A & M in H.O. ???

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know how I would go about up-scaleing the A & M layout from N scale to H.O. ? I would like to do it and also add come changes but I don't know were to start. Thanks

[cuyama]

Sorry, I don't know to which "A&M" you are referring. Where was this published?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Cuyama, I have a Feb. 1999 one with the A&M in it. At least I think it is, i don't know from memory.

[cuyama]

OK, so you mean the Arkansas and Missouri, which was a mutli-part series beginning in the Feb 99 Model Railroader magazine.

The obvious first step is increasing the minimum radius, vertical clearances, and track-to-track spacing in moving from N to HO. The original layout had 10" R curves in N scale. From a purely mathematical standpoint, that would be slightly over 18" radius in HO, but depending on the era and type of equipment you wi***o run, that may be too tight.

So depending on the space you have available and the shape of that space, you'll want to increase the radius as much as possible. Track to track spacing probably needs to be 2.25" to 2.5" if you use a tight radius.

One of the problems moving to the larger scale creates can be seen in the Van Buren and Springdale "blob" (turnback loop) areas of the track plan, where simply increasing the radius to 18" puts the tracks at the back of the layout out of easy reach. These areas might need access hatches or some other method of access if you can't approach them from all around the benchwork.

A lot depends on the space you have and the shape of that space. The best approach might be to draw a general layout shape that makes sense for your space and then plug in the locations from the MR trackplan in a logical sequence.

Good luck!

Regards,

Byron
Model RR Blog

[Anonymous]

Yes that is the layout I am writeing about thank you for all the help Byron C .K. Zak

[dragenrider]

While I'm no help on your plans, I just wanted to say, "go for it!" I'm a big fan of the A&M.

Incidentally, the two RS-1 engines and the passenger train which was custom made for the author can now be seen on display at Mark Silverberg's hobby shop, One Track Mind, in Little Rock.