Hope so, Allen! I’m building (?) a test track soon to get a ‘feel’ for this big stuff. I’m going to use track power on the outdoors RR because of initial expense. Then, possibly in May, I’ll lay the first PP line. Dunno exactly where, yet. I have abt 20 x 60’, a huge space to an old 027’er, but I suspect not so huge in this gauge. I like the code 332 rail: it’s big and tough-looking. My only piece of rolling stock is a Bachmann bobber at the moment.
I’m going to dig a trench, tamp in gravel, and lay track. I’ll possibly be smarter–or more satisfied–next year when I see how it winters over. I have a side problem: my ground is all heavy, impermeable clay, so the track trenches are going to be drainage ditches to some degree. Ground slippage is minimal. Glacier-like, actually.
One thing I will definitely have to do is build trestle. Lots and lots of trestle because the ground slopes badly.
Anyway, good luck!
Les Whitaker
Sounds good Les! I have the same type soil although it is fairly level. Good luck with it and let me know how the construction goes. You’d be suprised how much you can fit in your space!
Allen
Les,
If you haven’t already, you might want to Google “Porter Locomotive” and see how many sites pop up. Last I checked there were over 500,000.
Mike Hampton
There is a wealth of information available in model railroader and railroad model craftsman magazines. You won’t find anything drawn to garden railway scales, but it’s easy to convert the scales given. You will also have to browse through tons of old magazines to find what you are looking for. Another great magazine is called “short line and narrow gauge gazette”. There were also a series of books called “car builders’ cyclopedia” that was published for several years. It covered prototype construction of all kinds of rolling stock. I think they are still available through Kalmbach Books as limited re-issues. I have one of their books called “traction handbook” It has some great drawings of traction equipment and detailed interiors.
Mike & DD1:
Thanks, guys, for the info. Since this will be my first ‘scratchbuild’ (using an LGB handcar power unit) I’m not expecting a lot of from it in the way of ‘cool looking’. (Sharp part of the learning curve, etc). I just want some motive power for my RR so I can lay some outside track and get something rolling. That’s the best way to learn anything, I’ve found. (Well, up to a point, but let’s not be picky).
Mike, I just have to tell you that Model RR helped keep me from going off the deep end when I moved from an Ozarks high school to a suburban high school in '59. Ouch. That magazine is worth every penny it costs. They were trying to incorporate Lionel’s exploding boxcars and missle launchers into model RR-ing. That was before they got away from writing about Hi Rail altogether. I’ve signed up for GR, haven’t gotten my first copy yet, but Klambach has a first-rate stable of tech writers. RR Model Craftsman for some reason has always left me cold and I dunno why. I guess because they’re so serious. I don’t do this for serious. Perhaps they’re too near ‘rivet counters’. No criticism of the mag intended, just my opinion.
Les Whitaker