UNIONPACIFIC4018 wrote:So my wife and I are looking at a new house. Currently I have the entire 2 car garage for my HO scale empire. Its Green River, Wyoming 40's-50's Union Pacific so Big boys, Northerns and Challengers. are the big wheeled monsters. Well the new house I could have the formal living room for my train room. Let me list the plusses first. #1 Inside the house with A/C Heat #2 Flat floor no sloped garage floor #3 No more window units Negatives #1 small room 12x14 So I am thinking maybe I should switch to N Now I am unsure if there is lots of stuff available in N scale Not newer diesels, maybe 1st generation E-Units and F-Units. Also steam of the time period. I have about 100 pieces of rolling stock 4 or 5 buildings 300 ft. of code 83 track with 30 turnouts. All of this can be salvaged easily actually I can even get the cork up without any damage. I really like having 36" radius curves and running 15-20 car passenger trains and 30-40 freight runs. Any thoughts?? thanks
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
claymore1977 wrote: Thanks Mike and I do apologize to all readers for this 'cat fight.' I am glad to see that I am not the only one with opinions to the contrary. New subject. Since I am still 'new' to N scale what would the experts recommend for good quality modern day rolling stock?
Thanks Mike and I do apologize to all readers for this 'cat fight.' I am glad to see that I am not the only one with opinions to the contrary.
New subject. Since I am still 'new' to N scale what would the experts recommend for good quality modern day rolling stock?
As far as first generation diesels go, there's no problem. You can get just about any first generation unit used by the UP (including a sound equipped E-7's, E-8/9 and PA's by PCM) in N scale. F units by Intermountain (F-3 and F-7), Kato (F-3). GP-7's and 9's by Atlas. SW switchers by Life-Like (P2K).
As for steam, you're a bit more limited. Athearn has a Challenger in N and I believe they're coming out with a Big Boy. Bachmann has an N scale version of their Spectrum 2-8-0 and Life-Like has a diecast metal USRA light 2-8-2. It wouldn't surprise me if someone like PCM did a 4-8-4. OTOH, there's not that much more in HO, either. It's not clear if Hornby will re-issue the UP 4-8-4 and nobody (yet) makes a Harriman Mikado or Pacific.
Freight cars won't be a problem as there are lots out there by Microtrains, Intermountain, etc., and there are several sources for passenger cars.
Hope this helps.
Andre
spindoctor wrote: In pursuit of deciding whether to switch from my 25 years stored HO trains over to N scale, I ordered a small yardmaster train set made by "Life-Like" with a diesel switcher and a few rolling stock. (It's for the tree, honey. Not for me....) My question is are all N scale locos this freaking NOISY? You can barely converse at normal levels with this thing running. It's not the track noise (which is also bad enough with its "Power-Lok" track). I cannot recall any HO loco that makes any where near this much noise. So, how much noise do N scale locos make normally? (and what's the deal with "power-lok" track, good, bad or just plain ugly?) Thanks
In pursuit of deciding whether to switch from my 25 years stored HO trains over to N scale, I ordered a small yardmaster train set made by "Life-Like" with a diesel switcher and a few rolling stock. (It's for the tree, honey. Not for me....)
My question is are all N scale locos this freaking NOISY? You can barely converse at normal levels with this thing running. It's not the track noise (which is also bad enough with its "Power-Lok" track). I cannot recall any HO loco that makes any where near this much noise.
So, how much noise do N scale locos make normally? (and what's the deal with "power-lok" track, good, bad or just plain ugly?)
Thanks
spindoctor,
I too switched from HO to N and have Atlas, Kato and Life-Like engines. All of them are really quiet. I have heard of some bad LL engines though. I'm not really sure about the track. I use Kato and love it. I bet if you get some decent engines and track you'll like what N-scale has to offer.
Rob
spindoctor wrote: My question is are all N scale locos this freaking NOISY? You can barely converse at normal levels with this thing running. It's not the track noise (which is also bad enough with its "Power-Lok" track). I cannot recall any HO loco that makes any where near this much noise. So, how much noise do N scale locos make normally? (and what's the deal with "power-lok" track, good, bad or just plain ugly?) Thanks
It really depends...I have 4 N scale locos currently: An Atlas SD60M and Dash-840B, an Intermountain SD40T-2 and an Athearn F59PHI. All of them are rather noisy save for the Atlas Dash-8, that one runs as smooth as butter and rolls down the track like a pair of roller skates.
Look on the bright side, you might not really need that DCC sound decoder after all :)
NSnscaler wrote: I like Con-Cor's autoracks, walthers usually has them and they're common at train shows. I'd agree that atlas and kato are very good. May I also recommend DeLuxe innovations' cars; they make a lot of modern cars like wood chip cars, spines, and stack cars. Life-like is serviceable, and i know nothing of roundhouse, but haven't seen anything from them in a while.Hope I could help!NSnscaler
I like Con-Cor's autoracks, walthers usually has them and they're common at train shows. I'd agree that atlas and kato are very good. May I also recommend DeLuxe innovations' cars; they make a lot of modern cars like wood chip cars, spines, and stack cars. Life-like is serviceable, and i know nothing of roundhouse, but haven't seen anything from them in a while.
Hope I could help!
NSnscaler
Yuck! Con-Cor makes the worst autoracks! They ride high, come with Rapidos and the stirrups look more at home on an HO car! There's a reason why you see Con-Cor autoracks in train shows :) No one wants em anymore! Best autoracks are Red Caboose's - you can see through the grill panels and put some cars inside if you want to. Micro Trains' autoracks come in a close second, they have nicer-looking stirrups. Roundhouse is good, but I think they got out of N scale since being bought by Athearn/Horizon and are now basically Athearn's steam-era sub-brand. If you can find Roundhouse cars on eBay or at shows, they're worth it. I picked up a bunch of boxcars and reefers for less than $5 each!
i take your not going to work tomorrow Dewayne?? more time to work on your layout!! denver is getting socked pretty hard..
i dont mean to change any subjects but, i am getting back into railroading (with my sons)after a 12 year time out. we are looking at power rite now and i was wondering what does lifelike, rivarossi, and bachmann have for a track record?? i know kato and atlas are pretty high on the list. i just have a problem letting my 7 year old son run 300.00 consist, or a 500.00 train. ya know what i mean?? we are looking at 4 axle units, and possibaly a steamer or 2. your 2 cents will be more than welcome... thanks for your time... donnie
I'm re-doing my entire layout.
It's a nice warm summer layout with farm lands and rolling hills along with a small area of desert.
As I sit here and look outside the snow is half way up the kitchen window (thats about a 7ft drift.) I'm wondering if I should change to an all winter layout? LOL
The blizzard is supposted to last until around noon tomorrow.
Nscaler711 Hows this?
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=159511
Dave Vollmer wrote: claymore1977 wrote: Thanks Mike and I do apologize to all readers for this 'cat fight.' I am glad to see that I am not the only one with opinions to the contrary. New subject. Since I am still 'new' to N scale what would the experts recommend for good quality modern day rolling stock? Atlas has some very nice modern stuff. I don't much care for their couplers, though (they don't last long) so I'm replacing them with Micro-Trains couplers.
Atlas has some very nice modern stuff. I don't much care for their couplers, though (they don't last long) so I'm replacing them with Micro-Trains couplers.
micro-trains makes the best, but expensive rolling stock. I like Con-Cor's autoracks, walthers usually has them and they're common at train shows. I'd agree that atlas and kato are very good. May I also recommend DeLuxe innovations' cars; they make a lot of modern cars like wood chip cars, spines, and stack cars. Life-like is serviceable, and i know nothing of roundhouse, but haven't seen anything from them in a while.
i have a problem, my problem is What is the AT&SF's font(lettering)? i cant find it in microsoft word, microsoft spread sheet, or any thing else could someone tell me
Army National Guard E3MOS 91BI have multiple scales nowZ, N, HO, O, and G.
i do something simalar NS2591 insted of drawing on a computer i use a sketch book ill start drawing in class then ill try to remember what the loco looks like then ill start drawing people have said i have a talent for super detailing my sketched locos ill try to post pics as soon as i get a digital camera
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
claymore1977 wrote:Thanks Mike and I do apologize to all readers for this 'cat fight.' I am glad to see that I am not the only one with opinions to the contrary. New subject. Since I am still 'new' to N scale what would the experts recommend for good quality modern day rolling stock?
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
Dave Loman
My site: The Rusty Spike
"It's a penny for your thoughts, but you have to put your 2 cents in.... hey, someone's making a penny!"
"try hooking an N-Scale circuit up to an HO pack sometime; any loke on the track will go from zero to 293MPH in about .0006289100456 seconds."
I'm a little reluctant to get caught up in this cat fight, but that statement is just silly. I have an MRC Tech II that is an "HO" pack and I ran my N scale trains for years with it before I converted to DCC. The N scale display layout (DC powered) I use for shows has also been running on it for the last 4 years. BTW, I sell electronic products.
Why in the world do you think an N scale loco would suddenly leap forward at full speed if it was hooked to an "HO" pack? Perhaps if you cranked the throttle up all the way, there might be some potential problems, (like flying off the rail in a corner ) but normal operation will be no problem whatsoever.
Mike Tennent
NS2591 wrote: Here is the End Result Twin Cities Southern MP15DC 1500I copied the image from http://trainiax.net/mescaleloco.htm and pasted it in Paint. I filled on the colors using some of the Color codes that he has on his website, If you go to the contributed drawings and find the ones by Jay Tester those are mine. What do ya guys think?
Here is the End Result Twin Cities Southern MP15DC 1500
I copied the image from http://trainiax.net/mescaleloco.htm and pasted it in Paint. I filled on the colors using some of the Color codes that he has on his website, If you go to the contributed drawings and find the ones by Jay Tester those are mine. What do ya guys think?
Looks great. Very classy.
wow!! I never thought I would read this today geting buried with snow at work!! Probably more then I ever could assimaliate about electronics in on sitting.
Depending on weather I should have a track plan finnalized by tomorrow morning!! Wish me luck!
Curt
Yes it was pardner. What does your frieght scheme look like?
RR Redneck wrote:That is a cool paint job you got goin on with your equipment.
If that was aimed at me, thanks Eric. I don't intend to get so "elegant" with the freight scheme.
- Mark
WOW, tough room today!
Think I'll just hang over here in the corner and mind my own business!
claymore1977 wrote:Trust me, I am trying very hard to keep it civil. I just can't stand by when advice is given that I think its incorrect/possible harmful to equipment. As an outside party, was there anything in my original post that was offensive/unprofessional? If so, I will edit it and take it onboard as a lesson learned for future reference. Oh btw, I decided to go with a small N scale layout till I get a house/basement. Track plan to follow shortly for critique.
Trust me, I am trying very hard to keep it civil. I just can't stand by when advice is given that I think its incorrect/possible harmful to equipment. As an outside party, was there anything in my original post that was offensive/unprofessional? If so, I will edit it and take it onboard as a lesson learned for future reference.
Oh btw, I decided to go with a small N scale layout till I get a house/basement. Track plan to follow shortly for critique.
I have found when you give advice and it's not what the other party wants to hear no matter how right you are they will 9 times out of 10 find it offensive even when it wasn't.