Traintresta

The only magazine I enjoy these days is classic trains. I hope that continues to be published. 

The D&H got rid of its C628’s in 78’. They got rid of all 6 axle power at that time with the exception of some U33C’s, they added more ex-CR U33C’s later on. 
 

Are you sure it was 81’? Or could they have been U33’s?

I have mixed my own, baring in mind it sometimes varies on the real thing I try not to get to worried about exact matches. 

On 06/03/2024 at 14:03, long island jack said:

Alco on this mornings local, turn up the volume!!

 

 

A wonderful sound!

This layout is inspiring. 

That’s a real shame. I was saving up to order from them!

Plano Models are winding down their range, we are losing a lot of useful suppliers. 

Less is more or keep it simple and all that jazz. Either way it’s best to make those changes before you get too far, interesting to see the progress. 

On 27/10/2023 at 20:44, stivesnick said:

Wow! Great progress for a week's work. 

 

Look forward to seeing more progress. Any chance of a track plan?

 

Regards

 

Nick 

Seconded, it would be nice to see a track plan.  

Looks interesting. Unfortunately I don’t live anywhere near Farnham anymore but I’d like to see more of this layout. 

Don’t think I’ve seen an apparently freshly painted Guildford unit without an orange stripe before, as #213 appears up there. 

On 09/07/2023 at 09:54, w124bob said:

The big selling point for me (way back in 1993!) was and still is the correct scale/gauge relationship and couplings that resembled the real thing. Another big plus was tight curves don't look silly on small switching layouts and lots of colour and great weathering opportunities.  When Kadee introduced their scale couplings that made things even better, I cut the trip pins off and use a cut down kebab sticks for uncoupling. Downside is the difficulty in getting the small stuff now. 

Actually the really big selling point for me and US railroads, was ALCO's!

All of these were the reasons dad brought some athearn and roundhouse equipment back from when on a business trip. 
 

As for alco’s, I’m currently putting together a decent fleet of the things. 

On 09/07/2023 at 13:39, F-UnitMad said:

The thing is that 'kicking a few cars around' is still highly plausible in a modern American setting. For modern-ish (1990-on for me) British layouts it just isn't.

 

I think that’s it in a nutshell, it’s still has plausibility. 
 

and as such there is ample research material and real life example to feed off of to find the everyday routines the real thing has to go through just to get a car where it needs to go.  

It’s true that kicking a few cars around with a loco is one of the major draws of US modelling. Both my dad and I have ping ponged between US and British interests for years but the operation of a US layout is what draws us in each time so we’re both sticking with it. 

Nice to hear you’re trying HO NA modelling, eyesight can be a trouble for us all but in my opinion this is the best of scales and topics. 
 

Looking forward to seeing some track plan ideas. 

On 20/06/2023 at 16:49, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Good to hear track laying is progressing - I’m presuming this is your “Lance Mindheim-style” switching layout?
 

Have to agree on curves: I think my ideal for HO would be 4’ radius (posed here with some European coaches) but there’s no way I could actually achieve that in my space:

 

 

Thanks for the post, Keith.

It’s a different layout. The Lance mindhiem style layout didn’t really get off the ground for various reasons. 
 

I agree on 4’ curves but likewise don’t have that sort of space. 

I am currently tracklaying on my HO layout (North American) and have included a 30" radius curve with transitions to negotiate corner at the exit to the staging.  It looks much smoother than hitting the full radius curve from the straight but I always find that I'm never satisfied with my curves, I always want a larger radius!

I’ve always enjoyed my locos unpainted, especially with the addition of cannon parts, but there is something about seeing it come together in a coat of paint. 
 

what’s the freelance railroad for this one?

It is one of the advantages but it also has many pitfalls, you can easily fall into the 'one of everything' trap and get distracted by unnecessary projects.  Speaking from experience so now I stick to a prototype theme but have a wealth of knowledge of things such as chop nosed GP's from researching almost every variable conceived.

The number of times I’ve built a cannon can and forgot the lights! 
 

looks like it’s coming on and will look the part when completed. Is this freelanced?

I've been away from DCC for about five years but fully intend to add DCC and sound fitted loco's to the layout I am currently building.  I'm currently debating the future of an old Atlas/Kato (Yellowbox) RS-3, as the motor has quite a loud whirring noise and there is a little grinding sound coming from one of the trucks, but I cannot find anything wrong!  I have serviced the loco and applied small amounts of silicone grease on the gear and worm screws, and a very tiny touch of oil into the motor bearings but nothing has changed.

My question is, how noisy a motor can you hide with DCC sound?  I've always admired quieter motors and previous DCC installs were on relatively quiet loco's so I don't suppose I've ever thought about this before, but the question is will that noise be heard over the sound of a decoder?  Now I know there's always the choice of volume to factor into this so I'll say that I do not intend to have the loco's particularly loud as I do find lots of noise becomes uncomfortable but I do like prime mover sounds as a loco moves back and forth.

Has anyone got any thoughts or experience on this issue?

Makes a bit more sense now and looks good.  Keep us posted.

I can’t quite figure out where your helixes are so I’d be interested in seeing construction photos.
 

The completed scene with the pair of U-boats looks great!
 

Wasn’t there a real East Carolina Rwy? The name sounds familiar but I could be confusing it with a subsidiary of Southern. 

Early geeps had a longer nose than that of the GP30 onwards. It might have been better to have started with on of the longer noses like the 116” snoot. I think the Canadian 105” nose would be an almost perfect fit but they are hard to find as I think it was Smokey Valley who make them. 
 

Several prototypes installed a new electrical cabinet behind the cab that pushed the cab forward, this in turn allowed the new nose to fit perfectly but I think many of these also used a new cab sub base, which, may be more work than you are looking for. 

7 hours ago, woodenhead said:

That's not a strike image I don't think.

 

UP store a lot of locos up in the North Yard at Salt Lake.

 

This is the beginning of three lines of locos together, another one starts later:

 

There are four long lines of locos in the image below:

 

However, such an occurrence was a typical Sunday at Penistone back in the 1970s 😆

Correct. UP has been storing locos here for years. 

They are general electric GEVO locomotives but from that distance it would be hard to tel the specific mode type. 

On 04/09/2022 at 03:36, mdvle said:

 

The majority of the market is that way - they want the ability to buy most of the stuff and simply operate it - either as is or then use the time saved to do other things in the hobby like scenery or operations.

Yes it is, but some scales/gauges require a lot more than others.  I will be scratchbuilding most of my structures because of the footprints, but there's a limit to how much I wasn't to do hence there's no appeal in S right now for me.

On 04/09/2022 at 03:36, mdvle said:

Minor point - Peco's TT track is proper TT (1:120) and not 3mm TT.  Thus it is effectively a new scale in the UK.

Wasn't aware this was the case, have to admit I've not looked at it that closely.  Begs the question why?