Dave Vollmer wrote:I thought maybe we could start a thread for us N-scalers. I know there are already several "chat" threads out there, but I thought it might be nice to have a spot for us to talk about the world of 1:160 modeling. After all, we're the second most popular scale out there!For starters, I'd love to see more of Phillip's Code 55 track and his locomotive projects!I would also love to see pictures of other N scale layouts - complete, under construction, or just a plan!Here's a shot on my N scale Pennsylvania Railroad layout:
I thought maybe we could start a thread for us N-scalers. I know there are already several "chat" threads out there, but I thought it might be nice to have a spot for us to talk about the world of 1:160 modeling. After all, we're the second most popular scale out there!
For starters, I'd love to see more of Phillip's Code 55 track and his locomotive projects!
I would also love to see pictures of other N scale layouts - complete, under construction, or just a plan!
Here's a shot on my N scale Pennsylvania Railroad layout:
Dave.
Did you think that when you started this thread on Nov.21/06 that it would run to 59 pages +. The information imparted here has given a great number of MRR's the inspiration to try just that little bit harder to accomplish what many others have done, and to increase their own level of expertise with that effort.
Thanks.
Blue Flamer.
UPDATE on the BC & CS RR. (Berkley Concord & Central Sierra) see far below for details.
Benchwork, Lots of It. But it's something Unsual that I am doing that's why i've taken 5 weeks to accomplish something in this arena. I created a stowaway layout that can be put away in a space that would occupy a large high Couch. The "box" to put away the train is "converted" to a couch. The box allows me to place 4 "drawers" of 74' x 36' layout workspace with a verticall separation about 7 inches.
Now each 74' x 36' section, has foldable legs. These 'Legs' is acually a modified heavy duty ironing board. For Each Drawer/platform, I am using 3/8 plywood with a frame of 1'x2' cedar with a central crossmember to give it good rigidity. Why the heck use ironing boards?? simple, when lowerd their legs crossfold underneath flat. When deploying them upright pulling on a tab and realeasing it when you have the height desired "fixes" the ironing platform.
I've had to build a simple wood "Crane" to lift each drawer to the right height to grab at the center. since I cant Reach the 36' inch span to properly pull up the 10lbs of board/ironboard combo. I need a counter weight on the backend of the crane. (yes leverage works against you too)
I am working on a system of easily joining the tracks power grid/switching. No It will not be bridge style for obvious reasons. Basically I am going to bypass direct rail connection and go for an under side 24 Pin/Socket wiriing on each side to join power between sections. I am going to divert all power and swichlines to those two locations, so that power failures during alignment disappear. Alignment for wheel on rail purposes will still be timecosuming, but I dont believe that kind of alignment is as hard as puting 24 pairs (8 for each section) of rails into the those damned rail joiners (gonna use soft modeling clay to hold/Jostle the aligment in as needed (hidden under a clever ruse obcourse.)
The main drawback to shelving style that I am doing is that ridges/gorges/bridges will be limited to to about 6 inches in height, unless you have removable pieces, which I intend to have. The other drawback is that you have to have auxilliary support for the surface area for each section junction plus near the ends. But these are just small columnar units with a good base and top section to pop in place. (it's really so your layout doesn't sag at the edges, and so that a falling person, doesnt take out your Ironing board get up. (which cannot widstand a huge weight on it.)
Remember, Tear Down Ability is the key for me, everything else is a bonus.
Cheers, Rob
Theme-- SF East Bay Delta -Sacramento-Sierra Foothills,
Period: 1950-54.
Rail Users. UPAC, WPAC, ATSF. & BC & CS RR (Berkley,Concord & Central Sierra RR, FrLnc)
Unique Features: River Harbor slip & Freighter. AirField w/ small Air Line. 3rivers snaking thru.
Status: under construction, Bonds Sold, investors demanding results.
nscaler711 wrote: Here is the paint scheme for a Dash 8-40CThe logo is at th rear of the loco
Here is the paint scheme for a Dash 8-40CThe logo is at th rear of the loco
Ahhh... brings back memories. My grandmother in Lancaster, PA used to keep Andes Candies in little dishes around the house at Christmastime. That's the first thing I though of when I saw that!
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
nscaler711
Nice bright lime green paint job. They will see that one coming down the track. .
I have a name for my RR now OCCRROakwood Capital Central RailRoad.
Please click on it for a larger view.
Army National Guard E3MOS 91BI have multiple scales nowZ, N, HO, O, and G.
Dave Vollmer wrote: R. T. POTEET wrote:Dave, the flyer you post is the one that I saw in a photo over on atlas; Kato used to supply flyers with this format to hobby shops ten fifteen years ago. Sorry, but I learned that the date printed at the top has about as much significance as a campaign promise. I have yet to meet the manufacturer who is always above the vapor and, unfortunately, that holds true for Kato! Wdlgln005 wrote:This will give Dave some time to . . . . . . . . . . work some OT between now & then.Obviously, Wdlgln005, you have your tongue-in-cheek when you make this statement because it has got to be one of the funniest that has appeared in this or any forum in a long, long, long time. All you former or current members of the Armed Forces tell Wdlgln005 the going rate Uncle Sugar pays for OT!!!; I should be rich!!!!Dave, how much money did you get for your last OT????Yeah, the Air Force pays lots of overtime.... right? Since I'm on duty 24/7, what would overtime be?RT, feel free to be as pessimistic as you want. But I've got a lot more faith in Kato than some other companies (can you say PCM???). We'll just wait and see, I guess...
R. T. POTEET wrote:Dave, the flyer you post is the one that I saw in a photo over on atlas; Kato used to supply flyers with this format to hobby shops ten fifteen years ago. Sorry, but I learned that the date printed at the top has about as much significance as a campaign promise. I have yet to meet the manufacturer who is always above the vapor and, unfortunately, that holds true for Kato! Wdlgln005 wrote:This will give Dave some time to . . . . . . . . . . work some OT between now & then.Obviously, Wdlgln005, you have your tongue-in-cheek when you make this statement because it has got to be one of the funniest that has appeared in this or any forum in a long, long, long time. All you former or current members of the Armed Forces tell Wdlgln005 the going rate Uncle Sugar pays for OT!!!; I should be rich!!!!Dave, how much money did you get for your last OT????
Wdlgln005 wrote:This will give Dave some time to . . . . . . . . . . work some OT between now & then.
Yeah, the Air Force pays lots of overtime.... right? Since I'm on duty 24/7, what would overtime be?
RT, feel free to be as pessimistic as you want. But I've got a lot more faith in Kato than some other companies (can you say PCM???). We'll just wait and see, I guess...
Glad you enjoyed my little addition of OT. I must have been thinking of the firemen & police around here that get 2nd jobs painting houses or whatever they can fit into time off the job. Combat pay can't be nearly enough to compensate for all the dangers over there.
Getting back to the GG1-Broadway, I'm thinking MSRP & street price to be very close to Kato's current sets. I hhope they do the GG1 in a bunch of paint schemes. I would expect demand for the electric to be very high. It should also look good pulling a set of Bachmann's Amfleet & some Hertiage fleet cars.
Alright i completly understand.....all i am sayin is if it were a small brawl lets not let it get it to the level that we had gone to.
I sure do hope they bring a GG-1 out. (i wouldnt care if it was a dummy or not)
Athrean is bringing out a Big Boy!
nscaler711 wrote: R.T. POTEET,Lets not go through what you and I went through earlier this year, remeber our little brawl? ;)Again. But with different people.So if we may, can we please get back to N-scale (although it is about N-scale but ya'll catch my drift) Sorry to say that.And yes PCM cannot do any thing right when it comes to planning for a new item. Althogh i think Kato has taken my and other peoples request for a GG-1, I kinda would like to see it in Brunswick Green with 5 gold Feathered Stripes along the sides.
R.T. POTEET,Lets not go through what you and I went through earlier this year, remeber our little brawl? ;)Again. But with different people.So if we may, can we please get back to N-scale (although it is about N-scale but ya'll catch my drift)
Sorry to say that.
And yes PCM cannot do any thing right when it comes to planning for a new item. Althogh i think Kato has taken my and other peoples request for a GG-1, I kinda would like to see it in Brunswick Green with 5 gold Feathered Stripes along the sides.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
And yes PCM cannot do any thing right when it comes to planning for a new item.
Althogh i think Kato has taken my and other peoples request for a GG-1, I kinda would like to see it in Brunswick Green with 5 gold Feathered Stripes along the sides.
Before.....
After.....
And a Neat Photo of my AMTK P42.....
Don't have a cow, man. Kato isn't like con-cor or Bachmann to produce vaporware.
However, it appears the GS4 & Daylight may appear in Nov-Dec this year & the GG1-Broadway may appear 6 months later, or in time for the 2008 NTS/NSC shows. This is from attendees at the NTS. There are pictures on other Forums. This will give Dave some time to save some $$ or work some OT between now & then. THis would account for the reason both models were not announced to dealers in the same press release. I see no reason to preorder a train model more than 6 months in advance.
In the meantime, check out what the Zscalers can do with the Hallmark AFT Ornaments. With a little work to correct the trucks/couplers, it is possible to make a very nice heavyweight train.
RT,
From the National Train Show:
Otherwise it's an elaborate hoax.
Two dealers I know had known this was coming but had to keep it under wraps.
I also wouldn't expect Kato to update their website on a weekend.
Dave Vollmer wrote: Hey, RT, I'm still recovering from the shock...!It's not just a GG1, either... It's the entire Broadway Limited! Although I'd been piecing together some of the cars from the 1950's consist (B60b, PS10-6, Mountain View, etc.), I figured some would have to be foobies or very painful kitbashes (such as the twin diner/kitchen dormatory carset).But now, whether I pull it with a matched set of E7s or the GG1 (running off the invisible catenary that didn't exist on the Middle Division), I know I'll have the right consist.
Hey, RT, I'm still recovering from the shock...!
It's not just a GG1, either... It's the entire Broadway Limited!
Although I'd been piecing together some of the cars from the 1950's consist (B60b, PS10-6, Mountain View, etc.), I figured some would have to be foobies or very painful kitbashes (such as the twin diner/kitchen dormatory carset).
But now, whether I pull it with a matched set of E7s or the GG1 (running off the invisible catenary that didn't exist on the Middle Division), I know I'll have the right consist.
Well my pet project, The PB&J- the railroad I am doing for a family project book, is underway... I finsihed the final track plan last night and if all goes well getting the Christmas villages off my train table then I will be able to begin surface prep and laying roadbed on the late summer class break next week...
What I wanted from the railroad was simple... and the purists will hate me for it no doubt, but I've always said, learn all you can about your interests and pursue them in your own way...
I wanted a yard that I could use not only to store rolling stock and engines, but if I got in the rare mood where I actually wanted to switch it by the (slightly modified 1:160) book, then I could do so, and if I want to close switches and run two trains on east/West and just watch them snake through the landscape I could... or open the crossover and let one train traverse the neatly hidden figure eight configuration I could.
I have small children, (all girls) and their interest is watching the trains, and they like to run the lionel Santa Fe Special I have set up for them, both are afraid of the n scale trains and shouldn't be... So the project in my book, is actually a series of projects.... to teach the different aspects of the hobby (outside the hum drum oval).
Their little friends marvel at the trains, and one child who is exceedingly good at one of those train video games, gets excited because the model trains bring something to him that he can't get from his game... he can touch them and it then becomes real...
I am off to finish Christmas villages so that I can get this show on the (rail) road.
Philip, that's a nice looking layout. Keep us posted on your progress.
Stan.
THE SOUTHERN SERVES THE SOUTH.
pcarrell wrote: mls1621 wrote: NS2591 wrote:Phillip that Code 55 looks great. Only thing I don't like about mine is that I have to replace all the wheels on my Rolling stock. I know it's too late for this information, but Micro Engineering code 55 can handle the deeper flanges. The tie clamps that hold the rails are much smaller than those on the Atlas code 55.A second advantage to the ME track, is that it can be gotten pre-weathered. I used their code 70 pre-weathered track on my layout and it saved alot of time and bad fumes in the train room.Yeah, I looked at that. I even bought some of the unweathered code 70 and the unweathered code 55 bridge track. The weathered stuff you have to scrape the weathering off of the ends to get a good solder joint, and so it has to be reweathered in those places. On top of that, since my rails are used for many different things and are in many different states of repair, I'll need to weather all of them differently anyways. To top that off, ME code 55 only has #6 turnouts and it is expensive and tough to find sometimes. On the other hand, Atlas code 55 has lots of turnouts and crossings, and it's reasonably priced and readily available. My rolling stock either already is RP25 compliant or is easy enough to convert.I'll still use the ME code 55 bridge track as it's great.The rest of the ME stuff is great, but that was the way I reasoned through it.Your setup looks awesome though. If I'd have seen that I may have gone the other way!
mls1621 wrote: NS2591 wrote:Phillip that Code 55 looks great. Only thing I don't like about mine is that I have to replace all the wheels on my Rolling stock. I know it's too late for this information, but Micro Engineering code 55 can handle the deeper flanges. The tie clamps that hold the rails are much smaller than those on the Atlas code 55.A second advantage to the ME track, is that it can be gotten pre-weathered. I used their code 70 pre-weathered track on my layout and it saved alot of time and bad fumes in the train room.
NS2591 wrote:Phillip that Code 55 looks great. Only thing I don't like about mine is that I have to replace all the wheels on my Rolling stock.
I know it's too late for this information, but Micro Engineering code 55 can handle the deeper flanges. The tie clamps that hold the rails are much smaller than those on the Atlas code 55.
A second advantage to the ME track, is that it can be gotten pre-weathered. I used their code 70 pre-weathered track on my layout and it saved alot of time and bad fumes in the train room.
Yeah, I looked at that. I even bought some of the unweathered code 70 and the unweathered code 55 bridge track.
The weathered stuff you have to scrape the weathering off of the ends to get a good solder joint, and so it has to be reweathered in those places. On top of that, since my rails are used for many different things and are in many different states of repair, I'll need to weather all of them differently anyways. To top that off, ME code 55 only has #6 turnouts and it is expensive and tough to find sometimes.
On the other hand, Atlas code 55 has lots of turnouts and crossings, and it's reasonably priced and readily available. My rolling stock either already is RP25 compliant or is easy enough to convert.
I'll still use the ME code 55 bridge track as it's great.
The rest of the ME stuff is great, but that was the way I reasoned through it.
Your setup looks awesome though. If I'd have seen that I may have gone the other way!
I will never use Micro Engineering track. I've tried the ME Track in HO, Any times I had problems it was always on ME track. The HO MRR Club I'm in is attempting to replace all of the ME track becuase it causes problems. Another reason why I won't use anything but Atlas track is everything else is overpriced. I have a hard time Justifying (In any scale except O and G) 7 dollars for 3 feet of track. the N scale club I'm in we don't usually have problems and I belive a majority of the track there is Atlas and Peco. I've heard good things about Peco. and I do like their switches, But its still too much for the track
As far as the wheels go. I usually get Low-Pros on my new cars, but I have bought a few older cars that didn't have low-pros. I guess I just got used to the standards in HO.
Thanks Blue Flamer, Jay! It's coming along......slowly!
I look at it as a necessary evil. It helps that a lot of stuff comes with lo pro's already now-a-days.
pcarrell wrote:Well, I've been working on the backdrop this week. I've enlisted the help of my son to hang it. Here's what we have so far. The dark places are wet putty to cover seams and staples.
Lookin' good, Philip. It's good to have an extra pair of hands around, isn't it?
WOO HOO PICS ARE UPLOADED!!!
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