General Discussion (Model Railroader)

Dave:

Any, and all, photos you show of you layout are just awesome. I plan on starting out with a layout like yours and then add it to a larger layout when I get the room finished.

Mike (mls1621)

I like the photos of your layout too. I, and I bet others, would like to see more.

My layout will be around the wall of a 10ft x 14ft room.

Keep up the great work.

     Dave,

   I have been to your site a couple of times and I love the 6 minute intro video. I watched it before I looked at your trackplan and I was blown away when I saw that it is only 36 x 80. Excellent work and the operating signals are great.

             Gary

The debate rages every few weeks about when the "golden age" of model railroading was.  I'm convinced that in N scale, the golden age is NOW.

Er, uh, Dave, it doesn't matter which scale we're talking about. Now definitely is the golden age.

P.S. I like the working position light signals. That's cool. Adds a touch of authenticity to your layout. Now, if someone would just make Harriman style lower quadrant semaphores in N scale.....

Andre

 Dave

When you get your GG1 how are you going to do the cantery? or how much r u going to need?

sleeper33 wrote:

Dave When you get your GG1 how are you going to do the cantery? or how much r u going to need?

Hmmmm....   I have to have a GG1, no question about it.  But the Middle Divison wasn't electrified.  That poses a problem...!

Someday, when I do the "big one," I've been thinking of adding a short stretch of electrified track.  I was thinking like an "impressions of Pennsy" layout that would include Philly 30th Street, Enola, some town on the Middle Divison (like Huntingdon or Lewistown), a coal mine, and Altoona.  So Philly to Enola (across from Harrisburg) would be "wired."

Lewistown presents a good LDE candidate because there was a steel mill just up the track (Standard Steel at Burnham on the Milroy Secondary).  Plus Lewistown had a yard and a small engine terminal.

Dave,

You could have the GG1 being transported across your division, behind steam or a Geep.

Just turn off the headlight.  It will appear to be rolling along behind your head end power.

mls1621 wrote:

Dave, You could have the GG1 being transported across your division, behind steam or a Geep. Just turn off the headlight.  It will appear to be rolling along behind your head end power.

I thought about that....  But a few counter-arguments come to mind.

If I just want a dead unit to drag I can save my bucks and use my existing Arnold/Rivarossi GG1.  No, I figure the Kato GG1 will run like a Kato, which means I'll want her running.  Of course, as you suggest I could have her running headlight off and pans down, so as to appear to be dead-in-tow, but really pulling.

Good point.

But then the other issue is why she'd be in tow on the Middle Division at all.  One GG1 was rebuilt at Altoona in the 1950s; that's the one that lost its brakes and crashed into the Washington Union Station concourse.  She was repainted Tuscan Red with 5 stripes (instead of DGLE like the Kato).  But this was a one-time deal.  All repairs on the GG1 fleet, including heavy class overhauls, were done on the Northeast Corridor facility at Edgemoor, never leaving the elctrified territory.

So...  I'm thinking I may have to take a giant step away from prototype up-tightness, and just run her from time to time with rear pan up (Pennsy standard procedure) and pretend that there's catenary!

Imagine that...  literally!

Dave,

My first train was a Lionel GG1 with three Pullman heavywieghts.  My dad got it for me when I was 4 years old in 1949.

My brother and sister both had steam drawn freights.  I was jealous because I thought the steam locomotives looked neater.

I wish I still had my GG1 today, I just didn't realize what a prize it was.

I hope you have a few heavyweights to drag behind yours when you get it.

Dave,

You do know that at one time the PRR considered (seriously) extending their electrified trackage as far west as Pittsburg, don't you?

Oh, and how did you make th smoke for the steamers in your pictures? JK LOL

-George

Imagine that...  literally!" border="0" width="15" height="15" />

Don't know as I'd do that if I were you, Dave. The PSP (Prototype Secret Police) are everywhere. Those black helicopters don't belong to the gummint, but to the PSP. They know your every thought and tinfoil hats don't suppress the signal. The only thing that will keep them from catching you in such a heinous act is to smear yourself with raw hamburger and go without a bath for a week or two.

Andre

Dave;

I just won an trix 2-10-0 N scale,I know you have worked on an PRR 10 wheeler(kitbashed)How does it handle you curves?? And what is your min radi on you cuves?

Thanks for your great work in N scale!!

JIM

Jim,

I canibalized my Trix 2-10-0 for parts (i.e., the boiler and tender shells)...  Max Magliaro is the guy who recently did a 3-part story in Railroad Model Craftsman on building a PRR Class I1sa 2-10-0 in N scale.  He essentially extended a Kato 2-8-2 by adding a 5th driver and extended side rods.  He then used the GHQ L1s 2-8-2 pewter boiler conversion kit.

The Trix 2-10-0 should handle 11" radius curves.  If I remember correctly, there's plenty of side-play in the mdidle drivers.  I don't recall, but it might even have a blind center driver (like the real PRR I1 class).

A few minor points to bear in mind with your 2-10-0.  The drivers are undersized (in part because of the deep flanges that require Code 70 track or higher) and the cylinders don't line up with the steam pipes.  This is because the mechanism was made for a German loco and they simply placed the K4 boiler on it to make the I1.

I found that out-of-the-box the running quality was kind of poor, mainly due to the electrical contacts (or lack thereof).  Cleaning up the contact wipers and making sure they touch the wheels and axles will help greatly.

Overall, though, out of the box it looks quite Pennsy.

Now, you can get an even more accurate looking I1 if you shorten the boiler a bit behind the smokebox so the steam pipes line up with the cylinders.  Also, the bell and dome need to be swapped (that's not so easy, but also not impossible).  The tender can be used as-is, although it's technically a passenger tender (PRR class 90P75, IIRC), but photographic evidence suggests 90P75 and similar 90F82 class tenders made it to the back end of I1s from time to time.

Good luck, and welcome to N scale PRR steam!

EDIT:  Oh, yeah...  My minimum radius is 13.5".  My M1 will not handle that.  It stays on my outside main at 15".  I don't like that, but I'm limited by the 4-8-2's rather picky lack of side-play and my own choice of drawbar configuration.

The current layout is a "placeholder" until I have the room to build a much bigger Pennsy.  At that time I plan for an 18" minimum radius, freeing up the M1 to handle any track.

Dave ; Thanks a lot for all the info,I'am sure I'll have fun with this one!My lay out is 42"X8'It is in the middle stage of work.LOL.  I'll get some pictures up before long!

JIM