Damn you N scalers!


Olie

Active Member
I really do like my HO Scale steam era trains...........but.............the UP Excursion set?!?! Got me!

UP Excursion Set resized.jpg


UP Excursion Tenders.jpg


Excursion Cars resized.jpg


Even in N scale, this is a long train
UP Excursion Cars 2 Resized.jpg


Excursion Cars 3 Resized.jpg


The Kato FEF-3 will be here Monday. Already have the decoder chip and I'm going to to the complete LED upgrade to it while I'm in there.


The layout planning has begun. Why? What did I ever do to deserve this addiction? My wife has never told me no when it comes to buying my "toys" but she even said I need to slow down. This is not good.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Your right,

This hobby is terribly addicting! Your starting out on the right foot.....The Kato locomotives are pretty much the benchmark. I was really happy with all my Kato stuff. I'm pretty lucky as well in the wife department. I get a fairly decent monthly credit limit, and I was able to carve out a good portion of the basement for layout, and work shop. Key is have fun with it, and do what you want to do with it!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ollie,

Darn that is a long train and I'll bet it will look great on your layout!

My wife is pretty understanding of the hobby and how much I spend on it from time to time, it does help that she also has a small layout that I also buy for. She also knows that my attitude is the bills and have to haves come first and foremost before absolutely anything else and that is something I will never deviate from. She also understands that I can afford what I spend and that NO credit card is involved ... everything is cash ONLY.
 
So her's the beginning layout diagram. The areas marked desk are my desk so that will be roadbed and track only. The rest, however, is open for design. I wanted a tunnel and then took advantage of the height for a river and waterfall. Any suggestions are most definitely welcomed.

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • snapshot resized.jpg
    snapshot resized.jpg
    50.4 KB · Views: 530
  • Window track.JPG
    Window track.JPG
    158.9 KB · Views: 454
Last edited by a moderator:
Oliie,

Can you add onto the bench work down the right hand side, or is what you have shown the maximum space you have available? Also what dimensions of what you have shown, especially the usable area for scenery?
 
Oliie,

Can you add onto the bench work down the right hand side, or is what you have shown the maximum space you have available? Also what dimensions of what you have shown, especially the usable area for scenery?

Total length is 17.5 feet or 210 inches. Usable space is 186 inches which is from the desk edge to the far right. I might be able to go a little further but not much.
 
186" of "usable space sounds good. How about down the right side, is that a wall and can you form an "L" shape so to speak? How deep (front front to rear) is the bench work? Lastly, and most importantly I think, what do you want on and/from your layout in terms of scenery, type of trains you want to run? Single or double track?
 
No L on the right end. the skinny part in the sketch is 16" deep and the loop on the right end is 24" square.
Here's the 3D look of what I've drawn up so far. I really don't know what I want for scenery other than the river with waterfall. The building I have on the sketch is a depot, I really like the Faller Bonn station so I used those dimensions. I', still very much up in the air about what to do. The main stretch will pass in front of my living room windows so I'll have to keep it modular and be able to remove it if needed. I just wish I had a dedicated room for trains!!!
snapshot resized.jpg
 
LOL ......... N will surprise you, Kato makes great detailed passenger cars, what will the power be pulling that train?

greg
 
If your doing passenger then you might consider Kato's Amtrak set ups, they are excellent as are all of the Kato engines I have.

As for suggestions for your layout, I have no experience with modular setups so am a bit apprehensive to suggest anything. If you were able to extend the depth of the middle section that would give you a few more options, as would extending down the right hand side.

If you are going to be running passenger trains you might want to consider something a little more interesting for a passenger route. As someone once told me, when it comes to passenger trains, think about the sort of terrain they will run and make your track plan similar. You also have plenty of length to perhaps have a modified figure 8 sort of design that will allow for a tunnel. You could also build your bench work using a couple of layers of 1" foam that you can carve out for rivers and valleys etc.

How all that would work on a modular system is anyone guess though.
 
Kato has some beautiful passenger trains, especially the California Zephyr. I have one MAJOR COMPLAINT about it...IT'S IN THE WRONG SCALE! I talked with a Kato rep at the Rocky Mountain Train Show, and they have NO plans in producing it in HO scale! :( And, no, I am not planning on switching scales...not with over 60 years worth of HO model railroading. :cool:
 
Kato would be the Rolls Royce of N Scale engines, rolling stock and passenger cars with MT perhaps coming a close second for rolling stock and passenger cars.
 
LOL ......... N will surprise you, Kato makes great detailed passenger cars, what will the power be pulling that train?

greg
The locomotive is the Kato FEF-3. Installed a loksound decoder and did some LED lighting like a Mars, firebox flicker, tender rear headlight. I just finished the benchwork today, getting foam glued down and grass mat put on tonight. I will udate with pics tomorrow.
 
That's a sweet looking train! They really have some nice sets in N scale these days. Some of the complete sets seemed pretty reasonably priced too. I was impressed with the CA Zephyr, and especially the Broadway Limited. You can really capture the length and size of those trains in N.

Like you, I'm an HO fan, but I can only imagine what a huge layout I could build with N scale.

I've always had this idea in the back of my mind. Find a nice large O scale track plan, and then build it in HO, or even better, N scale. Don't scale it down though, use the O scale size. So you'd have 36" radius curves for example, and 4 inch separation between track levels etc. All of this would make for a much more realistic looking layout.
 
Last edited:
BTW, if you're not familiar with the real train, you might wonder about that big flag on the tender. Looks like a really thick sticker that's not quite attached, right? Well, there's a reason for that. The real flag is a piece of metal bolted to the side of the tender, rather than painted on. So that 3D look is accurate. You can take a look in this video.

 
BTW, if you're not familiar with the real train, you might wonder about that big flag on the tender. Looks like a really thick sticker that's not quite attached, right? Well, there's a reason for that. The real flag is a piece of metal bolted to the side of the tender, rather than painted on. So that 3D look is accurate. You can take a look in this video.

Thanks for the video. I had seen some of it before but not all of it. The flag on the tender was the big selling point for me. I consider myself very patriotic and UP is known for their flags on their trains. Once I saw the Kato version, it was a done deal. Athearn is releasing an HO version of the Spirit of the UP SD70ACe. Kato and Broadway Limited Imports are doing it in N scale. One of them might be my next loco, even if it is diesel.

My dream loco is the American Freedom Reading T-1. BLI had one a year or so ago, haven't been able to find one yet. Contacted BLI and they said they would be producing the loco again but no time table. Precision Craft (I think BLI bought them) made one and I found a new one on ebay but the seller wanted too much.

Oh the whoa of model railroading.....LOL
 
So you’re a fan of AFT *1*, eh? Me too! I was on the engine crew during the summer of 1976. I’ve seen all 4 of the existing T-1’s, worked and rode on 3 of them, and I’ve run the 2100 while she was in Tacoma.

I bought one of the original BLI ones when they did the first production a few years back. Really nice, captures the look quite well.
 
Wow, what an experience that must have been. I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous. BLI needs to produce it again soon. The Lionel Polar Express is occupying my lower track and I'm not impressed.
 
Wow, what an experience that must have been. I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous. BLI needs to produce it again soon. The Lionel Polar Express is occupying my lower track and I'm not impressed.

Yes, it was pretty cool. Here's a shot of me running the 2100 in Tacoma. That was an "interesting" operation, to say the least, but it did give me the chance to run a Reading T1 and that was pretty much a life long dream.

When they first started the line, the guy running it was looking for crew. I called him up and he says "Yes, I'm looking for crew, but you need to have experience, what have you got?" I replied "Engine crew on the Freedom Train, Chessie Steam Special, and Steam Tours along with 25 years experience on the line you're running on with a locomotive engineer license..." "Oh, let me get some more info on you!" :)

2100-1.jpg
 



Back
Top