The "N" Crowd

[Anonymous]

Jay, you may want to pay for the repairs out of your pocket. My wife backed into a guy and it was $1200 to repair his car. There was no damage to her car. It cost me $2100 over three years in increased insurance cost. I should have payed for it myself.

Dewayne 

 

[NS2591]

Well guys. My layout suffered a major setback today. Money that I had been saving for buying 4 more kato engines(With DCC and MT Couplers!!) Has to go to my insurance now...I rearended a guy today on my way to school. We're ok My girlfriend was riding with me and we're ok. It was a pretty slow speed collision, We hit at about 5-10MPH. Damage would have been alot less if it hadn't been so cold out. The guys bumper shattered in the subzero temps, as did my grill. Other than cosmetic damage my truck is fine.  My truck is fine asidefrom needing a new grill, bumper and lower cowl), the other guy is fine(All he needs is a bumper).

[R. T. POTEET]

I just came across a product that is new to me. It's called electroluminescences wire.

Do any of you know anything EL-wire?

I have some questions if anyone can help me.

I would like to know what is the shortest lenght it can be cut to? Does the supply voltage change with lenght? Is it bright enough to be seen in normal room light?

I'll probably have a hundered more question, but these are the ones for starters.

 

Dewayne

 

 

Dewayne, "google" ELECTROLUMINESCENT wire; this is better known as glowire - at least that's what I had heard it referred to as;  if you want to model Neon this a great way to do it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Phill, That site is very good and answered my question.

Dewayne

[pcarrell]

I don't know much about the history of Loco's. So I have a question maybe one of you can answer.

Why did lumber companys run shay loco's and not standard loco's?

Dewayne

See if this doesn't answer some questions!

http://www.gearedsteam.com/

[Anonymous]

I don't know much about the history of Loco's. So I have a question maybe one of you can answer.

Why did lumber companys run shay loco's and not standard loco's?

Dewayne

[Adelie]

For you folks that don't have a hobby shop close I would like to suggest a LHS from here in Denver. Their online prices are very competive. I don't have any ties to this shop in any way, it's just a good place to buy stuff.

 http://www.caboosehobbies.com/

Dewayne

Better yet, if you have any excuse to get to Denver, pay them a visit.  Count on spending a couple of hours there, though.  Very nice store, extremely helpful staff, great selection, clean and well organized.  The selection includes all scales, books, videos, brass, supplies, you name it.  I could spend 2 hours ogling their brass cabinets. 

[Anonymous]

For you folks that don't have a hobby shop close I would like to suggest a LHS from here in Denver. Their online prices are very competive. I don't have any ties to this shop in any way, it's just a good place to buy stuff.

 http://www.caboosehobbies.com/

Dewayne

 

[n2mopac]

local short line here in columbia missouri it's called the COLT...COLumbia Terminal. It is 24 miles long. Stretches from Columbia to Centeralia MO.  line was Built in 1865....the COLT didnt come out until 1980 something.   i want to model this rail road and its two locos.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=215465

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=215537

If memory serves me correctly this was a Wabash Railroad branch and was spun off by N&W sometime in the mid-80s.  Model Railroader did a A Railroad You Can Model feature on this branch and then included the article in one of their Railroads You Can Model dedicated publications, whether in Volume 1 or 2 I cannot say.

It seems to me that this branch came off of the Wabash main at Centralia and ran south(?) to Columbia; there was a major switching location somewhere about halfway between the two.  These old A Railroad You Can Model incorporated some interesting trackplans; the one associated with this branchline impressed itself enough on me that it has stuck in my memory over all of these years.

nscaler711, in one of your previous responses you mentioned that you were very unhappy with Missouri because of the lack of hobby facilities.  The only thing I know about Columbia is that on two occasions - twenty-eight years apart - it was a very convenient place to fill up my gas tank, and that it is the home of Mizzou.  I know that it is not the biggest bulb in the chandelier but I find it difficult to believe that there is not at least one hobby shop of some substance in town, whether they handle N-Scale or not.  Could you perhaps not prevail upon good ole' pappy to run you down to Jeff City, say, at least once a month.  They might have better facilities down there.

I will vouch for the lack of LHS in central Missouri altogether. Sedalia has one that wants to be a good one. It is great for RC cars and ok for HO. Otherwise his response is "I can get it." That is better than nothing, but he carries no N scale in stock. Columbia and Jefferson City have nothing worthwhile. To get a decent shop I have to travel 90 miles to Blue Springs (Kansas City suburb). It is very frustrating.

Ron

[n2mopac]

local short line here in columbia missouri it's called the COLT...COLumbia Terminal. It is 24 miles long. Stretches from Columbia to Centeralia MO.  line was Built in 1865....the COLT didnt come out until 1980 something.   i want to model this rail road and its two locos.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=215465

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=215537

 I'm a few days behind and catching up. I believe we have emailed before about our proximity. I'm about an hour from Columbia near Sedalia. I think a COLT layout is a cool idea, especially if you are or know a good custom painter for locomotives. Let us know how it goes and include some pics when it comes along.

Ron

[ATSFCLIFF]

Agree with you, Atlas and MT make good autoracks so do Red Caboose. I like the 'see-thru' etched sides by Red Caboose.

[img]http://images.fotopic.net/ylixb5.jpg[img]

Cheers, 

[NS2591]

Yes I do have some Racks. I've got 2 of the Atlas Articulated ones, a Micro-Trains, and a Con-Cor. the atlas ones look pretty good, so does the Micro-Trains looks pretty good. The con-cor Rack runs like crap...part of it is that i have the wrong trucks on it and the couplers are long enough. I'll get pictures as soon as I can.

[Anonymous]

I just came across a product that is new to me. It's called electroluminescences wire.

Do any of you know anything EL-wire?

I have some questions if anyone can help me.

I would like to know what is the shortest lenght it can be cut to? Does the supply voltage change with lenght? Is it bright enough to be seen in normal room light?

I'll probably have a hundered more question, but these are the ones for starters.

 

Dewayne

 

 

[Dave Vollmer]

No problem.  Sorry if I sounded terse.  I'm teaching a lab section and my "kids" did pretty badly on assignment because they chose not to read the questions.  Instead they either answered incompletely or answered what they wanted the question to ask rather than what it asked.  You were just an unlucky target of opportunity.  Sorry! 

Sounds like you're TA'ing this semester, there, Dave.  I taught computer programming at a business school for a few years and, believe me, you have my utmost sympathy.  I couldn't (legally) kick my students and I sure am glad I didn't have a dog because I would surely have been arrested and charged with animal abuse. 

Yep, I offered to help my advisor out by TA'ing his undergraduate dynamics course.  The Air Force doesn't usually encourage TA'ing because it's a time committment, but I've got a 4.0 and I'm getting my research done, so I'm doing it to build my curriculum vita.  I enjoy it very much, but I'm upset today because they would have done better had they taken the time to read the questions.  Moreover, if they would make the connection between the examples in the lectures and the lab problems (by thinking rather than by charging blindly) they'd have done better.  Clearly I need to work with them on problem solving skills and not just the math and physics.

[R. T. POTEET]

No problem.  Sorry if I sounded terse.  I'm teaching a lab section and my "kids" did pretty badly on assignment because they chose not to read the questions.  Instead they either answered incompletely or answered what they wanted the question to ask rather than what it asked.  You were just an unlucky target of opportunity.  Sorry! 

Sounds like you're TA'ing this semester, there, Dave.  I taught computer programming at a business school for a few years and, believe me, you have my utmost sympathy.  I couldn't (legally) kick my students and I sure am glad I didn't have a dog because I would surely have been arrested and charged with animal abuse. 

[CSXFan]

Guys thanks alot for all the praise on my layout. Its been alot of work getting the money together to built it, Fortunatly I could reuse all the benchwork from my HO layout. So all I had to buy was Cork and track. but even that its still hard for me to get the money together on a high school budget.

I noticed from the pics (which look great BTW) that you have a few autoracks in your possession. Would you mind posting a pic or two of how they look going through those curves? I'd like to see what they look like on 15" curves (I think that's what you have) before I go out and spend a bunch of money. Thanks.  

[CSXFan]

No problem.  Sorry if I sounded terse.  I'm teaching a lab section and my "kids" did pretty badly on assignment because they chose not to read the questions.  Instead they either answered incompletely or answered what they wanted the question to ask rather than what it asked.  You were just an unlucky target of opportunity.  Sorry! 

No big deal, its my fault that I let the shiny pictures at the bottom distract me . I've got so much Mountain Dew and coffee in my system that I can't focus on anything. (Just gotta get through till Friday)

[NS2591]

Guys thanks alot for all the praise on my layout. Its been alot of work getting the money together to built it, Fortunatly I could reuse all the benchwork from my HO layout. So all I had to buy was Cork and track. but even that its still hard for me to get the money together on a high school budget.

[Dave Vollmer]

No problem.  Sorry if I sounded terse.  I'm teaching a lab section and my "kids" did pretty badly on assignment because they chose not to read the questions.  Instead they either answered incompletely or answered what they wanted the question to ask rather than what it asked.  You were just an unlucky target of opportunity.  Sorry! 

[CSXFan]

Okay thanks again. I guess the pics at the bottom caught my eye a little too soon. BTW thank you for mentioning the photocopy idea. That will probably save me a few huge mistakes!

It's kinda funny how it's in the April 2005 issue, that's the month before I started getting MRR magazine

[Dave Vollmer]

Thanks for the reply Dave. Do you know specifically what issue it was in? Is there a Kalmbach book that explains the kitbash in more detail? Sorry for all the questions, those pics gave me some great ideas. Thanks again.

You'll have to go back and read my reply again.  It tells you what issue.  I even looked it up for you.

[CSXFan]

Thanks for the reply Dave. Do you know specifically what issue it was in? Is there a Kalmbach book that explains the kitbash in more detail? Sorry for all the questions, those pics gave me some great ideas. Thanks again.

[Dave Vollmer]

To Dave Vollmer, (or anyone else that can help)

I noticed that you kitbashed a Walthers New River Mine to make the one on your layout and I would like to do the same thing on my pike. Was it a difficult kitbash or is it something a relative beginner can do? Did you follow any plans or did you just go by what looked right? If you can give me any information or pics I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.  

I followed an article Jim Kelly did in MR a few years ago.  He kitbashed the HO version as part of the Turtle Creek Central mine branch extension in the April 2005 MR.  The plans for that kitbash work in N too.  I also photocopied all of the walls and built the kitbashed mine from the photocopies first, so I could get the measurements perfect before I started cutting up the walls.

It didn't sem like a difficult kitbash to me, but you need to take your time and be careful.  Remember, measure twice and cut once!  I think anyone who's ever assembled a Walthers kit can handle this kitbash.

Here are pics of mine:

[CSXFan]

To Dave Vollmer, (or anyone else that can help)

I noticed that you kitbashed a Walthers New River Mine to make the one on your layout and I would like to do the same thing on my pike. Was it a difficult kitbash or is it something a relative beginner can do? Did you follow any plans or did you just go by what looked right? If you can give me any information or pics I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.  

[Puquak]

Puquak you have got to post your process on your geep project b/c i want to do that too heres a photo of the loco i want to kit bash

711,

 Unfortunatly that project is in the distant future. Knowing that I won't be doing it for a while keeps me from getting too nervous about it.

 

-Tracy 

[nscaler711]

Puquak you have got to post your process on your geep project b/c i want to do that too heres a photo of the loco i want to kit bash

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=215462

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=216092

heres a shot of they're second loco

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=215464

 

[Puquak]

Finally got through all 40 pages. Took the better part of two days, though.

I'm currently working on a small switching layout (36"x9") until I get the basement cleaned up. I have hand layed the stock rails of the 5 turnouts with ME code 55 rail and layed atlas 55 flex for the rest. I'll be painting the track and ballasting before I add the rest of the turnout trackwork. I should take some more current pics. The bottom of the pic is actually the back of the baseboard, and I moved the middle spur on the right to be parallel with the one below it. Those two spurs will serve a furnature factory (each spur holds 2 50'), while the spur on the opposite corner will be for a freight-transfer building (that spur can hold 3 50's or 2 40s and 2 50's). If I keep the track going to the very edge of the baseboard, the short end of the runaround track can hold the engine and a 40', while the runaround track will only hold 1 car. Lots of switching goodness.

When I'm able, I'll continue work on my larger layout (9'x5' L) of the Aberdeen area worked by the Puget Sound and Pacific shortline. (a subsidery of RailAmerica). BTW - the layout pictured is a little different than how I layed the track. Instead of the switch at the corner of the L-benchwork I connected the back track with the staging on the right. (The track will be disguised as an abandoned lumber yard to hide the continuous loop.) The turnaround loop on the left end of the layout actually matches the prototype, so they can haul long grain trains to the port and back.

Also looking forward to trying to convert a GP9 into a GP10 and custom paint it for the PSAP.

-Tracy 

[Puquak]

Dewayne wrote the following post at 02-10-2007 8:57 PM:

I was on a live steam page and saw this loco. Was there ever a loco made like this one?

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w1/n0ssy/HN2006_001.jpg

 

Dewayne

[R. T. POTEET]

hobbytown usa is the only one in columbia. also where did u get your info on the railroad?

Back in the '60s. - that's the 1960s, not the 1860s; I'm not quite that old - the '70s, and maybe even into the '80s Model Railroader magazine ran articles on A Railroad You Can Model/A Branchline You Can Model/A Shortline You Can Model, etcetera, etcetera, and soforth.  I distinctly remember that one of the railroads featured was the Wabash Railroad branch from Centralia to Columbia.  There was a community in between the ends of this branch which provided additional switching opportunities.  I am almost certain that this was featured in the mid-60s as it was still being referred to as a "Wabash Branch" as opposed to an "N&W Branch".  These features always had distinct location features accompanying them as well as suggestions as to how these location features could be incorporated into a layout.  As I stated earlier, I was impressed enough with MRs coverage of this branchline that, when you mentioned the line to Centralia, bells went off in my head.  As soon as I get my MRs out of hock (read: storage boxes) and locate this article I am going to review it with a potential for development in my new/to be designed layout.  Being a freelancer I am certain I will rename the locations and reconsider the industries but, even with that, I can still capture the essence of this branchline.

I am almost sure that Kalmbach/Model Railroader incorporated this layout in either their Railroads You Can Model or More Railroads You Can Model compendiums.  I do not own either of those books because they are basically a rehash of articles from the pages of Model Railroader. 

[CraigN]

I'm no good at identifying engines. I just love to watch them roll by.

I did go to railpictures.net and noticed that there are pictures of RSD-12's and RSD-15's.

Of the high hood engine pictures, I can't tell the difference between the two.

Craig