For those of you not familiar with the history of French kings, it roughly translates as "I am the government."
And as Mel Brooks pointed out, "It's good to be the king".
Andre
Metro Red Line Paulus Jas Having a past in townplanning I was hoping to see a bit more of a genuine (semi) desert town. Especially in a magazine that learned us about LDE's and Building Blocks. I even suspected for a moment Walthers was behind the choices. Paul It's a conspiracy organized by Walthers and Kato! :) Think about it... :) I dabble in community planning myself. A layout is a perfect way to plan your own municipality.
Paulus Jas Having a past in townplanning I was hoping to see a bit more of a genuine (semi) desert town. Especially in a magazine that learned us about LDE's and Building Blocks. I even suspected for a moment Walthers was behind the choices. Paul
Having a past in townplanning I was hoping to see a bit more of a genuine (semi) desert town. Especially in a magazine that learned us about LDE's and Building Blocks. I even suspected for a moment Walthers was behind the choices.
Paul
It's a conspiracy organized by Walthers and Kato! :) Think about it... :)
I dabble in community planning myself. A layout is a perfect way to plan your own municipality.
On the subject of community planning, I'm reminded of one of the funniest cartoons about model railroaders I ever saw. (I wish I had a copy.) It shows a man in engineer's clothes at the controls of a small MR layout, including a town, some homes, etc., along with the RR. He has a blissful expression on his face and is saying: "L'etat, c'est moi."
Actually, the LA&SL has possibilities in any scale. The project layout in N is excellent for the spacially challenged, but someone with a big, empty basement and a heritage Lobaugh Challenger could have a ball in O scale. My double garage would accommodate an HO scale rendition as easily as it accepts the foundations for a 1:80 scale sample of the Central Japan Alps.
Looking a little way into the future, I believe that Caliente is supposed to be the starting point for the 160 mile line which may get built to the Yucca Mountain facility. Think of the fun of handling nuclear waste trains on your layout...
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in 1:80 scale)
Paulus JasHaving a past in townplanning I was hoping to see a bit more of a genuine (semi) desert town. Especially in a magazine that learned us about LDE's and Building Blocks. I even suspected for a moment Walthers was behind the choices.Paul
Paulus Jashi Metro, Metro Red LineAlso, I said it as a bitter ex-HO scaler. Sometime in the early '90s, I was finishing up my 4x12 layout with the 18" radius curves, only to learn that certain locos and rolling stock will not run on my layout. That hurt! Question is why did you hurt yourself? You can write, read, talk and listen, but your eye's and ears have to be open. As long as I am reading about modelrailroading (over 55 yrs) the "first" thing to learn was accepting the ratio between the longest car and the minimum radius ( about 1 : 3 ). Paul
hi Metro,
Metro Red LineAlso, I said it as a bitter ex-HO scaler. Sometime in the early '90s, I was finishing up my 4x12 layout with the 18" radius curves, only to learn that certain locos and rolling stock will not run on my layout. That hurt!
Question is why did you hurt yourself? You can write, read, talk and listen, but your eye's and ears have to be open. As long as I am reading about modelrailroading (over 55 yrs) the "first" thing to learn was accepting the ratio between the longest car and the minimum radius ( about 1 : 3 ).
Pardon me, but the Internet as we know it today did not exist in the early 1990s (it did, but it was all text-based). Certainly this forum did not exist. Certainly the web did not exist. Certainly most hobby shops did not sell sectional track wider than 18" radius (the highest I could find was 22" radius). "Radius warnings" did not appear on most rolling stock. I'm a (relatively) young modeler, I'm "only" in my late 30s.I was 16 years old when I started building that HO layout. Did I have the luxury of joining a club where I could learn about that stuff? No. Modelers come from different perspectives.
Why be bitter? Next time new chances, it's life man.
Of course, that's why I converted to N!
Anyway, no big deal for me since I don't care much for HO anymore, and the selection of N nowadays is so much better now, I rarely find myself saying, "I wish they had that in N" these days.
hi Stein,
thx for the great video. I was really impressed by the way the two sides were treated. The feeling of a narrow canyon at one side against the wide open spaces of Caliente on the other side. Dick Christianson did an outstanding job.
I still hope MR will come up with a version for a small room, with staging or/and an interchange. A plan better suited to become someone's home layout.
Merry Chrismas to all
I experimented with Marklin stuff; when just pulling short trains, a 1: 2 ratio worked out fine, but trying to push longer trains made it very clear immediately. Reliable Operation Through Standards the late John Armstrong called it in his famous book Track Planning for Realistic Operation; written 50 years ago.
I am participating on this forum for half a year, rushing to the store and just buying the stuff you fancy seems to be error #1 for us modelrailroaders. I' ve some nice brass steamers and never really fancied them on my 18"radii. Why be bitter? Next time new chances, it's life man.
steinjrMetro Red Line N is the only real choice. Nah - there is no such thing as the "only real choice". N scale certainly is a good choice, and in particular it is a very good choice if you want curves that are below 20" radius while running longer RR cars. But the key to an attractive and functional layout is to choose a modeling subject that you can model in the available space, and to use the available space in a sensible way. That can be done in pretty much any scale and modeling any era.
Metro Red Line N is the only real choice.
Nah - there is no such thing as the "only real choice". N scale certainly is a good choice, and in particular it is a very good choice if you want curves that are below 20" radius while running longer RR cars.
But the key to an attractive and functional layout is to choose a modeling subject that you can model in the available space, and to use the available space in a sensible way. That can be done in pretty much any scale and modeling any era.
I made that statement with more than an ounce of hyperbole :)
Also, I said it as a bitter ex-HO scaler. Sometime in the early '90s, I was finishing up my 4x12 layout with the 18" radius curves, only to learn that certain locos and rolling stock will not run on my layout. That hurt!
If you got the room and the space for HO and 42" radius corves, more (motive) power to ya! If not...drop HO and go N!
But the key to an attractive and functional layout is to choose a modeling subject that you can model in the available space, and to use the available space in a sensible way. That can be done in pretty much any scale and modeling any era. "Modern era trains" doesn't necessarily mean multiple-unit lash-ups pulling 200 double stack container car or unit coal trains on a mainline. Those are hard to model well in both H0 and N scale in a modest sized room (say a spare 12x12 foot bedroom, a 10x20 foot garage or in the corner of a basement den).
But you could also choose to model e.g. a modern short line where a refurbished CF7 trundles through a suburban industrial park in the Twin Cities with a handful of cars for local industries on a sleepy summer morning. Works perfectly fine in both N scale and H0 scale.
Okay, nuff said about that - let's not hijack this thread and turn it into a religious debate about N vs H0 scale.
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the articles in this MR project series in the next couple of issues.
Btw - they have been choosing (IMO) interesting project layouts these last two years - modular industrial switching layout last year, N scale two scene island layout this year - wonder what they will come up with next year ? :-)
Smile, Stein
Metro Red Line tugboat95 I should have read this article before I spent a lot of money on Ho. ... After seeing this article, I think I should have gone with N. Our space is very limited and we could have done so much more with it. The article made modeling N look so easy. It was an awesome layout and I greatly enjoyed my reintroduction to the hobby. Unfortunately, the money has been spent and some of it is still being delivered so we will stay with HO. Even though you're sticking with HO, your post made me smile. I think it's safe to say that in this day and age, N scale is no longer the "tinier, more expensive, limited selection, not-as-prototypical cousin to HO." Many major manufacturers do N scale as well, and there's even newer companies that specialize in N or do N exclusively (BLMA, DeLuxe, etc). I've also heard of talk on other forums and by friends about this article, on how it's either inspiring them or making them contemplate about going N scale. If you're into modern-era trains, N scale is the best choice. You can run autoracks, TOFC flats and Superliners on 18" radius curves, whereas in HO, the whole world will laugh at you. You can model big scenery, longer trains, have multiple-unit lashups that really matter. In the 21st century, as homes get smaller and space is at a premium, Now that N scale trains are about equal to (and in some cases less expensive then) HO, N is the only real choice. HO seems, as they say, "Horribly Oversized." Sorry if I'm being such an evaNgelist here :) But I'm glad I made the switch 3 years ago. HO no more! I hope the 2010s become *the* N scale decade! :)
tugboat95 I should have read this article before I spent a lot of money on Ho. ... After seeing this article, I think I should have gone with N. Our space is very limited and we could have done so much more with it. The article made modeling N look so easy. It was an awesome layout and I greatly enjoyed my reintroduction to the hobby. Unfortunately, the money has been spent and some of it is still being delivered so we will stay with HO.
I should have read this article before I spent a lot of money on Ho.
...
After seeing this article, I think I should have gone with N. Our space is very limited and we could have done so much more with it. The article made modeling N look so easy. It was an awesome layout and I greatly enjoyed my reintroduction to the hobby. Unfortunately, the money has been spent and some of it is still being delivered so we will stay with HO.
Even though you're sticking with HO, your post made me smile. I think it's safe to say that in this day and age, N scale is no longer the "tinier, more expensive, limited selection, not-as-prototypical cousin to HO." Many major manufacturers do N scale as well, and there's even newer companies that specialize in N or do N exclusively (BLMA, DeLuxe, etc). I've also heard of talk on other forums and by friends about this article, on how it's either inspiring them or making them contemplate about going N scale.
If you're into modern-era trains, N scale is the best choice. You can run autoracks, TOFC flats and Superliners on 18" radius curves, whereas in HO, the whole world will laugh at you. You can model big scenery, longer trains, have multiple-unit lashups that really matter. In the 21st century, as homes get smaller and space is at a premium, Now that N scale trains are about equal to (and in some cases less expensive then) HO, N is the only real choice. HO seems, as they say, "Horribly Oversized."
Sorry if I'm being such an evaNgelist here :) But I'm glad I made the switch 3 years ago. HO no more!
I hope the 2010s become *the* N scale decade! :)
And just to vindicate myself and everyone else reading cause I really did get off track there, you could always build the layout as they did and use the modeling license to change structures or business'. Like add a second fueling track (someone I would likely do), add a cement facility (although that idea comes from a love of PS-2 2-bay covered hoppers) or grain elevator. The intermodel yard area has enough room a freight house could easily be placed there with 2 service tracks, skip the 3rd track, and have the track closest to the edge be a TOFC track with ramp or lift crane. Those tracks could even be where an oil dealer or LP dealer could go. As everyone was kind of saying with out saying it, you don't neccesarily have to go with exactly what MR did (like as I sort of mentioned, I love the track plan more than the structures). Now if I could just find away to arrange the single bed, storage shelves, storage bins, and two computer desks so I could fit that layout in the spare room...
tugboat95I should have read this article before I spent a lot of money on Ho. ... After seeing this article, I think I should have gone with N. Our space is very limited and we could have done so much more with it. The article made modeling N look so easy. It was an awesome layout and I greatly enjoyed my reintroduction to the hobby. Unfortunately, the money has been spent and some of it is still being delivered so we will stay with HO.
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the January edition as well and this track plan idea has really opened up some ideas and a possible project for 2010. I also use Kato for its reliability at present as I have not taken on the challenge yet of laying or ballasting track. Maybe this is the time.
My question, is there a way to find out the Kato track components used to complete this project somewhere? I can guess but it would be nice to see a list of what was used if possible especially when he mentions utilizing the super elevated track and the smaller extension pieces etc...
Paulus JasI've a question about the furniture factory. The funny roof is used in colder climate zones to get as much daylight in as possible.
I've a question about the furniture factory. The funny roof is used in colder climate zones to get as much daylight in as possible.
Furniture factory has a normal roof. The building with the accordion type roof is the engine shop.
Buildings were not picked to be prototypical for the desert - they were just picked because they looked cool :-)
Btw - video of the layout: http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=3633
Paulus Jas hi all I've a question about the furniture factory. The funny roof is used in colder climate zones to get as much daylight in as possible. Maybe it is very important in the Californian desert to keep direct sunlight away as much as possible. So, is someone knowlegdeable in this field? Paul
hi all
I've a question about the furniture factory. The funny roof is used in colder climate zones to get as much daylight in as possible. Maybe it is very important in the Californian desert to keep direct sunlight away as much as possible. So, is someone knowlegdeable in this field?
While the furniture factory employs modelers license, the real Caliente, NV - isn't, at least from November to April. ('Caliente' being Spanish for 'warm.')
Temperatures right around freezing, dipping to well below freezing at night, are the present norm. The high desert is cold in winter, and hotter than the lee hinge of Hades in summer.
Chuck (Nevada resident modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I can only second just about everything these guys have said- the mix of true prototype and freelance is a wonderful way to "have it your way", and as an N scaler I also love the show of how little (compared to HO or otherwise) space can still seem huge. The intermodal yard looked great, and I live right by the Oakland, CA yard so I'll be spending some time there taking snaps for my next layout, which incidentally will be a very similar divided N 80.36". The ideas there were easily applicable to most any layout, and I hope to adapt it to more granite-mountain type scenery with a good bridge and some tall trees- it's a very flexible base concept. I agree, though, about the gripes with Unitrack. I understand it's a spiffy display and shows ease of modeling with storebought pieces, but man oh man those curves would have looked soooo splendind in some mildly superelevated code 55..... and of course, there's the choice of motive power... a few warbonnet Atlas 8.40.BW's would be, in my humble opinion, just as at-home in the sandy, shrub-laden mountainsides. Just ask any US HWY10 commuter :)
All in all, amazing work and hopefully an inspiration for even more of this new wave of top-notch modern N pieces!
I should have read this article before I spent a lot of money on Ho. I used to model Ho scale in my teens and twenties and had a lot of it in storage for the last 20 years. My son has now fallen for trains so I took them all out. We decided we had to replace all the track so this led to our dilemma, HO or N. I went with Ho because it is what I knew. While at the Hobby store buying my son's Christmas, (way more than a train set), I bought this month's issue and subscribed. After seeing this article, I think I should have gone with N. Our space is very limited and we could have done so much more with it. The article made modeling N look so easy. It was an awesome layout and I greatly enjoyed my reintroduction to the hobby. Unfortunately, the money has been spent and some of it is still being delivered so we will stay with HO.
garyla3) maybe an oil distributor. (Did I miss it? It was mentioned in the article.)Modeler's license is part of what makes the hobby fun, but if anything seemed like too much of a reach, it was the furniture manufacturing plant. If you've been to Caliente, you know. However, it does make for some nice local switching, and that might have been a key consideration here.
Modeler's license is part of what makes the hobby fun, but if anything seemed like too much of a reach, it was the furniture manufacturing plant. If you've been to Caliente, you know. However, it does make for some nice local switching, and that might have been a key consideration here.
A quick read through of the article (which finally has made it's way to Norway now), explained that the Caliente side was freelanced, not really based on a real location (apart from the name).
The furniture plant and the engine shop was chosen solely because the buildings looked interesting (track and covered dock under front of building for Furniture plant, interesting roof line and easy build for engine shop).
Using an oil dealer as the local industry in "Caliente" apparently was an alternative to using the furniture manufacturing plant.
Anyways - it looks like a beautiful layout, where two trains can run continuously in opposite directions on the two main loops, with room for a reasonable amount of switching at the Caliente side when you feel like switching instead.
Perfect for it's intended purpose - to be an attention getter when Kalmbach attends conventions and such like - you can just let trains run while you talk with people, and demonstrate switching when you want to show that.
Some other nice little lessons that also were a slightly "hidden" in this article:
- Layout baseboards doesn't have to be 4x8 feet and doesn't have to be rectangles. A minimum amount of carpentry can create an irregular shaped baseboard that is 5 feet deep on one end and about 3 feet deep on the other end, 9 feet long, creating room for the intermodal yard in one corner.
- Going N scale allows longer trains, and turns what would have been sharp curves in H0 scale into fairly gentle curves in N scale.
- A center backdrop can be used to divide an island layout into two visually separate scenes
- Prototype research for inspiration, combining elements from different prototype locations into one scene
- Can have both prototype based/inspired scenes and freelanced scenes on the same layout
- Adding some switching possibilities to a display layout allows some switching fun too, prototype based or not.
- You don't have to have actual inclines on your layout to simulate trains going uphill or going downhill, you can simulate trains going up by just running them more slowly in one direction :-)
- Small vignette scenes can add life to a scene (like the car driven over newly painted stripes in parking lot).
There were probably quite a few other lessons baked into that track plan, which will come back in later articles in the series.
Everything taken into account - looks like a pretty promising project layout this year.
I greatly enjoyed this article and look forward to the follow-ups. My HO layout is set in southeastern Utah near the Gilluly Loops, which I hope someday to add to it.
I, too, use modeler's license to justify putting double track main lines on my layout; and I much enjoyed seeing a highly respected and experienced modeler do it in a magazine article. When I was growing up in New England in the 1950s almost all heavily traveled main lines were double track in our area and, I believe, directional running. The common belief among us railfans and model railroaders was that the safety advantages of positive separation of opposing traffic and avoidance of time-wasting siding meets outweighed the cost of double track.
It's great to see a layout based on the LA&SL. That line isn't modeled much (unless you count trackage rights on Cajon!).
The scenery work was excellent, 'nuff said there. As for Caliente, it's easy to suggest some changes, especially with the use of a little more space:
1) a miraculously revived branch to Pioche (oops, no "high iron" on that),
2) a selectively compressed model of that great old mission-style depot, or
3) maybe an oil distributor. (Did I miss it? It was mentioned in the article.)
All in all, a very nice piece of work. I look forward to part two of the story.
dehusman But Caliente? There is zippo at Caliente. They should have made it Valley, NV. There actually is a pig ramp there, plus there is actually some industries there and a pretty wide variety.
But Caliente? There is zippo at Caliente.
They should have made it Valley, NV. There actually is a pig ramp there, plus there is actually some industries there and a pretty wide variety.
Or they could have swapped Caliente for my neck of the world. The LA&SL route has a lot of business around Sin City.
The solid wall of low-profile models of high-profile casinos against the backdrop would make for an interesting challenge - especially for night operations. (Our electric bill is WHAT??!!)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Dave VollmerI know a lot of guys who are pining for code 40 flex and turnouts in N scale. I'm not one of them. You definitely have to take great pains to replace wheelsets and turn down loco flanges to use it. To my naked eye, the difference between code 55 and code 40 is not great enough for me to want to deal with the wheel flange issue. It looks great, but to me not greater enough than code 55. The difference between code 80 and code 55 is far more profound.
Micro-Engineering makes Code 40 flex...I have some for my yard and sidings! As for turnouts, yeah, you're on your own :)
But yeah, the difference between code 55 and 40 isn't that great. In fact, I can use standard Atlas code 55 rail joiners for linking my code 55 and 40 track! I might have to flatten the code 40 end slightly with a needlenose plier, but it works fine.
blownout cylinderDave VollmerAll three of my Pennsy steam engines are the result of weeks of kitbashing. Have you ever considered on doing an article--or something along that line on kitbashing in N scale? I know that there are--were? I can't seem to find the things now---grrr--articles on kitbashing diesel engines but I haven't seen articles on kitbashing steam in that scale. And I'm not even thinking scratchbuilding steam in N scale---which would be something
Dave VollmerAll three of my Pennsy steam engines are the result of weeks of kitbashing.
Have you ever considered on doing an article--or something along that line on kitbashing in N scale? I know that there are--were? I can't seem to find the things now---grrr--articles on kitbashing diesel engines but I haven't seen articles on kitbashing steam in that scale. And I'm not even thinking scratchbuilding steam in N scale---which would be something
Yes... Note in my previous post I mentioned that I did exactly that for my H10sb.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Bryan,
Yes, steam plays a big part in my generalization regarding transition era in N. Especially us Pennsy modelers.
You'll note in the 2007 Addendum to the NTRAK N Scale Steam Locomotive Information Book I wrote an article on kitbashing a Pennsy H10sb in N scale using parts from a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 and a pair of Minitrix engines. There are NO ready-to-run N scale versions of any sizeable class of PRR steam locomotives. Offered are only a few oddballs like the HH2 (the 2-8-8-2s that lasted a few months during WWII) and the N1(?) 2-10-2 that was delivered as USRA (offered this way by ConCor) but was quickly modified with Bellpaire fireboxe and new smoke box front.
All three of my Pennsy steam engines are the result of weeks of kitbashing. And before anyone mentions the BLI/PCM PRR M1a/b mountain, I'll remind everyone it was announced in 2004 and according to the manufacturer, the pilot models haven't even been ordered yet.
For my prototype, I don't see the N scale steam situation improving any time soon. I don't mind the extra work, actually. I rather enjoy kitbashing.
Dave Vollmer N scale is a rapidly growing segment of the hobby. I feel while it's limited in terms of selection for transition era equipment (like my 1956 PRR) it's tailor-made for today's oversized modern trains.
N scale is a rapidly growing segment of the hobby. I feel while it's limited in terms of selection for transition era equipment (like my 1956 PRR) it's tailor-made for today's oversized modern trains.
Dave, were you thinking of the availability of transition-era steam in making this generalization? I find that -- steam aside -- there's at least as much (and possibly more) mid-1950s-1960s Rio Grande equipment available in N scale than HO. I'm glad I chose N scale for my Utah Division layout.Were I modeling the late 1940s, though, I'm sure I'd feel differently.
Steam has long been a sore spot for N scalers. There aren't many models available and the brass market is nonexistent. It's tough to put together a credible, prototypical roster -- and what's more, there are few detailing parts available for those who'd like to attempt a custom job. For years, N scale steam locomotives had a poor reputation for reliability and pulling power, too. To see what's available in N scale steam, see Spookshow's great N scale locomotive database (here's the steam data). Note how many locos received poor grades.
Let me add that the N scale steam situation is improving, and there is a thriving community of N scale steam modelers who are learning how to overcome the scale's disadvantages. For more information, obtain a copy of NTRAK's N Scale Steam Locomotive Information Book and the two recent addenda (2007 and 2008).
True, but Caliente is famous. Who ever heard of Valley, NV?
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
blownout cylinderDave VollmerThings are coming along. You'll note the Atlas code 55 track. I'm just blown away by how much better it looks. I'm also convinced that careful laying with a little tuning avoids most of the problems people have reported. What did you do to tune the trackwork? That looks amazing!!
Dave VollmerThings are coming along. You'll note the Atlas code 55 track. I'm just blown away by how much better it looks. I'm also convinced that careful laying with a little tuning avoids most of the problems people have reported.
What did you do to tune the trackwork? That looks amazing!!
Thanks! Appearance-wise all I did was to paint it using Polyscale Railroad Tie Brown, Black, and Roof Brown. The ballast is simply Woodland Scenics Fine gray blend, and I weathered the track and ballast using powdered tempera paints a la Joe Fugate.
Now, in terms of mechanical tuning, you'll find the flangeways through the frogs and guardrails on the turnouts are tight for many locomotives and cars. The Atlas trackwork is actually correct in this case; it's thick flanges and wide wheel treads at fault. I take a flat jeweler's file and ever-so-slightly widen the flangeways.