Gulf, Atlanta & Eastern - into the second decade

[Barry Ten]

I knew it was double-webbed but I didn't realise that the inside profile was code 80. The one bit I don't like visually about Peco code 55 (other than the incorrect sleeper spacing, yadda yadda yadda) is the deep profile on the turnout switch blades - quite difficult to disguise.

 

I have used some Atlas code 80 on the turnback curves on the non-scenic portion - in terms of rail height/sleeper combo etc

it's a good match for Peco code 55 and can be joined using a standard fishplate.

[Adrian Wintle]

Both being code 55 I suppose it could all depend on how far up the profile the spikes come. My knowledge of 'N' is virtually non-existent, although I understand that fitting decoders can be a problem and that trucks are often swopped. I don't even know if you can get Kadee couplers for 'N'!

 

Most modern wheelsets will handle Atlas Code 55 with no problems. Some slightly older stuff will have problems (eg. my LifeLike FA2/FB2s are getting NWSL wheels). Fitting decoders to most relatively current North American diesels is trivial - drop-in or minimum-work solutions are available, and the advent of the TCS CN and CN-GP decoders has made it relatively easy to add decoders to a lot of older split-frame locos. MicroTrains (formerly the Kadee N line) and others make knuckle couplers and conversions to get rid of the (now almost extinct) Rapido couplers, and there are various replacement trucks to facilitate coupler conversions for older rolling stock.

 

For Code 55 you also have flex-track and points available from Micro Engineering (ME) - I particularly like their bridge rail. I'm laying ME Code 70 rail on my dual-track main line to allow me to run some of my older steam locos (where modifying wheel flanges/replacing wheels is more problematic), but otherwise I'm using a mix of Atlas and ME Code 55 for the layout.

 

Adrian

[Steve Williams]

Most modern wheelsets will handle Atlas Code 55 with no problems. Some slightly older stuff will have problems (eg. my LifeLike FA2/FB2s are getting NWSL wheels). Fitting decoders to most relatively current North American diesels is trivial - drop-in or minimum-work solutions are available, and the advent of the TCS CN and CN-GP decoders has made it relatively easy to add decoders to a lot of older split-frame locos. MicroTrains (formerly the Kadee N line) and others make knuckle couplers and conversions to get rid of the (now almost extinct) Rapido couplers, and there are various replacement trucks to facilitate coupler conversions for older rolling stock.

 

For Code 55 you also have flex-track and points available from Micro Engineering (ME) - I particularly like their bridge rail. I'm laying ME Code 70 rail on my dual-track main line to allow me to run some of my older steam locos (where modifying wheel flanges/replacing wheels is more problematic), but otherwise I'm using a mix of Atlas and ME Code 55 for the layout.

 

Adrian

 

Thanks for that info Adrian. I never realise that MicroTrains was the old Kadee 'N' Line. I may be tempted to try a small taster layout in 'N' (so long as my eyes will allow me to see it!)

 

Steve

[Barry Ten]

I may be tempted to try a small taster layout in 'N' (so long as my eyes will allow me to see it!)

 

Steve

 

I don't think it's any more fiddly or harder on the eyes than 4mm to be honest. Most of the fine detail we have on our models

is limited by the size of mouldings or castings, so whereas in 4mm we expect to have separately applied handles on coaches,

in N that's not feasible. The only area where I've found things to be a struggle is in assembling couplers, but most of the time

you don't have to do that; you either use the ones already fitted or swap in a ready-made unit. The models also benefit from

being seen as part of a larger scene, I think, so my eye doesn't get any closer to the layout than it does in larger scales. Does

that make sense?

 

As for decoders, my roster is a motley collection. Some of my models came with decoders, some didn't, some have had them

installed. As Adrian says, drop-in decoder installation is pretty straightforward and where a little more work is required, I

have someone do it for me. My only minor regret is not committing to DCC from the outset as it does work brilliantly in N.

[Adrian Wintle]

I forgot to mention the one major exception to newer stock being Code 55 ready - MicroTrains! Until very recently, MT stock (and replacement trucks) were supplied with 'pizza cutter' wheels, requiring replacement with MT low-profile (or other) wheelsets. For a while the rolling stock was supplied with a set of low profile wheelsets in the box, but they stopped doing that. This year they switched to a new standard wheelset that will run on Code 55, but has slightly larger flanges than their low profile wheelsets. If you are buying replacement trucks, ones in the older packaging (blister on a card backer) will have 'pizza cutters' unless identified as having low profile wheels, while ones in the new moulded plastic packaging will have the new wheelsets.

All new MT rolling stock has the new wheelsets, but be prepared to replace the wheels on older stock. As well as the MT Delrin wheelsets, Fox Valley Models (FVM) and BLMA both make very nice replacement metal wheelsets that will fit into MT trucks (0.540" axles).

 

Adrian

[Chinahand]

Hi Barry,

 

Being a relative newcomer to RMweb I have only today come across your thread and have just spent a very happy half hour or so reading through it. Although I know little about American railways it is very clear that you know your subject and I can appreciate the dedication and skill that have gone into your layout to date. There are lots of wonderful details, both in the buildings/scenic aspects of the layout, and in the detailing of locos and rolling stock.

 

I'm just venturing into N Gauge myself, having previously modelled in 00, but if I can produce results half as good those you have achieved, I will be well pleased.

 

My congratulations on some excellent work and I will now enjoy following your further progress.

[Steve Williams]

I don't think it's any more fiddly or harder on the eyes than 4mm to be honest. Most of the fine detail we have on our models

is limited by the size of mouldings or castings, so whereas in 4mm we expect to have separately applied handles on coaches,

in N that's not feasible. The only area where I've found things to be a struggle is in assembling couplers, but most of the time

you don't have to do that; you either use the ones already fitted or swap in a ready-made unit. The models also benefit from

being seen as part of a larger scene, I think, so my eye doesn't get any closer to the layout than it does in larger scales. Does

that make sense?

 

As for decoders, my roster is a motley collection. Some of my models came with decoders, some didn't, some have had them

installed. As Adrian says, drop-in decoder installation is pretty straightforward and where a little more work is required, I

have someone do it for me. My only minor regret is not committing to DCC from the outset as it does work brilliantly in N.

 

Yes, that makes perfect sense. I have just spent yesterday and today (couldn't manage it all in one go - eyes hurting), fitting all the myriad of fiddly details to an HO Kato SD90, and I still haven't got around to the handrails yet!

[Barry Ten]

 

I'm just venturing into N Gauge myself, having previously modelled in 00, but if I can produce results half as good those you have achieved, I will be well pleased.

 

 

Thanks, Trevor - and good luck with your venture - I shall watch with interest!

[Barry Ten]

Bachmann's latest N scale steamer is the Baldwin 4-6-0; I got hold of one today. Total cost, including shipping from the USA, was 101 dollars - not bad for a brand new model with DCC onboard as standard.

 

The ten wheeler seems to have had a bit of a mixed reception from US modellers; the general view seems to be that it runs very well, pulls satisfactorily, but is let down by Bachmann fitting a big tender in order to fit the standard decoder inside. Some batches also have the bogie assembled upside down, meaning that it derails. On the plus side, the assembly fault is a simple screwdriver repair job, and some modellers have already successfully fitted smaller tenders without sacrificing DCC.

 

I put mine on the track and let it roll. It ran very well on DCC, and didn't derail - close inspection suggests that the bogie is assembled correctly. It's virtually silent on my plain track but the noise level increases a little on the ballasted areas - it's still nice and quiet though. There's a trace of click from the valve gear (I'd guess) but nothing that seems to affect the very smooth and steady movement. Another big thumbs up is that it's a good hauler. My first impression on lifting it out of the box was that it's nice and heavy in comparison with Bachmann's Consolidation, and the Consolidation pulls pretty well anyway. A good omen. I've since tested it on an 8 car train and it copes easily with the layout's 2% up and down grades. It can definitely pull more, but this is a small loco and well suited to short peddler freights.

 

 

 

All in all a cracking little model, and perhaps because of lack of familiarity with the prototype, I'm not too offended by the tender. It's a controversial step, but personally I think DCC as standard makes perfect sense for American steam, especially as the model is already competitively priced. Oh, and it's got decent couplers on it - a big step up from previous Bachmann steam. It's great to be able to take it out of the box and put it into immediate service, instead of faffing around with Micro-Trains conversion kits.

[F-UnitMad]

... personally I think DCC as standard makes perfect sense for American steam, ...

I think it's the way all American stuff will go, in all scales, eventually. No bad thing really; they are streets ahead of the UK in DCC take-up - everything's cheaper for a start!!

Nice loco; I couldn't resist having a couple of steamers when I did N scale.

[M Graff]

That Southern 4-6-0 is VERY nice!

I don´t think the tender looks so out of place either. And as mentioned, it is better to have DCC in it from the start.

[John B]

It's lovely!

 

Just needs a bit of weathering to tone it down..

[Barry Ten]

I'm smitten. It's been happily trundling around all evening with a short freight while I work on a 4mm building project. It's made me keen to get the rest of my small steam fleet converted to DCC.

[Jan C H]

What a fantastic layout! Only just caught up with this one but it looks great. I've got a real hankering to try a US N layout one day. Thanks for sharing.

[Barry Ten]

What a fantastic layout! Only just caught up with this one but it looks great. I've got a real hankering to try a US N layout one day. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks! Progress has been stymied due to a complicated job that needs to be done before I can expand the layout but with luck and a fair wind I might make some headway this weekend.

[Barry Ten]

Gosh, is it April since I last reported on progress? Time flies ... but in truth there hasn't been much worth posting; although I've continued to enjoy and develop areas of the layout, there's not much point in showing lots of wiring and woodwork or areas of bare polystyrene.

 

One problem is that I began to develop an area of elevated terrain which was going to host a small town, but after doing the groundwork, it didn't look right. I sat and stared at it for several months, wondering how much to scrap, before ripping it out a few weeks ago and going back to square one.

 

With that decided, I felt I could continue progress on the hills behind Woods Furniture. This whole area has been stuck for months, but at last things are moving forward again. For a long time I've not been sure where to site the Woods factory but now that it's in place I like it a lot, and especially the way that even this big building is dominated by the rising terrain on the other side of the tracks. I built this factory in 2002, as my first project after taking a dip into US modelling, so it's good to see it assuming a role on the layout. Still lots to be done, of course, in terms of bedding it in and adding more detail and weathering.

 

 

 

 

 

Less excitingly, but just as important to the overall look of the layout, is the new fascia. The old one - bits of which have been incorporated into the new - was a mixture of MDF and thick card, painted a walnut brown. It was OK to get something in place, but I was never happy with it as a longterm solution. The replacement is clear PVC, which is easy to cut and flex. It doesn't take paint well so needs at least 3 - 4 coats before it begins to look satisfactory. I chose a light matte green after being pleased with the fascia on my valleys layout. A darker hue might work better in terms of focusing attention onto the layout, but I also don't want to suck too much light out of a room which is also my main modelling den. The fascia of the S&D layout will be painted a complimentary light blue

 

 

That's it for now. I could also mention that I've swapped the DCC system from Gaugemaster Prodigy to NCE Powercab, which has worked very well. No complaints with the Prodigy (other than a sticky speed dial) - it's now supplying DCC control for the S&D layout. So far I'm equally happy with the Powercab.

[Supaned]

Inspirational stuff - currently mulling over whether to take the plunge and go for a modern US layout in N. One question , I would like to incorporate some switching on the layout , how well (or otherwise) do you find this works in N? I've had experience of kadees in HO and had little trouble with them - I appreciate that in N the tolerances are finer .

[Barry Ten]

Inspirational stuff - currently mulling over whether to take the plunge and go for a modern US layout in N. One question , I would like to incorporate some switching on the layout , how well (or otherwise) do you find this works in N? I've had experience of kadees in HO and had little trouble with them - I appreciate that in N the tolerances are finer .

 

It works very, very well with a couple of provisos - I find that only MTL couplings work reliably with each other over magnets, so I'm (slowly) standardising on them wherever practical - and that some freight cars come with magnetized weights or mouldings that make uncoupling impossible, as the car jiggles over the magnet. Often you can get inside to remove the magnet, but not always. Really the manufacturers shouldn't be doing this - it's daft to fit magnetic trip pins to the couplers and then bung a magnetised weight inside the car - but at least Atlas and MTL seem to get it right. As to the other half of the equation, the reliable running of the locomotives, that's absolutely not an issue. They (anything made in the last 10 -0 15 years) run superbly well, and even better on DCC.

 

Some - maybe most - modellers in N seem not to bother with remote uncoupling and just use cocktail sticks or whatever to uncouple as and when needed, which obviously eliminates the problems mentioned above.

 

One of my long-term plans is to build a small self-contained switching module to demonstrate that this kind of operation is perfectly feasible in N.

 

Thanks for liking the layout!

[Barry Ten]

One of the minor hassles of modelling Southern has been the problem of obtaining plausible cabooses in sufficient numbers. For a while the only option was Walther's old bay window caboose model, which - while not (as far I'm aware) accurate for any Southern prototype - did at least look the part, especially with some additional painting and weathering. However, with its body mounted Rapido couplers, it took a bit of delicate hacking before Micro-trains trucks and couplers could be added. A worse problem was that I only managed to snap up two of these models before they seemed to vanish from the market. A couple of years ago, Atlas did a run of cupola cabooses in some useful schemes, and I snagged two Southern examples, as well as models painted for ACL and Central of Georgia.

 

Things have definitely picked up now, though, because Athearn has released its bay window caboose. I think the model has been out for a year or two in other schemes but it's only now that Southern examples have hit the shops. I scored two from ebay and they are lovely models, with many refinements absent from the Walthers version. I'd have to check the books to see how accurate they are, but even as generic cabooses they definitely hit the mark, with good paint and some lovely separate detailing, the kind of thing which until recently one would have never associated with N. I plan to order a couple more, since it will probably be a good long while before any more Southern cabooses appear. The only downside so far is that - once again - an N scale manufacturer has fitted a magnetic weight in their model, which really negates the usefulness of fitting magnetically operated couplers. MTL and Atlas seem to manage not to do this, but some of the newer entrants into the game don't seem to get it...

 

 

Meanwhile, I've made some slow progress on the scenery on the corner of the layout. Here's are a couple of views of work in progress:

 

 

 

I'm not a big fan of that "bridge jutting into thin air" scenario that seems to be quite common on North American model railroads, so the aisle-side of this road bridge will eventually meet a suggestion of elevated terrain, with the fascia contour rising to suit. The gas station is the Walthers kit; it looks a little contrived in this location but I like the contrast between the white/red of the building and the greenery around it. Needless to say, being an Al myself, it had to be lettered for "Al's Victory Service". That whole section of scenery on which the gas station sits is removable and sits right over the western throat of the hidden storage yard, with the terrain concealing the camera mounted behind it all.

[Barry Ten]

Hats off to Bachmann, because they've been doing a grand job of supporting N scale steam lately. I've mentioned their Baldwin 4-6-0 earlier in this thread (released this year) and now they've gone one better. Late this summer, they announced that they'd be doing a USRA 2-10-2 in a variety of road schemes. To everyone's general astonishment, the model had no sooner been announced than it was in the shops. And early reports were very favourable indeed - a powerful, smooth-running freight loco with on-board DCC.

 

I managed to pick one up via ebay and here it is. It's big and black, with an excellent rendition of graphite on the smokebox, and (like all recent Bachmann steam) runs very nicely indeed. I've not hooked it up to anything yet but with traction tyres and a weighty, die-cast boiler, it's got everything going for it in the haulage stakes. It'll be interesting to see what it can cope with on my 2% grades.

 

 

 

 

With some recent well-regarded diesel releases as well, Bachmann seem to be upping their game in N scale to considerable effect. Top stuff!

[F-UnitMad]

Don't the blackened wheels make a difference?? It could very nearly pass for HO scale - this time it's the coupler size that gives it away before the wheel treads, which are almost hidden! It certainly has a 'heft' about it that ot many N Scale locos manage!

Nice!!

[Barry Ten]

The coupler's come in for a bit of criticism, actually - it's larger than it needs to be and the rear one isn't mounted at the right height. If that's all we've got to moan about, we really are making progress...

[trisonic]

Absolutely! Lovely model.

On the other thread I said the coupler was the only thing that betrayed the scale of of the loco.

 

Best, Pete.

[Barry Ten]

Made this movie showing some views of the layout and a selection of trains - hope it's of some interest. Every time I edit a movie I forget what I learned last time...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSFUhUB8ezA

 

Thanks for watching!

[trisonic]

Good Job!

I like the way you've handled the area to the back of the layout where the foliage merges into the backscene. Particularly as seen in the second scene at about 1:00minute plus.

 

Did you know my brother, Nick Wright? He died last year but lived in TonTeg. Had a Rio Grande N layout in his loft and a large scale narrow gauge in his garden winding up the hillside around a Koi Pond.

 

Best, Pete.