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YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF LOOKING at photographs of finished model railroads and thinking, "I could never build anything like that." But really you can!

Building a model railroad no matter if it's for scale models or toy trains takes time, but the most important skill needed is the willingness to jump in and try it. Years ago you had to be part artist and part machinist to build a model railroad. But thanks to the easy-to-use products available today anyone can build a model railroad.

You only need a few basic tools to construct a layout, and it's very likely you have most of them already. Although wood is still commonly used to build layouts, thanks to advances in home-building technology layouts made from synthetic material such as Styrofoam are becoming common. This provides an ideal solution for apartment or condominium dwellers who don't own woodworking tools or have to watch the noise. You can even buy a basic Styrofoam layout in a box from Woodland Scenics, so you can build a model railroad without setting foot in a lumberyard

And the ease of layout construction doesn't end with the benchwork. Ready-to-run locomotives and cars, and track that comes with roadbed and ballast, are two of the innovations that are making layout building accessible to more people.

Wiring has always been a challenge to model railroaders but command control, especially Digital Command Control (DCC) - where each locomotive can be controlled independently of all others - is becoming more widespread.

Buildings are another example of how far the model railroad hobby has come. You can buy easy-to-assemble kits for everything from a fishing shanty to a huge steel or paper mill.

For years some modelers felt building scenery was too hard. But no more. Anyone can get superb results with commercial products. Grass is represented with foam rubber that's been ground up and dyed. You can carve your own rocks from plaster, or cast them in latex rubber molds that you can purchase or make yourself.

This is still a creative hobby, but these innovative and easy-to-use products mean you don't have to be an artist to be a model railroader. Instead of figuring out how to do something, you can use the products made specifically for model railroading. Then use the time and effort you save to make your railroad truly unique.

SECTIONAL TRACK CONSISTS OF CURVED and start sections that can be joined together and then be easily taken apart and reassembled to create different track arrangements. Sectional track is what most model railroaders start with simply because it's what you'll find in many train sets.

Straight, curved, and turnuot (switch) sections are available in all the popular scales. Shorter fitter sections are available in all the popular scales. Shorter fitter sections, such as half curves, 1/4 straights, and the like needed to complete any plan more complex than a basic oval or simple circle are also available. Or you can cut a section of track to fit.

Although the standard geometry of sectional track somewhat limits layout design options, for ease and simplicity it can't be beat!