The "N" Crowd

[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

[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

 

[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]

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

[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]

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

Dewayne

[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.

[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).

[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]

Thanks alot. My dad is looking into what it'll cost to get a new bumper and grill. I'm just glad that the radiator survived. We put a new radiator in back in september, becuase the old one was held in by tiewraps. The repairs to my truck is coming out of my own money. But I'm prepared for the other guy's claim. I'm just glad everyone was really nice about it. A ticket would have killed my drivers Liscense...I turned 16 back in september so I havn't even had my liscense for a whole year yet.

[nscaler711]

NS2591

im older than you by a couple of months or so. im also 16 turning 17 in july sorry bout the accident. (at least u werent hit by a car thanksgiving break) any ways i dont have my license though only b/c of my grades.......i get A's and B's on my tests but its the homework that kills me.     How does ur gf like the whole model railroader thing? mine doesnt care for it all that much. when i get excited about a new train she says thats cool....under her breath she says "i guess."  i usually hear that

 

 

Everyone else: could i add a exuahst* stack to my SW8 to make it a SW1200?

[R. T. POTEET]

NS2591

im older than you by a couple of months or so. im also 16 turning 17 in july sorry bout the accident. (at least u werent hit by a car thanksgiving break) any ways i dont have my license though only b/c of my grades.......i get A's and B's on my tests but its the homework that kills me.     How does ur gf like the whole model railroader thing? mine doesnt care for it all that much. when i get excited about a new train she says thats cool....under her breath she says "i guess."  i usually hear that

 

 

Everyone else: could i add a exuahst* stack to my SW8 to make it a SW1200?

I could recite a rather obscene joke right at this particular moment and drive beanie up the wall.  Instead I will just say this:  The next time your squeeze says "I guess" retort "How do you guess you are going to feel if my next excitement is over a new girlfriend?"

About your question on converting an SW8 to an SW1200.  There may be more than just randomly glueing an extra stack atop the roof.   Before you proceed with any modifications along this line you need to consult some drawings to insure proper positioning of these stacks in relation to the access doors on the side.  Remember, the SW1200 had a bigger engine than the SW8 and this larger engine undoubtedlly forced some cosmetic differences onto the roofline.

RMC did line drawings (most if not all) of these EMD lokes back in the sixties and seventies; as I said in my email of last weekend my issues are currently buried in a box but I am anticipating getting into them shortly; if I can find drawings of the SW8 and SW1200 I will get you a copy so you can do a comparison.

[nscaler711]

shes like some of your wives ya know she likes your hobby because you like it...

cool those plans should help thanks

[NS2591]

My girlfriend thinks its ok. She thinks its better than me doing drugs of somekind. She understands that I like it alot, Shes the same way about horses. She Voulenteers at a couple horsefarms, I voulenteer at a RR Museum so its pretty much the same thing.

[Dave Vollmer]

My girlfriend thinks its ok. She thinks its better than me doing drugs of somekind. She understands that I like it alot, Shes the same way about horses. She Voulenteers at a couple horsefarms, I voulenteer at a RR Museum so its pretty much the same thing.

Hence Model Railroader Magazine's two alternate slogans to "Model Railroading is Fun":

1.  "Model Railroading is Better Than You Doing Drugs"

2.  "Model Railroading is the Same Way Your Girlfriend is About Horses"

Catchy, if not a bit cumbersome.

Sorry guys, couldn't resist.  Kudos to both of you fine young men for choosing model railroading over the many vices presented to those your age.  You'll be far better for it as you grow older and wiser.

[NScaleJW]

Hi Everyone!:

      Have just spent the last few hours going over all the posts in the thread, soaking up information.  I'm another "newbie", trying to get an N scale layout built.

     My name is J.W. Hall, and I'm a 42 year old modeler from Florida, wanting to build a layout set in Central Indiana (the land of my youth) in the 1940's and 1950's.  (even though I wasn't around then!!)  The main railroad that ran through the home town, was the CCC&StL (Big 4) one of the lines on the NYC system.  A little ways up the road was Muncie, where several other railroads converged including the C&O, another of my favorite roads.

      My hope is to build a layout that has a fictional branch of the C&O interchanging with the Big 4 in the vicinity of the town I want to model.

      Anyhow, I am completely blown away by your track plan Dave!  I have been designing, and redesigning, and re-redesigning layouts for close to four years now, but when I saw yours, all I could say was "That's IT!"  Of course there won't be any beautiful mountains in my version, but the track plan is tailor-made for my 36"x80" door. 

     Thanks, everyone for the raft of information I was able to pick up today!

 

Sincerely,

J.W. Hall

 

[Dave Vollmer]

Thanks, and welcome JW!

My trackplan is hardly mine at all; I changed a few sidings, but otherwise it's from a Model Railroader project layout done by Lou Sassi in the early 1990s.  It works quite well for me, and it's tailor-made for DCC given that it has a double-tracked mainline.  You could also do dual-DC cabs, but after switching to DCC I can hardly remember (nor do I want to) the hassle of running trains in DC.

If you can set up a small staging yard off of one of the sidings in the front (I use one as a programming track and the other, not on the original plan, is for future extension), you can definitely enhance operations.

Dave

[Dave Vollmer]

I'm thinking about taking a break from trains.com.

No doubt I'm spending a lot of time here.  This is time I could be:

1.  Doing my doctoral research...

2.  Spending with my kids...

And, of course:

3.  Actually modeling!

I'm not quitting, but I think I just need to take it easy here.  I find myself checking these forums way too often.  That, plus a shift from the practical to the philosophical is making this particular forum (trains.com) less attractive than other, more focused, forums (to me, anyway).

You'll see me around, of course...  Just not quite as often!

[Anonymous]

Thought I'd add my layout to the forum. The "L" extenision on the right will be added this summer.  I'd like for it to be wider for more lines but I have a wife I must live with. Maybe I'll add some pictuers later.

The track shown in red is elevated 2.5" and goes down to the red line which is the 0" point.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w1/n0ssy/RE-WORK-EXTENDEDinterloop.jpg

 

Dewayne

[NScaleJW]

Hi Again!:

     Dewayne, that's SOME layout!  I really like the trolley line, too!  One day I hope to model the Union Traction/Indiana Railroad system in conjunction with my Class 1 layout. . .someday.

 

     Dave, before you take your sabbatical from Trains.com, could you answer a few questions about your layout?  I remember reading that your minimum radius was something like 13.5"  Is that on the inner track of your mainline?  What is the radius of the outer curves?  And last but not least, what spacing did you use between the two tracks of the mainline? 

      I am just old-fashioned, I guess, and will go the DC route on my railroad, at least for the time being.  Maybe later on I will get enough nerve to try to install some decoders on those little bitty locomotives, and reap some of the many advantages of DCC.

      When I first saw the plan for your layout Dave, I almost immediately got the idea to use the track you use for programming, and for later expansion as the C&O interchange, and possibly to use some sort of removable staging that would connect at the right hand track, and perhaps to add another track like that at the far end to connect to the same sort of staging to add the NYC trains.

Thanks again for all the ideas!

 Sincerely, 

J.W. Hall

[nscaler711]

i went to this cool site called Google fight and tested the words "n scale" and "Ho scale" guess who won...............N scale

[Anonymous]

i went to this cool site called Google fight and tested the words "n scale" and "Ho scale" guess who won...............N scale

I'm not sure if that's good or bad. It could be HO'ers find items fast and we N scalers are looking for items we can't find and we search more  or there are more of us into N scale than the indurstry wants to admit.

 

Dewayne

[Metro Red Line]

 

Hence Model Railroader Magazine's two alternate slogans to "Model Railroading is Fun":

1.  "Model Railroading is Better Than You Doing Drugs"

 

Uh, Model Railroading IS a drug...We get a high off our trains and we have a huge dependency on our dealers too... 

[Blue Flamer]

Dave.

Your input & insight on a regular basis will be sorely missed, but you have your priorities straight. There are other people here that are as knowledgeable as you are in the different aspects of our hobby and I have no doubt that they will step up to the plate and Pinch Hit for you.

Good luck on your research, enjoy the kids while they are young because they grow up really fast and will soon find their own interests. Hopefully one of those interests will be Model Railroading and one of these days there may be another Vollmer helping the "Newbies" to enjoy this hobby.

I for one will be keeping my eyes open for further developments on your PRR down the road.

Blue Flamer.

[Chuck Geiger]

Dave and Ramsey Lewis (The In Crowd) Enjoy the latest from my N Scale SP FRESNO DISTRICT:

New bay window hack on the end of reefers rolling across Serrano River MP 35.4

 

Same hack rolling through downtown Fresno.

Veiw of Fresno yard from Ashland Ave.

Union 76 siding at Quart, CA

GP-35's rolling through the valley.

Progress!

[NS2591]

Boy Chuck, I wish I was making as much progress as you are. Its a Miracle that I can run trains now Who knows when I'll get to scenery...

[Zandoz]

I have a few questions for the folks with door layout construction experience....

• Is there a structural reason for going with the 1.5" or 2" foam on top, over multiple layers of 3/4" and/or 1"?   My very vague and general plans call for a bridge-over-river scene, with at least a couple topography plateau levels between river and rail level.  Precutting multiple layers to get a head start on these plateaus seems like a better alternative than having to whittle away large amounts of one or two layers of thicker foam.
• Do I need a layer of foam between the door and what ever water simulation product I end up using?
• With a 15" minimum radius, and the more 19" the better, a 36" door alone just isn't going to cut it.  Assuming going with 2 or more narrower doors joined along their long edge, is there going to be a big enough structural advantage going with 3 narrower doors over two slightly wider, to justify the extra joining work?  For example, a combination of 12"+24"+12" vs 24"+24".   My thought is that the 3door version would have some additional sag resistance over time, but I do not know if that extra bit would be worth the added effort and probably weight.

Thanks in advance for any insight that can be directed my way.

[NS2591]

Last friday I had gone out to the HO MRR club and picked up a couple old turnout control panels. Well I forgot I had them untill today. I opened up the back of my truck to get out a 2x4 and found those sitting in the bed. I've had a pretty productive day too, I replaced the Code 55 #7 turnont that was in temporarily untill I could get a #10. Which I picked up at a trainshow last saturday. Along with a Kato SD70MAC and an NW Caboose. But anyways I got the new turnout in place, and I moved the old switch to its final place. and relayed some cork becuase the orginal design wasn't going to work without having a massive kink in the track. So for a short area(about a foot) I have tripple track!(Look out Pennsy! NS has tripple track!)

CSXFan: I'll post pictures of my Autoracks, Superliners and my Kato Well Cars in the 15" curves sometime today or tomorrow, so be sure to check back. 

[CSXFan]

Last friday I had gone out to the HO MRR club and picked up a couple old turnout control panels. Well I forgot I had them untill today. I opened up the back of my truck to get out a 2x4 and found those sitting in the bed. I've had a pretty productive day too, I replaced the Code 55 #7 turnont that was in temporarily untill I could get a #10. Which I picked up at a trainshow last saturday. Along with a Kato SD70MAC and an NW Caboose. But anyways I got the new turnout in place, and I moved the old switch to its final place. and relayed some cork becuase the orginal design wasn't going to work without having a massive kink in the track. So for a short area(about a foot) I have tripple track!(Look out Pennsy! NS has tripple track!)

CSXFan: I'll post pictures of my Autoracks, Superliners and my Kato Well Cars in the 15" curves sometime today or tomorrow, so be sure to check back. 

Sounds like you got a lot done! Take your time with the pics, I'm in no hurry. 

[Bikerdad]

1) No Structural reason for using 1.5" or 2" foam, its likely more a matter of what's commonly and easily available locally.  Hereabouts .75" and 1" foam is common.  Your plan for layering will work just fine, and is recommended for certain applications, such as yours.

2) No.  You just have to make sure that whatever water simulation product you use doesn't adversely affect whatever it comes into contact with.

3) Unless you are putting bracing under the doors, there will be no significant difference is sag between one door, two doors, three doors, or more.  This principle, however, does not hold true if you are putting a great deal of weight on the doors.  So don't climb on the layout.  Otherwise, just do 2 doors.  Each joint is a complication, a invitation to Murphy.