I’ve been lurking on these boards for about a week now. I’m about to turn my computer room into a train room. I’ve not done any Model RRing since I was a kid, so alot has changed in the las 15 years (27 yrs old).
I am all about doing things the right way the first time, and buying not necessarily the absolute best, but a very good item with competitive pricing, compared to buying something 2 or 3 times due to poor quality.
That being said, what companies do you recommend for track and engines. From what I understand the cars themselves don’t matter so much???
What things should I stay away from? I know I don’t want to use the snaptrack with the attached track base for lack of a better word. Also, codes of track, I get sorta lost? The lower the code number the more realistic? But what codes have the majority of track options available?
And last but not least, I’m looking for some good books on Model RRing. Specifically for DCC, N scale, Layouts, Scenery contruction, etc…
I believe I will start off for right now with the reading part, as I am waiting on some work related stuff to see if I will be staying put for a while, or if we may be moving soon.
One other thing, reputable online companies. I am out in the middle of no where and have had no luck finding any Brick and Mortar hobby shops in this area.
Any help is appreciated from members of this forum.
Track - Atlas is good, and i have heard peco and shionara is good as well (i’ve only actually used Atlas though, and there might be other good brands as well), code 80 (.080" high) is the “standard” of sorts, although code 55 (.055" high) is more prototypical looking, and harder to use. Either code of rail will have similar offerings with regard to diversity of track (crossings, turnouts, etc)
Motive Power:
Bachmann is decent, as is LifeLike - although i have gotten their locos through sets, and i cannot vouch for other companies. (in other words i have the “lower quality” locos… but they still do what they need to)
Welcome Kevan.
I just got into N scale myself, and it has been a learning experience. My space is limited so I chose N to maximize my available room for a layout. I have learned patience is been a key tool in the whole planning learning process. It might help if you could share a litle more info so we can get a feeling about your experience, available space, general expectations about what you want to accomplish. That said, you did say you were in in the reasearch stage. Two books that I like are “Realistic Model Railroad Design,” and “HO Railroad from set to Scenery.” The first is by Tony Koester, the writer of the “trains of Thought” column in Model Railroader. It is part informational, part conceptional, and part reflective. It is my favorite book, and I own quite a few. The second book might be about HO, but its concepts can easily used for N scale, as most of the techniques are the same or similar. It is also written with the beginner in mind. Many of Kalmbach’s books are very informative, but if you’re no where near a LHS, chances are finding one u like will be difficult, unless your library is good.
I am currently planning my layout, but have a decent amount bought for it. I’m going to use Atlas Code 55. It looks great, and I figured I’d give it a whirl. Code 55 has a bad rep with some because some old equipment will not run properly on it. Being that I’m new to the scale, I figure that negative will not matter. I’m not planning on using DCC, so any help with that one will have to come with someone else. It was a little out of my budget, and figured I may make the switch on layout #2.
I have 1 Atlas engine, 1 Life Like, and one Kato. All very reliable. My cars are a mix of Atlas, Delux Innovations, Atheran, and MTL. Atlas are the cheapest, but also some leave a little to be desired in the detail category.
All are equipped with knucle couplers. MTLs or Accumates. No Rapidos for me. I think they look really disproportionate. For buildings, I have some Wal
The usual recommendation for track planning is “Track Planning for Realistic Operation” by John Armstrong. It has been in print forever and revised numerous times over the years.
I’m in the same boat you are as far as not working with N scale in 15 years and I have many of the same questions, so I feel for you. I’m only a newbie but I do have some code 70 track from Micro-engineering that is top quality (although slightly more expensive). On this topic, I’ve learned there are a few things to consider. Will you be using only flex track? If so, some track such as the Micro-engineering or Peco will stay put after shaping unlike the Atlas which snaps back…this is good if you take time to shape the track right the first time but may be a little harder to work with than the Atlas. Second, if desiring to use DCC, turnouts should be “DCC friendly” wherever possible. Atlas is, Micro-engineering is not yet in N scale. A non-friendly turnout can be modified easily though but of course is extra work is needed. Despite all of this, (and being a newbie), I’ve decided to use the Micro-engineering which is top notch and very realistic looking. I’m sure the more experienced guys can help even further though…John
I’ve been in N scale since the late 1960’s. I chose it because of the capability of having a good balance between track and scenery. That is, the trains can be made to look like they run through realisticly proportioned scenery. The book mentioned above by John Armstrong, “Track Planning for Realistic Operation” is excellent. In the scenery construction area I’ve found the book by Dave Frary, “How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery” very useful. I believe that both these books are available either through Kalmbach Books or Amazon.com.
I have found Atlas and Kato N scale locomotives to be very realistic in appearance and also very reliable. I would not waste my money on Bachman locos. I don’t know that much about Life-Like locos, but friends who have bought them say they’re not the best. ConCor use to put out some decent N scale steam locos, but I don’t know how their more recent offerings stack up. I own some old Minitrix diesels which, in their day, were comparable to Atlas and Kato. They could pull anything. I don’t know if they’re even made any more. Compared to Atlas or Kato they are very noisy because they have metal rather than plastic gears.
The Kadee Micro Trains line of N scale freight cars is outstanding, re details, but is on the expensive side.
I have used Atlas code 100 flex track, which may not be as realistic in appearance as code 80 or 55, but you can’t beat it’s reliability. Once you paint it, it’s size seems to shrink. I have only used Peco turnouts. I like these because the points are sprung so if the turnout is within your reach, you can flip the points with your finger and they are held in place by the spring tension. This reduces the cost and maintenance hassles of using switch machines, although they do have a reliable solenoid switch machine that I have installed on some of my turnouts.
As far as on-line hobby shops is concerned, I’ve dealt with only one shop since I started in N scale and before there was Internet.
Thanks Eric for the link to railpictures.net. I probably spent an hour just looking at the most popular pictures.
My goals…well I want to build my own RR and try and make it as realistic as possible. I think I want to use steam engines, as they have a little bit nicer appeal to me. I have already talked my wife into letting me make the office a train room, but this will be a bigger project than what I need to jump into, so I think I will first do a 3X4 or 4x5 layout or something along those lines to use as a learning experience. I will attempt to do all aspects on this smaller layout so I have learned a little something from the experience of it before jumping into a bigger room size layout.
The bigger layout will require alot more planning and time and being new, I really have no clue where to start for something that large. I just want to start slow and learn as much as I can and not waste money learning the hard way…
I’ve found some great links on thie board plus for N scale layouts that I will possibly model mine after making adjustments as I see fit, but to just have some sort of guidance, as this is still pretty overwhelming at this point.
Thank you all for the websites and book listings. I’ve been looking around the websites and will hopefully get a couple of the books ordered in the next few days.
Oops, RFinch made a slight error
Atlas N gauge track is code 80 (not 100) as is the standard Peco track. Code 100 (the HO scale standard) would be huge in N scale.
I like Peco turnouts for the same reason he does. They are also more robust than most other brands, which is great for a heavy handed person like me. I use Atlas or Peco code 80 flex track and peco turnouts for main lines and Peco 55 on sidings and spurs. Peco55 is cleverly designed to look smaller, but is functionally code 80.
Welcome!
I have been using Peco flexi tracks and turnouts for many years and find them good and reliable.
Having bought from various makers let me say that you wouldn’t regret getting engines from Kato or Atlas.
Just to repeat the good advice on couplers. Try to standardize all your couplers from MicroTrain.
I get most of my stuff from Nscale supply.http://www.nscalesupply.com/
Cheers,
Cliff
I stand corrected. DSchmitt is correct. Atlas only makes code 80 and 55 in N scale flex track. I’ve been using the code 80. When I was a member of the NTrak modular club in Madison, WI, everyone referred to it as code 100, thus my mistake. Since I’ve been in N scale for so long and all of my track was purchased at least 15 years ago, I called Atlas this AM to confirm that they never made code 100 N scale flex track in the olden days. This was confirmed by Atlas. In any case, the code 80 matches well with the Peco N scale turnouts that I have been using.
Everybody is going to tell you something somewhat different. In regards to engines, Atlas & Kato are the best. With that said, some of my LifeLike engines run better than some of my Atlas engines, so go figure. The best thing to do though is buy or subscribe to Model Railroader & look at all the advertisements. It’s amazing to see the price differences for the same engines. Ordering online , or making a phone call is a great way to go. Forget about hobby shops if you want a good deal, but visit 'em if one is nearby just the same. Ya never know !
I do know these things to be true, not that i’m doing a commercial
standard hobby supply ( seach standard hobby ) has the best prices of just about any mail/online place around and you can call in your order.
as far as diesels, yup Atlas and Kato are like the BMW and Mercedes of trains, also steward hobbys and broadway limited are good.
they can run between $60-$150. Athearn’s has diesels for around $35-$60 and their new Genesis line is also going for about $100-150.
Bachman and Life-Like have newer (10 yrs. ) lines out to compete with Kato and Atlas, and now the price is just about the same. I have 4 Bachman Spectrums and only bought them because i got them at train shows for $20 each. they are not consistant, mine run well, my brother-in-laws do not.
Roundhouse and Athearn make great rolling stock ( kits ) if they do N gauge. ready to run stuff is good but expensive and most modelers will say ‘ready to run’ -sure as soon as i…
read model mags such as Model Railroader they have a lot of great info.
I’ve been into N Scale since the mid-1970’s. I’ve built several small layouts (with mixed results…) and hope that by sharing my experiences I can help you as you move forward.
Early on I built a few layouts using Atlas snap-track (the small single pieces) with poor results. The trains always derailed and the turnouts operated poorly (and looked even worse) but I was able to hone my craft at scenery building (my favorite part of the hobby.)
I used Kato UniTrack for one layout. The operation was FLAWLESS but the realism was not-so-hot. There was no way to paint the rails to weather them without making a mess of the roadbed. But I will say that this stuff is bullet proof, so I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it for your 1st layout. I was able to “hide” the edges with ballast and ground cover and I was pretty happy with the results. Trains ran well, the kids enjoyed “playing trains with Daddy” and I was pretty satisfied.
My next endevor was a larger (12’ x 12’) layout. This was my first go at DCC (I used the MRC Prodigy.) I had good results combining code 80 Atlas flex track with Peco “insulfrog” turnouts. One note- as someone else mentioned the Peco turnouts are “sprung” so they don’t need motors, but if you choose to use the Peco motors to operate the turnouts PLAN AHEAD! I had a hard time cutting holes in the sub-roadbed for the motors to fit in when it came time to install the turnouts (the motors mount to the bottom of the turnouts before the turnouts are installed.) Where I was able to cut the holes for the motors in advance of laying the cork (I then slid in the cork filler from the side after the track was down) things came out much better.
I’d suggest staying away from Atlas code 55 rail. A lot of rolling stock and loco’s don’t seem to like the small clearance to the ties, and the Atlas code 55 turnouts need a lot of tinkering to work reliably.
I’m building a new layout now (3’ x 7’) using Peco code 55 fle
Just starting my second N-scale layout, the first a German one, now going for an American layout.
The books i’ve found most interesting were Realistic Model Railroad Design by Tony Koester, N Scale Model Railroading by Marty McGuirk and of course Track Planning for Realistic Operation by John Armstrong. Having said this I now have almost all the books by Kalmbach and apreciate all of them as well as being a subscriber to Model Railroader and N-Scale by Hundman publishing.
For track I have a lot of old Minitrix from my other layout that I will use for hidden track ( works great not that realistic looking though ) and will probably go for Peco code 55 for the rest ( cheaper for me to get from England then Atlas code 55 from US )
Engines I find are ( the new ones ) almost all very good except the Bachmanns ( the cheap ones) . Kato being the best ones.
Rolling stock is where i made a mistake in the beginning , didn’t look out wich couplers were on the ones I bought meaning that I will have to replace the first 20-25 cars I bought because they have rapidos.
As for online retailers , I’ve bought a lot from E-bay ( only new stuff ) and a lot from http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/nscale/index.html they have excellent pricing and good service , they’ll also answer questions you have that won’t directly sell them anything.
Good luck and show us your progress, I’ll be moving first to a larger house smaal bedroom to sleep in and 2 large ones for the layout [:D]
Tons of information in here guys. I really appreciate it all. I will probably be out tomorrow looking for a few of the books and if I can talk my wife into a subcription, I’ll be doing that as well. I can’t wait to get started, but I also know that in the next several months I’ll be on a hiatus for some training for about a year, so I am not going to be able to get as much as done as I want and I can’t totally wreck the house and then leave.
Thank you again for all the replies and the informaiton, keep it coming if anyone else has anything to add, but again, Thank you!
In N scale, I’d stay away from turnouts with insulated frogs. On my last N scale layout, I used only the Electrofrog Peco turnouts. For these to work properly, you must place electrical gaps in the rails at the appropriate locations. This is easily done following the directions that come with the turnouts. The problem with turnouts that have insulated frogs, at least in N scale, is that with smaller wheel-based locomotives you tend to get jerky movements or complete stalls when they cross the insulated frog, especially if they do not have electrical pick-up from all their wheels. This is especially a problem when operating over these turnouts at low speed, e.g., when doing switching operations.
With regards to Peco switch machine installation, on my last layout I was using Homasote glued to 3/8" plywood for my base. In this case, I simply used an 1/8" drill to make an elongated hole through the base to allow the throw pin from the switch machine free play. The switch machines were mounted to the underside of the plywood with short wood screws. This was a real pain to get them in the correct position so they would work properly. I don’t recommend this approach. It now appears that most people are using extruded foam of various thicknesses for their track base. I assume that redmountain, above, is using this approach. I would like to see a more detailed description of how he fills in around the swithch machine by sliding cork roadbed material under the tracks. I would suggest that if you take this approach, that you do not solder the track joints between the turnout and the adjoining track so you can remove the turnout and switch machine for maintenance in the future. I also think that you will have to be very careful when you ballast around these turnouts with switch machines attached so that ballast and glue do not get down into the switch machine. There was an article several years ago in Model Railroader on an N scale Burlington Northern project layout built by the NTrak group in M
If anyone is interested, I found the reference to the technique for ballasting turnouts on the workbench before installing them on the layout that I mentioned in my post above. The technique is mentioned in the article, “The N Scale Burlinton Northern: Part 4” which can be found in the May 1990 issue of Model Railroader on page 94. The technique they used was to put black plastic electrical tape with the sticky side up on the back of the ties. They then poured on loose ballast on the top of the turnout between the ties and pressed it down onto the sticky surface of the tape. They then dumped off the excess ballast. Using this technique they didn’t have to use liquid glue to hold the ballast in place thus avoiding getting the glue into the mechanism of the turnout.
Anyone interested in building an N scale layout, expecially one that can be broken down into sections for easy moving, should look at this series of articles on the construction of this MRR porject railroad. The series started in the February 1990 issue and was completed in the September 1990 issue.
I just realized you have a unique version of the CSX logo. Nice Job! And considering that is one of the two combos put together to make the powerfull CSX of today, did u mark your locos with that logo? —now will they be merging with NS, or have they already and i didn’t know?
M.B. Klein in Baltimore, MD is a great store and a great on-line retailer. The store is small but PACKED with stuff. Web-site is http://www.modeltrainstuff.com. Lots of stuff at great prices. I live in Central PA and use them as my “LHS”. I have had success with both Kato & Atlas engines. Atlas & Micro-Trains rolling stock are both nice with the edge going to MT in detail, couplers and higher price. Probably worth it. Kato Beth-gon coal hoppers are nice also.