How to get an American feel?

[Anonymous]

Hello
I'm a "rebooted" modelrailroader who is planning to build a small layout so that I can practice my skills in building and landscaping on a scale that I can manage. How small is small? The space I have available is 10' x 10'' (3m x 0.25m)

Since I'm not American (in fact Swedish) but with a wi***o build American, my questions might seem naive but please excuse my ignorance of things American.

There are a couple of things I'm wondering about and I hope that some of you can help me.
Background info:
Scale: N
Location: NE U.S.A
Type: Freelance

Questions:
1) Rolling stock
If I were to set my railroad circa 1910, how difficult would it be to acquire suitable locos and cars (both passenger and freight)?
2) Scenery
Are there many suppliers of buildings etc. for this era?
3) Era
Is it easier to to find cars locos, cars houses and vehicles if I choose the 1920-30s instead?

/Peter

[dehusman]

1. 1910 era rolling stock is hard to come by in any scale.

2. Buildings are more generic. Virtually any wooden frame building could be used and most brick or stone buildings.

3. In a word: Yes, 1920-1930 would be much easier. If you are doing 1920-30 you can use the N scale Bachman 2-8-0, any USRA type engine, any wooden freight car in N scale. Steel rib side twin hoppers or the quad offset type were in use. Cabooses would be wooden. Steel boxcars would look like the Pennsy X29 (low 9 ft or under inside height and flat or narrow ribbed ends). There would be a few 10 ft interior height steel cars. Almost all 36-40 ft cars with 50 ft cars being mostly gons and flat cars. While I am personally fond of 1900-1906, 1925 to 1935 would be much easier to .

Dave H.

[Anonymous]

In my part of the northeast, a lot of the buildings that were built in the 1910s are brick on every side. The ones built in the 20s and 30s tended to be brick or concrete block except for the side that faced the street. Those sides are heavier stone or some sort of metal work on top of brick or stone. Building kits in the style of those popular in the 20s and 30s are extremely common.

[randybc2003]

I would also check out the WALTHERS website. - they have a link in the "manufacturers" section of this website. They have a lot of stuff in N scale, and some in Z too. Check out your local Hoby shop too. Scenery stuff is just about good for any scale.
The later you model, the more is available. Older structures can be "grandfathered" in, or "restored". Rolling stock somewhat the same. I'd say at 10x10 for N you have a LOT of room! Have Fun!! [:)]

[Anonymous]

I think there's enough stuff available to create the feel of the 1910 era if you bar the rivet counters from the layout room. (I did.) My under-construction layout is set towards the end of the decade but a 1923 loco appearing in 1919 won't raise any eyebrows on the Muddy Creek RR. The beauty of modeling the early era, especially in N scale, is that everything was smaller and you can either fit more "stuff" on the layout or have more rural, uncluttered trackage between towns. Yards, turntables and engine houses were smaller. Freight trains were smaller and, perhaps more frequent. Many shortline railroads were still using "old-time" equipment. Milk trains were frequent.

Most of the Design Preservation model buildings would be suitable for use in towns in
the 1910 era. Like today, most houses would be wood framed and so were lots of business, hotels, schools, etc. except in larger, dense cities, where fires or the risk of fires thinned out the wooden structures.

You would still have horse-drawn vehicles sharing roads with the few autos in town.

In 1910 there would be 4-4-0's from the 1880s and 90s still in service. 4-6-0s were the hot locos on the Ulster & Delaware, a road I'm interested in but they were still running some old-timers too. (I'm not sure what the long-awaited Bachmann Ten Wheeler will look like, but I'm hoping it will be from this era.) 50' Overland coaches wouldn't look out of place on your layout and bigger Pullmans were in use. 36' wooden truss-rod boxcars and reefers with arch bar trucks would look good.

I'm still looking into other types of cars, such as tank cars , gondolas, etc. of the era for my layout.

Modeling the 1920's & 30's might be easier perhaps, but if 1910 has a special appeal for you, do it.

Wayne

[Jetrock]

Peter,

About your amount of space: American layouts tend to be big compared to most European layouts. In the United States, a 4'x8' layout is considered small in HO. Your space would be about the same in terms of area as a 2'x4' N scale layout--considered the bare minimum by many folks.

10 feet by 10 inches is a shelf layout--but you can do a lot on a shelf layout, especially in N scale. 10 inches is too narrow for loops, but you can put a lot of switching in there.

In terms of an American look and feel: First, give some thought to what part of the United States you would like to model. American geography is incredibly varied, so it is important to know what part of the States you would like to model. The northeastern United States is characterized by large cities, but there are also mountains and large open plains and farms. Try getting a book or two about the railroads of the region you'd like to model.

As to your questions: 1910 isn't as popular as it used to be, but it would not be too difficult to find. Rolling stock in 1920-1930 was not very different--more metal passenger cars rather than wooden, and boxcars started to have metal ends by then. In cities one often found trolleys and interurbans--after that era, electrics and steam engines started to disappear and diesels started to appear. In N scale, 1920-1930 would probably be easier to model--engines and cars were bigger.

[Wdlgln005]

Modeling the freight/passenger cars of the 1910 era may be really tough. Go to the mfr websites for MTL, Atlas, or MDC. They may have some dates for some of their production. The USRA era may be a better choice with all the wood braced boxcars. Mostly 40ft or shorter, some reefers, hoppers & gons. Even the Troop Sleepers produced by MTL will be too new for you??

Another essential tool will be the 1943 ORER produced by the NMRA a few years ago They do have some copies to sell you, then you can tell how many older cars survived WW2. This will also give a good look at the surviving RR's of the region, and set up a proper fleet. You will definitely need some PRR-NYC cars + any other NE carriers you can find.

FYI the USRA era ran from about 1916-1920 in the US. The American govm't took over and ran all the rr's here, and produced a set of standard designs for locomotives & cars. Many of these designs form the backbone of a steam era HO fleet. Some of these designs have been also produced for N, but they are scarce. in WW2, just about anything that could move was used, then retired sometime in the 40-50's. some designs were rebuilt with steel to last longer. At the end of the USRA era, there was a proposal for a mass merger of the systems then. Makes interresting reading to see what might have been if policits had been different.

[IRONROOSTER]

I would consider scratch/parts building.
LaBelle's site http://www.labellemodels.com/ can give you some ideas of typical cars even though they only make HO and O kits,
This article http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/713wpcxu.asp on this site is about modeling 1906.
Enjoy
Paul

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ullatti


Background info:
Scale: N
Location: NE U.S.A
Type: Freelance

Does NE stand for Northeast or Nebraska?

[SSW9389]

Americans are obsessed with new things, even back in the days you are looking too. We always throw out the old and bring in the new. Be sure to have lots of old stuff cluttered about any American layout you build.

[Anonymous]

Hello
Thank you for your replies. All your suggestions of different manufacturers and types of buildings, locos and cars has been very helpful and interesting to read. I'll try to get hold of some books regarding railroads in northestern USA, perhaps Northern New York? or... well I have lots of time and planning is half the fun.

Thanks again (or shold I say "Tack")
/Peter

[Anonymous]

Try to find books about the prototype with as many photos as possible. Naturally, there are no color photos from the era you are interested in, but many of the buildings are still standing today. If you give a close look at the european building kits from Faller, Vollmer,.Heljan, etc. you will notice that with some kitbashing, you can use them also, if they are easier to come by. First and foremost, though, is collecting as much information about the "real thing" as possible.
Regards
Martin

[dehusman]

The troop sleepers are 1940's era based on a 50 ft boxcar, definately too modern and too big for either era he is interested in.

Once you decide on an era go to Westerfield's web site, he sells Official Railway Equipment Registers on CD for about $20 and has them from the late 1800's until the end of the steam era. I have one for 1905. The 1943 ORER will be way too new for your era. There will be significant differences in the cars. For example all wooden hoppers and gondolas for hauling coal were very common in 1905, still fairly common in 1910, but were mostly retired by the end of WW1, gone by the 1930's.

If you are up to scratchbuilding, it would not be hard to scratchbuild some early cars and then make a mold of them and cast your own, one piece resin cars in N scale.

Dave H.