New at This

[Anonymous]

Hi, does anyone know of any layouts that are done in the 1860 or 1870 era? I have a model of one of the engines involved in The trans continental railroad and would like to build a layout around this time. It is an N gauge train. Thank you. Bill

[Anonymous]

My very first N-scale train set (when I was in elementary school; I saved up the $47 to buy it for myself, what a thrill!) was the Jupiter-powered Civil War Train Set by Bachmann.

If you're serious about the era, I would recommend going to a larger scale, since the cars and engines are so small and thus prone to failure when trackwork is not absolutely perfect. You could use Bachmann's or Kato's segmental track (with the molded-in ballast) to avoid problems, but then you'd have modern-looking track and roadbed. The rails back then were much lighter, and there simply isn't any N-scale track that looks right for them.

If you are sure about N-scale, then take steps to maximize the fact that you are modeling tiny trains in a tiny scale. You might choose to emphasize how the transcontinental railroad was so dwarfed by the terrain it traversed, giving over large portions of layout space to mountains and prairies, with long single track mainlines, stretched across a vast panorama of wild west. Keeping the number of switches to a minimum and using long stretches of flextrack can help prevent track problems. You can get code 55 flextrack, which has a lower profile and thus looks better than "normal" N-scale track.

[Anonymous]

Hi Avondaleguy, thank you for your reply. I was already thinking about HO. I'm a little older than you think and trying to put the N gauge back on the track is difficult. My main reason for going with N was because of space that I have to work with. I think I'll re evaluate my basement. Again, thank you for your insight. Bill

[Anonymous]

I am an architect professionally, a career path I chose because of how much it resembles my passion - layout design. I would be interested in seeing how much space you really have, and what your design goals are. Do you have a layout plan in a fashion that can be emailed? If so, reach me at [e-mail] (and it would help if your subject line is something like "layout design", so I can pick it out of all the spam)

[snowey]

WWW.THORTRAINS.NET gives some information about model railroading & toy trains (no, they're NOT the same thing!!!!) also some track plans for HO & N gauge.