Hey Captain,
I'm not modelling any particular part of the NYC. Growing up in New York it's the railroad I associate myself with. Since I was building a small layout I wasn't too worried about basing my ideas on the NYC. Not very prototypical, at least I wouldn't think so from what I've been reading. It really is freelanced to include a few industries for operation. This layout is the "learning" layout. I will be going with late 50's to early 60's as far as what trains I'll be running. To be honest I haven't gotten into that yet. In the meantime the engines I'll be running are from sets until I can build up my equipment. But that shouldn't take me too long to buildup.
This is a link to the layout I'm building. It's the second one with color.
http://cs.trains.com/forums/1443203/ShowPost.aspx
When I eventually get out of my apartment into a house is when the real layout will happen. Would love to model from Albany down to New York City at least a little taste of the city. Instead of 50's - 60's take it down a decade earlier ending before the NYC switched over to full diesel. I love your idea of the 4 track main that would be impressive.
Hi Rob:
Thanks for the heads up on the book. I actually have quite a few books on the NYC. I even was a member of the New York Central Historical Society which published a magazine called the Central Headlight...it had also sorts of neat stuff like the actual track plans at Mott Haven yard and the Croton Harmon division point. I grew up in New York and as a boy I would occassionally have my father take me to 96th street to watch the NYC trains come and go out of the Park Avenue tunnel (this was back in the late 50"s so I am dating myself). What part of the railroad are you modelling? Do you have a track plan yet? I am still playing with different designs. What equipment will you get? Let me know...maybe we can swap ideas.
CaptainJ
hey Captian J,
I'm building an N Scale layout as well. Much smaller, but also based on NYC. Here is a book I've been using as a frame of reference.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/503-144344
Has some great info in there and terrific photos. It's a history of the NYC from start to finish but should suit your needs for 50-60's. I'm modelling the same time but more freelanced.
Good luck.
Rob
A good source for anything in model railroading is MB Klein. They can be found
at www.trainstuff.com
Their web site is easy to navigate and they have an actual running inventory of what they sell.
And they discount just about everything at least 20% or more.
Great service too.
I have nothing to do with this place other than I'm a happy customer.
Good luck,
pc
Most come with a choice of DCC or "DCC ready" as different SKUs and correspondingly different prices. DCC usually adds $20-$30 or so to the price. Some few locos still do not come DCC ready and will require some effort to upgrade. Sometimes you need to buy a specific decoder to upgrade a loco that drops right in, sometimes you have to make room and solder one in.
One thing you usually don't find with N is sound equipped locomotives. The price we pay for small size. Thats not to say the installations are impossible.. but usually prohibitively difficult.
Even on my small layout I enjoy DCC a lot and highly recommend the investment.
Check out some of the threads in the DCC and Electronics section of the board for more info.
Chris
Thank you Elmer, Chip and Chris!! I will get those books and start refreshing my rusty skills. Do any of you know who sells New York Central equipment (diesels, passenger cars, and some freight cars). I would like to model the era from the mid 1950's to the early 1960's when everything was diesel. Also, can DCC receiver chips be added into the engines at the time of purchase or do I have to do that myself? Again, thanks to all who replied.
I am a fan of L-Girder construction. Its easy enough to do, especially if you invest in even an inexpensive miter saw. Try Linn Wescott's How To Build Model Railroad Benchwork for that.
For Scenery its hard to beat David Frary's book "How to Build Realist Model Railroad Scenery".
If you want a book that gives some nice overviews of n-scale construction covering a wide range of topics check out David Popp's "Building A Model Railroad Step By Step". He does some peculiar stuff to support his "Foam on Tabletop" construction which may be a bit niche but the book has the benefit of having a chapter on just about every aspect of modern n-scale including DCC, structures, etc.
For the planning phase I recommend John Armstrong's "Track Planning For Realistic Operation" and Tony Koester's "Realistic Model Railroad Operation".
If you decide to do a Freight Yard I really liked Andy Sperandeo's "The Model Railroader's Guide to Freight Yards", its a fascinating book.
Hope that helps.. I have all those books and have found them useful. Curiously, the one area I don't really have much in the way of books is in electrical and DCC where I find the web more useful. A quick Google will bring up lots of links.
Good luck, and welcome back to the Hobby!
EDIT - one other thing..
Although I am planning a N layout in a 13x13 space, I have been building a 3x5 layout utilizing a variety of techniques. This has let me get into various phases of the hobby and has been a huge learning experience. My next layout will be twice as good and take half the time as a result. Being able to say "Well, its just my test layout.." has made me braver about moving forward with various phases.
I also found setting up a good work area and getting tools and paints in order was a significant investment in time and our limited funds so building a smaller layout first was a nice way to get a head start with that.
I plan to strip the electronics and other expensive bits out so the cost of my test layout will be minimal.
I will answer one of the questions.
A good place to start is my Beginner's Guide to Layout Design. Takes about 5 minutes to read and will point you in the right direction. Click to it from my signature.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
to the Forums.
Layouts that are about two foot wide and built against / around the walls seems to be most popular these days. L-girder is still with us, but I am using 1x3 framing, table like, covered with 1/4" Luan, with one inch builders foam glued to that. It makes a light weight solid structure. I am then using Woodland Scenics foam roadbed glued to the builders foam, and the track glued to the roadbed. The foam layer allows me to carve out some depressions below the track where desired. More foam stacked up allows for hills etc. I have limited my module size to 2x7 feet. The modules are then linked together to form my layout. If you don't have many wood working skills, I guess the prefab bench work is OK.
For scenery, I use Dave Frarie's Scenery book for my main reference. His water soluble scenery techniques are great.
With today's quality manufacturing processes, almost any flex track brand is good, as long as you lay it down good. The best track can be screwed up. Some is more detailed than others, so it is a matter of personal preference. Same with turnouts. Live frog turnouts will give better performance, although todays locomotives have very good electrical pickup, so insulated frogs are not the problem they once were. I like code 70 for the rail size in N scale (I used to model N, now in HO) but there is a lot of code 55 stuff available too.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
I am new to this forum and am returning to model railroading after a 20 year hiatus of raising kids, making a living etc. I am planning on getting back by building an N scale layout in a single car garage addon that measures 16x22 feet and will share space with my son's Acura Integra. I will be able to dedicate a space of 8x18 feet. Part of the layout will be against 1 side wall. I would like to model the NYC mainline Hudson Division from the Bronx north. I would like to have a 4 track mainline for at least part of the way to allow passenger, commuter and some freight operation, and would like to make it loop to loop. I would consider going double deck to increase the length of mailine run. I have been "out of the loop" so to speak and no longer know what the latest building techniques are (L girder benchwork?, plywood vs Homasote vs foamcore, code 70 vs code 55, live frog vs insulated frog turnouts etc). I would like to use DCC control which beats the old toggle flipping days. I have several questions:
1) Can somebody recommend some current books or articles that give a good overview of the current techmiques and methods of building, trackwork, scenery etc
2) Is it worth paying extra for pre-fabricated benchwork like Sievers?
3) What track is everybody using; price vs reliability factor
4) Is there a good source for New York Central N scale passenger equipment from the 1950-1960 era?
I will probably have many more questions, but this will at least help me determine the feasibility for this undertaking. I appreciate any and all help and suggestions. Thank you in advance.