General Discussion (Model Railroader)

Okay, I've taken the plunge. I have pre-ordered a couple locos and I have enough rolling stock to get started. I have the track, roadbed, foam--everything but the benchwork ready to go on my layout. I have a plan and I have started working on the scenery, well okay, a diorama that will drop into the layout when it is ready. I even detail painted a structure.

So even though I've yet to run a loco, I've taken the plunge.

So you can level with me?

Can you really do ops in N-scale? I don't mean theoretically, like you've switched a few cars here and there. Do you have or know of an N-scale layout where guys come once a week and run ops?

I don't.

I know of scads of HO layouts and I've run on them. But the idea of backing those little bitty suckers into a yard with a toothpick and jeweler's glass to build a cut is beyond my comprehension.  

Can ops be run, or is N-scale the ultimate railfan medium?

Hey Chip!

I can't say this from experience, bt the Dream Plan Build Ops DVD was done using David Popp's N scale layout, and it looked like it worked.  I hope so, because I want to do it!

SpaceMouse wrote:

Okay, I've taken the plunge. I have pre-ordered a couple locos and I have enough rolling stock to get started. I have the track, roadbed, foam--everything but the benchwork ready to go on my layout. I have a plan and I have started working on the scenery, well okay, a diorama that will drop into the layout when it is ready. I even detail painted a structure. So even though I've yet to run a loco, I've taken the plunge. So you can level with me? Can you really do ops in N-scale? I don't mean theoretically, like you've switched a few cars here and there. Do you have or know of an N-scale layout where guys come once a week and run ops? I don't. I know of scads of HO layouts and I've run on them. But the idea of backing those little bitty suckers into a yard with a toothpick and jeweler's glass to build a cut is beyond my comprehension.   Can ops be run, or is N-scale the ultimate railfan medium?

Chip,

I fail to understand why the physical size of the trains would have any effect on operations.  Well-built equipment on well-laid track, all checked for gauge and coupler height, will operate well regardless of scale.

David Popp, Lance Mindheim, the Reid Brothers, Jerry Britton, and a few others are MR- and MRP published names that do ops in N, but I know quite a few here and on other boards that do ops in N whose names may be less familiar.

Your question doesn't make a whole lot of sense...  Are you fishing for something?  Like for us N scalers to throw up our hands and say "Oh, you got me, you're right!  N scale's not for serious modelers!  Ops is just for HO!"

Again, you can do whatever you want to do with trains regardless of size if you lay your track well and use good equipment.  And yes, N scale has lots of very good equipment available (plus, you can always tune equipment yourself, add new couplers and trucks, etc.).

BTW, Jerry Britton, until a recent issue forced him to abandon his plans, had been replicating full-scale PRR 4-track mainline ops plus Harrisburg passenger train ops (that's where locos were switched - electric for steam and diesel) in 1954...  in N scale.

With solid trackwork I don't see why not, but I don't know of others near here that do that. Closest club is about 30 miles away or so. My n-scale layout isn't designed for lots of ops, but after expansion, perhaps.

Edit-- Even with my nearly 60 year old eyes, I haven't resorted to magnifiers for coupling and uncoupling (I do use a toothpick for uncoupling). 

Yes, yes & yes.... op sessions are quite viable in N scale. My N scale Allegheny & Cumberland is not one of 'em, but there's all sorts out there. If you type in " Shenandoah Divison " ( just to name one ) in your search engine, you'll get get quite an ongoing detailed description with photos of this private layout in progress. This guy & his friends get together all so often & he shares this experience as well as construction updates. I for one could care less about operations, but I find it quite interesting just the same.

What boggles my mind is that folks have big enough basements to do the ops they do with HO.

Seriously, as others have said, the only difference is the scale. You can get an awful lot of railroad in a moderate space with N.. or get a little railroad with a lot of scenery between your destinations..

The only down side I have experienced trying to use a car card system on my 3x5 layout is reading the little numbers on the cars. I would love some system like the inventory control tags used in stores so I can just wave a wand over a car to get its info.

Chris 

A few years ago I used to attend a weekly OPS session on a large N-scale layout.  They used wireless DCC controllers and the card system.  They had full length trains and several yards/industries for drop-offs and pick-ups.  It was pretty elaborate. 

It was my first experince with OPS and I'll confess that I didn't really get into it, but it worked well and they were a good group to work with.  I was impressed.   

Yes...  operations work.  I don't quite see the point of your concern either.  However, I have found out some things that I didn't expect when it comes to operation.  Magnetic uncoupling works pretty well as long as you use under-the-track magnets.  I actually use HO scale McHenry magnets because they are slimmer than the MT's in N-scale (which doesn't make sense).  The in-between-the-rails type of magnet doesn't work well at all.  Also, Atlas' accumate couplers seem to unhook over magnets most of the time and Kato couplers have a hard time connecting with MT's, so I've exclusively switched to all MT's which work great.  The Atlas' rolling stock that I have is too light and I need to weight it.  As long as the trackwork is good... generous radii, easy grades, all in gauge...etc, there shouldn't be a problem.

ChrisNH wrote:

What boggles my mind is that folks have big enough basements to do the ops they do with HO. Seriously, as others have said, the only difference is the scale. You can get an awful lot of railroad in a moderate space with N.. or get a little railroad with a lot of scenery between your destinations.. The only down side I have experienced trying to use a car card system on my 3x5 layout is reading the little numbers on the cars. I would love some system like the inventory control tags used in stores so I can just wave a wand over a car to get its info. Chris

Not a bad idea...  I'd also love to just point the camera on a PDA to any pair of couplers on any rolling stock, touch the screen, and presto!  uncoupled!! 

Dave,

I'm not asking anyone to throw up their hands and say "You got me." I guess it just seems beyond my comprehension, but then again so are certain aspects of string theory, and imagining a consciousness outside of time and space.

Still, the idea of older gentlemen working with small picks, working with N-scale couplers, re-railing mistakes, not to mention reading car numbers is hard to fathom. Like I said, I've never seen it done on a practical scale. All I've seen is railfan long train, big scenery, layouts.

It's a bone I've worried on.

SpaceMouse wrote:

working with small picks, working with N-scale couplers, re-railing mistakes, not to mention reading car numbers

Card numbers are a pain as I mentioned in my post. Couplers I had no problems with a wooden skewer. Rerailing I always use a re-railing tool.. railing n-scale cars is a pain.

Two things help with the mechanical aspects of using n-scale.. having it up high so that your eyes are close to it.. and having good lighting so you can see the little bits.

I think you are doing the right thing by "trying". You will know quickly enough if the small size hampers your fun.. and there is nothing wrong with that. If my area was 20x26 rather then 10x13 I would probably be doing HO.. 

Chris 

 

The re-railer I have works great when I need to rerail in tight quarters. Otherwise, after a while of  working with n-scale consists, I've found it easy to "feel" the correct orientation of the trucks when setting a car on the rails (as long as there's room to get my big fingers there).

I also agree with Chris on having adequate lighting (I no longer see well for close work unless lighting is much brighter than I needed in the pase), and on having the layout higher--right now my layout is on a shelf above my  workbench, and when I move it to the garage to expand it, it will still be up high, and critical areas of track will be within easy reach.

All this aside, I really love n-scale! 

Chip,

I put a description of the car on my car cards... 

Another option is putting a small photo on the car card.  That eliminates the so-called problem of reading the car number.  You can reduce issues with reading reporting marks by using adequate lighting.

I guess I was put off by the tone of the question.  You can't seriously think that no one does ops in N scale...  do you?  Grab your MRP 2007 and read about the N scale Clinch River.

Maybe I misread your post.  But it does tell me that the perception of N as a 'roundy-round only scale is still alive and well.

EDIT:

Chip, as long as you can see well enough and don't have the shakes, you can do whatever you want with N scale.  I say "who cares what everyone else does?"  If nothing else, you can always be a pioneer.  But N scale really does have an ops following.

ChrisNH wrote:

... so I can just wave a wand over a car to get its info. Chris

Great thought Chris.  I don't see why you couldn't use those tracking devices they use with pets... you know the injected micro-pins they can read with a wand to determine who the owner is of that lost dog.  Probably costly but who knows.

Peter

Costly indeed .... but not out of the realm just the same in years to come perhaps ?? Operating label detectors.... I can see it now.