I am new to model railroading and I have decided to plan and build an N-Scale layout. Before I start purchasing anything I am trying to develop a plan for my layout, example time period, location, etc. I live in south central Pennsylvania and will probably model this area. I guess my question is, what time periods are the most available for N-Scale railroads? For example, i dont want to pick say 1999 and there are no buildings, trains etc for this time period. I would like to build somewhere between 1950-1980. Would like to use diesel engines from the 70’s-80. Are there many accessories and such available for this time period. Any suggestions on where to look? I know this is a lot to ask and I look forward to hearing some suggestions. Thanks again,
Sincerely, Mike
mike23psu_4_me@comcast.net
Hi Mike, and welcome. [#welcome][#welcome]
A gander at a few web pages will probably answer your questions. Two manufacturers to look at are Atlas and Kato (atlasrr.com and katousa.com). As for vendors, Brooklyn Locomotive Works (www.blwnscale.com), Rio Grande Hobbies (www.4nscale.com), MB Klein (www.modeltrainstuff.com) and Nscalebymail.com. The reason I suggest these is that you can look on their web sites to see what is available in the era of your liking, whether you actually buy from them or not. I can attest to each of the vendors except Nscalebymail who I am yet to purchase anything from. And there is always www.walthers.com, although not everything has pictures. Ebay is also lousy with N-scale stuff, including Kato and Atlas. By the way, MB Klein is in Baltimore near the inner harbor if you ever get down that way.
I model the late 1950s, and there are a number of quality locomotives and rolling stock from that era. My freelance railroad loves Alcos, although it has some E8s, SW9s and SD9s.
You should be able to find a good selection of diesels in the entire range you are looking at. If you want to stick to the 70s, you’ll probably wind up looking at SD40s, GP and SD35s would also be appropriate, as well as GP30s. All are available from Atlas or Kato, as well as some others. GE C30-7s and B30-7s as well as the earlier “U-boats” are also appropriate and available from the same vendors. And there might be a few of my beloved Alcos floating around, and those are available in N-scale, as well.
While I’ve stuck to items with wheels, buildings are available from a variety of eras.
What N-scale has generally lacked has been steam, although even that is getting better.
Welcome to the hobby Mike,
It looks like most of the rolling stock questions are answered, so I’ll say something about structures. One thing about modeling a more modern era is you can always use older style buildings. Look around your town and you’ll see buildings dating into the early 1900’s. I model the late 80’s in HO and I use many of the DPM kits for my towns. I’m no master modeler by any means but I found I could scratch build a fairly nice corragated aluminum (spelling?) warehouse. Good luck and happy modeling,
Jim
Mark has covered the rail equipment very well and Jim has given you the key to structures - almost anything goes! The only structure style you will want to avoid is the “tilt-up pre-cast concrete” style. These are more modern building innovations and are charactreized by large expanses of flat concrete panels with ground-to-roof concrete butresses or pilasters sticking out from the flat area of the concrete wall. The pilasters are where the joints are located between the concrete panels.
Almost any style brick structure would be appropriate, as would structures made of wood. Steel “Butler” style buildings were in wide-spread general use by the 1970’s, even though they date back to the late 1930’s.
Hope this info helps.
Darrell, quiet…for now
Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. Like i said i am in the planning stages of my first layout. I just wanted to get some ideas before i just jump into it. I am familiar with modern types of construction. I am a construction engineer with an engineering firm in the Harrisburg, Pa area. All your suggestions will really help me through this process. I am looking to model the late 70’s as my dad was an engineer with Conrail for a few years at the end of the 70’s beginning of the 80’s. Again thanks for all your suggestions and recommendations. I am still open to ideas. You all have been very helpful and I look forward to using this forum in the future.
Sincerely, Mike
Welcome, Mike.
Will you be using DCC for control ?
Regards
ive looked at DCC an dont know if the cost will keep me from it right now. ive looked at engines that are DCC ready. with the layout, can i wire it for future DCC and use it conventionally right now. or are they two completely different wiring schemes? if so, how hard would it be in the future to convert from conventional power to DCC? or would it just be beneficial to spend the money now and go DCC? thanks for your help. mike
Welcome, Mike!
If you poke about the forumns you’ll find lots of questions on DCC wiring. I started my N-scale out DC and converted to DCC, so it’s possible. However, if I had to do it over again, I’d go straight to DCC. Why? Because the wiring’s far more straightforward.
With DC, to run multiple engines, you need to break the track into blocks that are electrically seperate from each other. You get one engine per block. With DCC, it’s one big electrical block, with the flow of current to the motor in the engine controlled by the on-board decoder. You need to run multiple feeds, but that’s just to ensure even distribution of voltage all through the layout.
I’d also point out that for the control hardware, the intro DCC systems are a good value. My Digitrax Zephyr runs very nicely and has plenty of oomph for my layout (which, admittedly, is fairly small N-scaler).
If you check out Tony’s Trains (http://www.tonystrains.com) you’ll find all sorts of detail on DCC.
I started with DC and converted to DCC. I use the NCE system. Even on a small layout, you want to make some electrical blocks just in case you have a short. Derailed engines and cars can cause a short. Just something to think about
Thanks to everyone for your help. I really appreciate it. I am new to this forum and new to the model railroad family. Thank you for welcoming me in. I look forward to asking lots of questions as i start my layout and learn. Thanks again. Mike