I need an engine!

[Anonymous]

I am starting my first layout ever and I need to know the names of some good HO engines. I am looking for something like the 'Santa Fe Super Chief', or, atleast another nice looking diesel engine. I also need it to be fairly cheap. $40 or lower.


Another quastion. I am going to be builing the layout in about a 3'- 5' space. Know of any good track plans?

[mustanggt]

First off, 3' by 5' is way to small. try 4' by 8 feet instead. Also, Athearn makes good cheap locomotives with flywheels. they have many freight and passenger types. avoid stuff like cheap life-like locomotives. They cost around 20 bucks and can pull only 4 or 5 cars. But life like does have a premium line called proto. Theres proto 1000, which is like athearn, and proto 2000 which are very detailed locomotives that go from $80-$120 hope this helps you! Dave

[Anonymous]

Are you looking to build a small layout for a child? If you haven't made up your mind I would consider a smaller engine like a switcher. But if you are looking at modeling something including mainline traffic, then I think you will get what you want from Athearn. I have about six Athearn engines myself and I am happy with them. Good Luck - Ed

[Anonymous]

3'x5' is awfully small for HO. You may want to consider N scale. Life Like's n scale SW1200 would be a good engine for you--it runs great and is affordable.

[Anonymous]

I'm 13 and that is all the space I can get. I like the Athearns alot! But I'm confused. Are they pre-built or a kit?

[Anonymous]

they come as kits, but they are very easy to assemble, and if you buy one that is on display at the hobby shop (like I did) all you have to do is apply a few details, and that's it! As for the space, I've been in a similar situation, i'm 16 and all the space I had was only 31/2x7, but when I moved it to my room, I just got rid of some bookshelfs and I planning to expand it to 4x7. Anyway you can do a lot in a space like yours, just get some sectional track, some structures, and experiment a little, when you like the arrangement, wire it and add some scenery. Now, in case you don't have any track, go to www.atlasrr.com, there you can see some nice items.
good luck

[Anonymous]

What comes in the kits? Is a just a basic snap together model? Can you mess it up? I have been experimenting with my room to find more space and I have found one other way that whould get TONS of room. I would just simply mount the board to a hinge on the wall above my bed! Giving me about 4-6 1/2'! My bed has 4 perfect wooden posts on each corner to support the board. If I did do this, how far out should my board extend? I am trying to make lots of hills. Now for the real problem, a 4-8' 3/4" peice of plywood wieghs 80 pounds! If I where to hing it to a wall how hard whould it be to lower/raise it?

[BRAKIE]

The F7 comes put RTR,all you need to do is add the brake cylinders and swing hangers to the trucks,these slide into place.I do recommend gluing them into place though.If you use KD couplers you will need to add them.Sorry,I am not sure how to go about hanging a fold down layout.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if you have considered it, but you will have trouble with keeping track and other things tacked down to the plywood if you don't have anything to keep it from flexing. I would recommend you consider using 1X3 or 1X4 framing on the underside of the plywood to help make it a rigid table. By doing this, you could use 1/2" or there abouts plywood instead. Of course you will have to consider how high your hills are and how much room you will have when the table is folded up against the wall. You may have to make a wall box for the table to fold up into. This opens some other considerations. If you are hanging this over your bed, you will have some clearance problems underneith the box when you are sleeping. The weight of the table will include not only the plywood and the framing wood, but the track and structures as well. If the table itself weighs for example 80 pounds of evenly distributed scenery and is hinged on the wall, you lifting weight will be 40 pounds from the down position and will decrease as you lift the table to its full upright or closed position. Don't forget to design a means of latching it when it is in the closed position. You wouldn't want it to give you a rude awakening in the middle of the night. You have good insight for using the bed posts for support. With proper wood framing underneath the plywood, you shouldn't have any problem with extending the table to a full 4X8'. You have to consider how close you are to the ceiling where the table is hinged to the wall to determine how far out your table can extend over the bed.

Ken, D&J Railroad, Stafford, VA

[Anonymous]

Good points! I never thought about it flexing. It sounds like I will have to put some support under it. I have thought about the challenge of the hills, but it really only looks like I will only need 7-8". So i have good clearence I will just simply pull my bed away from the wall. I am planning on using the full 4-8' board, after all, that will only extend over my bed by 1/2'.

[Anonymous]

Good points! I never thought about it flexing. It sounds like I will have to put some support under it. I have thought about the challenge of the hills, but it really only looks like I will only need 7-8". So i have good clearence I will just simply pull my bed away from the wall. I am planning on using the full 4-8' board, after all, that will only extend over my bed by 1/2'.

[Anonymous]

Good points! I never thought about it flexing. It sounds like I will have to put some support under it. I have thought about the challenge of the hills, but it really only looks like I will only need 7-8". So i have good clearence I will just simply pull my bed away from the wall. I am planning on using the full 4-8' board, after all, that will only extend over my bed by 1/2'.

[emdgp92]

Athearn engines are pretty forgiving. My F7 derailed a few months ago...and landed on the floor! The only damage to it was a bent handrail on the engineer's side, but it still runs great!

Here's another idea for a layout. Why not build a modeular one? I have an L-shaped switching layout in a spare bedroom. Since it's only about 2' wide (one leg of the L is 12', the other is 10') it doesn't take up that much space. I plan on eventually building shelves underneath to hold my train mags, kit boxes, tools, etc.