Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern - into the second decade

[Adrian Wintle]

Keith;

 

Take a look at this thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66100-n-gauge-epiphany/

 

In particular, I reference Spooksow's website in post 8. It is a very good resource if you are shopping for stock (particularly older locos) and don't have a chance to see them in person - it gives you a very good idea of the good'uns and the dogs. 

 

If you need any help. just ask.

 

Adrian

[keefr2]

Keith;

 

Take a look at this thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66100-n-gauge-epiphany/

 

In particular, I reference Spooksow's website in post 8. It is a very good resource if you are shopping for stock (particularly older locos) and don't have a chance to see them in person - it gives you a very good idea of the good'uns and the dogs. 

 

If you need any help. just ask.

 

Adrian

Thanks again Adrian, I meant to reply yesterday but I forgot! Interesting thread started by Pete - what he'd like to do & what Al has done would also be my idea, that is those looooong freights running through open countryside & towns (& I wouldn't mind some street running!) - but space & finances preclude that at the moment. So what really encouraged me was Al's comment earlier here that he finds no real problems in switching in Ngauge - I've always been put off British N by the perceived problems in shunting. The website you've referenced looks very useful - it's already provided me with some clues as to what to look for on e-bay, & I was surprised by how much is available just on e-bay UK....

 

Anyway, I don't want to clutter up Al's thread any more with my wittering, so I'll just say thanks again to all for their advice so far. I'm sure I'll be asking more later - but I'll start my own thread for that!!

 

ATB

Keith

[Adrian Wintle]

Barry Ten, you are an evil man showing us all this Southern stuff. At a show this weekend an Atlas B23-7 in Southern livery somehow called out to me despite the fact I'm trying to concentrate on '50s PRR and modern NS. It was just too pretty (the $40 pricetag didn't help either, although I almost doubled the cost by buying a decoder for it). It was missing its horns, but the Atlas setup wasn't right for Southern so they'd have to be replaced anyway.

 

An old Kato SD45 was also obtained - the plan being to make an early NS unit (either ex-N&W or ex-Southern) using the Athabasca kit for the high short hood (a beautiful bit of brass), but then I discovered that in the CP livery it is an SD40M-2 (and was only taken out of service in 2011), so it may not get hacked up, but used as run-through power.

 

Adrian

Edited March 4, 2013 by Adrian Wintle

[Barry Ten]

Barry Ten, you are an evil man showing us all this Southern stuff. At a show this weekend an Atlas B23-7 in Southern livery somehow called out to me despite the fact I'm trying to concentrate on '50s PRR and modern NS. It was just too pretty (the $40 pricetag didn't help either, although I almost doubled the cost by buying a decoder for it). It was missing its horns, but the Atlas setup wasn't right for Southern so they'd have to be replaced anyway.

 

 

 

Be interested to see what mods you do to the B23-7 as I have a couple of those Atlas ones, out of the box except for decoders. I'd like some SD45s too! I must admit when I acquired the B23-7s I had no idea what sort of timeframe they fit into - after all, if you don't know your American stuff, it's all just a load of letters, numbers and dashes! As it is they don't sit particularly well with my FTs, RS-3s and steam units - but what the hell, it's my trainset.

 

Quite a bit of progress in the last week, but I'll have to tidy up before I take any shots. In the meantime I've been doing a bit more work on the backscene, adding some wisps of cloud and misting over the hills to push them a bit more into the distance. I had the wrong white balance selected for this shot but it should give the idea of the overall effect:

 

[Adrian Wintle]

What I've used before* are the Miniatures by Eric NH8 which is a fairly compact 5-chime horn cluster (BCR prototype). It isn't quite right, but it gives the look, and it is easily available http://www.miniaturesbyeric.com/itm00307.htm

 

If you want an SD45, I'd go for a newer Kato mechanism - the older one looks like it won't be too hard to put a TCS CN-GP setup in, but the newer chassis is DCC ready. The Athabasca high short hood kit is designed for the Kato SD45 and seemed to need only a little fettling to make it fit. http://www.athabascashops.com/ (look under N misc - no photo though). Mine may now be used to turn a Kato SD40 into an NS one (ex-N&W or ex-Southern) - they lasted longer in service anyway and I have an early CSX one that can be a donor.

 

*converting the Bachmann NS GP50 into something useable (when using the 3-foot rule). Replace the horns, replace the mechanism (shell drops over an Atlas GP38/40 mech), add body-mount couplers, add snowplows, renumber.

 

Adrian

Edited March 5, 2013 by Adrian Wintle

[Barry Ten]

A few pics showing recent progress:

 

I've added Micromark waybill boxes along one of the fascias, fixed using velcro (see helpful hint in the Car Cards and Waybills thread) and painted to match the fascia.

 

This box will cover the sidings for Woods furniture and Interstate Fuel, with a spare box for sorting cards.

 

 

Similarly, this box at the other end of the fascia covers two industries with a spare. I've made a few plastic pockets for my uncoupling tools and glued them around the fascia. They're simply sections of Evergreen square section tubing cut to length and capped off at the bottom.

 

Now to make some car cards and waybills...

 

 

Elsewhere, I've pushed on with the locomotive servicing terminal (pics to follow, when I've tidied) and also the "stump" onto which the detachable peninsula will eventually attach. The beginnings of a small town scene are evident here. Still a lot more buildings to make, and the exact arrangement may still vary a bit.

 

 

 

Here the FP7s on the mainline are emerging from the 2% downgrade in the tunnel and will soon swing by the locomotive terminal. The FTs on the right are coming off a train which has arrived in the as yet nonexistent peninsula yard. These will bypass the main and go straight to the servicing terminal.

 

 

 

Finally, Central of Georgia F3 and GP7 units cross Big Gator Creek:

 

 

cheers, and thanks for reading.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Barry Ten

[Supaned]

More good progress - I especially like the pic of the two sets of F units in the cutting.

[Barry Ten]

More good progress - I especially like the pic of the two sets of F units in the cutting.

 

Hopefully that'll be quite a nice photographic spot when it's ballasted and everything.

[Barry Ten]

Well, that was a frustrating evening. A month or two back I added a reversing loop which worked flawlessly as soon as it was wired in. Nothing fancy - just a DPDT switch being thrown while the train is on the loop track - but that's all I need as the loop won't be used all that frequently. A couple of nights ago I went to reverse a train and got a short as soon as I threw the switch. I'd done some wiring since in the same rough area of the layout so assumed I'd cross-connected into the loop wiring by mistake. Tonight it was on my list of things to sort out. But once I started digging into the wiring, the fault proved elusive. Nothing seems to have been wired in wrongly and yet there is still that fault. I've even (I think) eliminated the possibility that the DPDT switch itself has failed. ! Hopefully in a few days I can come at it again with a fresh perspective and see what's eluding me now.

 

The other annoyance is that my Kato E8, which has long been an incredibly dependable runner, has begun to develop a niggling problem of shutting down after a few minutes use. If I leave it for a bit it's OK again, which suggests an overheating issue, and indeed the shell does feel quite warm after running. Thinking that the bearings might need a touch of lubrication, I took the body off a week or so ago and dropped in a small (ie tiny) amount of oil where the bearings were accessible. But the fault has persisted so tonight I decided to do a full strip down to get into the parts I couldn't reach before. This involved removing the decoder, pickup pads etc, which I was not in a big hurry to do, with the expected hassle of getting it all back together again. But I managed and had the E8 running again ... but the perishing fault is still there! At this point I wouldn't know if it's the motor or the decoder that is overheating, or what the solution might be. The E8 does have a heavy train to haul, but it's always been fine in the past.

[Supaned]

They make some fancy DCC automatic reverser modules for reversing loops , I'm certainly no wiring expert , but is it something to do with opposing polarities as the train goes around the loop? I suspect a DPDT switch can't act fast enough to avoid triggering the overload on the DCC system , but I stand to be corrected.

[marc smith]

You certainly have made some preogress on this layout recently sir
Nice to hear of progress on the loco terminal too - don't forget to post pics

Also, it's nice to hear of your penninsular module as well
You talked of that sometime back, but haven't mentioned it recently
I still think this is a good idea, especially if the arrangement means you can have a removable/
exhibitable separate section.....

It's amazing what a difference the facia makes,
and I think you've chosen a good colour

The effect you have chosen for your backscene works really well
I must pick your brians on card supply, and methods for my n gauge backscene

I really like the way this layout is progressing

Da Bo

 

EDIT: The photo in post 255 is brilliant - it really captures the atmosphere of the layout nicely
and that backscene effect works well  here. I also like the incline in that view

Edited March 7, 2013 by marc smith

[Barry Ten]

They make some fancy DCC automatic reverser modules for reversing loops , I'm certainly no wiring expert , but is it something to do with opposing polarities as the train goes around the loop? I suspect a DPDT switch can't act fast enough to avoid triggering the overload on the DCC system , but I stand to be corrected.

 

They do make reversing modules but they're pricey and (from what I've read) it can be a bit hit and miss as to which one works reliably with which DCC system. But a DPDT switch is fine on its own - there's no problem at all flicking it when the train is in motion; you can't even see the lights flicker let alone detect any hesitation in the speed of the loco. It did work well for a few weeks so I'm mystified as to what could have failed.

[roundhouse]

I do like your uncoupling tool holder.

 

I may pinch that idea if you dont mind, for use on 'Roundhouse'. At the moment we push a jewellers screwdriver (our favoured uncoupling tool) into the backscene ply corners which isn't ideal.

 

Ian

[shortliner]

A possible solution to the reversing loop problem - by our good friend the Prof  http://www.zelmeroz.com/album_model/members/klyzlr/DynamiteCanyon.pdf

If you build it, I'd love to see the expression on your face when the train runs happily through the turnout that has been soldered solid - mine was a picture when I tried it out!

[Barry Ten]

Phew - solved the reversing loop problem!

 

It turned out to be a bit non-obvious, but I went back last night and rechecked both the wiring and the DPDT switch, confirming that there was nothing wrong with either. In Sherlock Holmes mode, that only left one possibility - no matter how improbable! The insulation must have failed at one or both ends of the loop. Close examination showed that two of my rails, though separated by a Peco insulated fishplate, had squeezed together so that their tops were in contact (( had not done a neat job of cutting them, obviously, or this wouldn't have happened). The fault only showed up when the loop was set to the opposite polarity to the normal running mode - it's not a straightforward balloon loop like in Jack's post, or else I'd have noticed it weeks ago. Anyway, once I'd homed in on the problem it was easily sorted out. Pity I haven't had a similar brainwave about the overheating E8 though...

[Adrian Wintle]

I was checking photos and my stock of horns and this looks to be a better fit for the B23-7:

http://www.miniaturesbyeric.com/itm00314.htm

 

Adrian

[Talltim]

I've not posted in this thread, but I read every update. I really like the layout, it has that sense of place that comes from a combination of good modelling and strong compositional skills.

[Barry Ten]

I've not posted in this thread, but I read every update. I really like the layout, it has that sense of place that comes from a combination of good modelling and strong compositional skills.

 

 

 

Thanks, Tim!

[trisonic]

Plus it actually reminds me of Georgia....

 

Have you seen the Mar/Apr 2013 edition of "N Scale Railroading", Al?

 

Joe Gelmini's "Georgia Great Southern Railway" layout is included. This layout  is 18' x 60'!!! I like it but it looks more like the "Dukes of Hazard" (which was filmed mostly in California).

 

He has virtually the same models, however....

 

Cheers, Pete.

Edited March 10, 2013 by trisonic

[Barry Ten]

Plus it actually reminds me of Georgia....

 

Have you seen the Mar/Apr 2013 edition of "N Scale Railroading", Al?

 

Joe Gelmini's "Georgia Great Southern Railway" layout is included. This layout  is 18' x 60'!!! I like it but it looks more like the "Dukes of Hazard" (which was filmed mostly in California).

 

He has virtually the same models, however....

 

Cheers, Pete.

 

Hi Pete - No I've not seen that one - I picked up a couple of recent issues of NSR in January but not that edition. How anyone fills that amount of space in N I'll never know - takes me a about a year to do a square foot! It's a bit sobering to realise that I drew up the plan for the GA&E in 2007 and started cutting the boards at the end of that year, so it is now in its sixth year of development ... and I expected it to be a 2 year quickie project ...

[mog]

Just found this - briliant layout.. only just twigged by page four that it is N!! I thought the pictures were of an HO layout! (Just as I'm listing all my N stuff to sell to focus on HO) Inspiring stuff Barry.

[Barry Ten]

Just found this - briliant layout.. only just twigged by page four that it is N!! I thought the pictures were of an HO layout! (Just as I'm listing all my N stuff to sell to focus on HO) Inspiring stuff Barry.

 

Cheers, Mog!

[Barry Ten]

Nothing new here but quite liked this tight shot of an FT unit:

 

 

 

[marc smith]

Looking at that last shot,
I have to agree with mog
I know it's an n gauge layout, but that shot could be HO

Cracking picture too

[Adrian Wintle]

Looking back through the photos, I noticed that your B23-7 set is always seen short-hood first, which is not the typical Southern use. The front of the loco is the long hood - the Atlas locos even have the little 'F' on the side below the walkway that indicates the front. It's the little things...

 

Adrian