The hobby of railway modelling is suitable for such a wide range of ages and experience. Model railway layouts can be a simple as a oval of track laid on the dining table, a small end-to-end shunting layout, or a huge layout with lots of track and scenery that fills an entire room.
Train Sets
The easiest way of getting started with railway modelling is to get a train set. Hornby produce a great range of train sets featuring passenger trains like the famous Flying Scotsman, freight trains, and even the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter.
Each train set comes with a locomotive and a number of coaches or wagons to pull, track to run your train on, as well as the power supply and controller.
The Hornby TrakMat
Hornby train sets also include their track mat that will give you ideas on how to expand your layout. The TrakMat is also available separately. As you can see, the TrakMat is a birds-eye view of a complete layout that shows you where to place your track and buildings.
Track Packs & Building Packs
The Hornby track packs and building packs are designed to be used with the TrakMat. Each pack expands your collection to fill your layout with another loop, sidings, crossings, engine sheds, and more.
Next Steps
From here you can add an extra layer of realism to your layout by putting down scenic materials such as grass and trees. You can expand your collection of locomotives. You can get more wagons and coaches to make your trains longer. You can start a new layout or expand your current layout with more track, buildings, and accessories.
A great aspect of railway modelling is being able to take your time and add to your layout bit by bit. You could start by creating a layout with your railway set in rolling hills, then some back later to add a farm house, then some walls and hedges, then some animals. The possibilities are endless.