questions has to be how serious are you about taking up model railways as a hobby? If you don't know then it is not worth going out to buy expensive new equipment and models. E-Bay provides any amount of second-hand models for purchase at often incredible cheap prices.

Personally I prefer to touch and look at the models I am buying so I would suggest a trip to a toy fair. In England there are fairs every weekend within a reasonable driving distance of most major cities. Fairs have an added bonus of you being to ask questions of people with a lot of knowledge on the modelling scene. I have not yet met any seller who is not willing to have a chat about their hobby or the items they are selling. Of course you pay a bit extra; these people know what they are selling and what a fair price is for it.

More questions then follow which are the same for the serious and non-serious enthusiast; although I will assume that you are starting from scratch, with no models already received as presents or gifts.

Where is your layout going to go? I personally started in a corner of my spare room, but over time I expanded and eventually moved my layout into the attic to take it all over. How much space you have for your layout will then often see you decide on the scale you are going to have your layout in. Although not always true the larger the space you have available the larger the scale you build in.

Worldwide the most popular scale is HO/OO at an approximate ratio of 1:76 to 1:87. This scale does come with issues of compatibility between makes, not all models can couple up. If making a loop though it still requires a minimum of three foot to make the tightest of loops.

The second most popular scale is N gauge. At 1:160 is about half the size of HO/OO scale. Detail may not be as sharp as the larger scale but it does have the advantage of universal compatibility between manufacturers.

Thirdly there is also O scale at a ratio of 1:48. Larger models can make for a more visually pleasing site but some manufacturers models are of poor quality and details suffer. It also more expensive because of the amount of material used in the production

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