With SWMBO finally approving a budget for “trains”, and myself coming to terms with the fact that it’s going to be a long while before I have the space for an HO layout, I am seriously looking at working in N-scale, which I do have some room for.
Even though I am in Australia, my interest is in the Chicago & North Western/UP transition period of the mid 90s.
The city where I live (albeit the national capital) has but one hobby store, and their stock of N scale is very limited. Obviously there are stores in places like Sydney that do mail order, and ebay can come in handy. That said, there seems to be a very limited range of CNW locos in particular available, even from the US, certainly compared to what I see in HO. Is it really that limited or am I missing something?
Also, I’ve been able to pick up some Walthers 50’ box cars on the cheap, and am wondering if there is a way of changing them from Rapido to Kaydee couplers, as it looks like the coupler is part of the entire wheel assembly. Any tips? I’m not in a rush, and will likely move to buying Kaydee equipped stock once the funds have built up a bit.
Thanks in advance.
Trevor
Canberra, Australia
I can’t really speak to the CNW loco’s issue, but I can comment on the coupler’s thing. Kaydee is an HO thing. At one time, a long time ago, they did some N scale stuff, but the branch of the company that did the N scale stuff broke away from the parent company and reorganized under a new name, Micro-Trains. They still use that name today. If you want N scale automated couplers look to them or there are several others out there who make similar couplers. Atlas accumate couplers come to mind. They are standard on most of the Atlas line of RTR cars. I don’t think they work quite as well as the Micro-Trains, but that’s just my humble opinion.
You noted that the cars you have don’t have body mount couplers, but have truck mounted couplers instead. Most N scale rolling stock is set up this way. It helps it track better through the tight curves that N scalers sometimes use. You can change just the couplers by going with a Micro-Trains coupler pack (or some similar brand) or you can change the whole truck out. I usually change the whole truck because I can get a bulk pack of trucks with the couplers already installed and with low profile wheels for a reasonable price. If I was to do all of these things seperately it would cost about the same but the hassle level would be higher since I’d have to track down all those parts seperately and then assemble the whole thing. If you get the trucks assembled already, you just remove the bolster pin holding in the old truck, swap trucks, reinstall the pin, adjust the coupler height, and you’re pretty much done.
Some others here can help with the CNW question I’m sure. Hope this helps!
Welcome Trevor [#welcome] !
I don’t have much to add other than I too am modeling in N. I really like this scale.
In the future I will be swapping out couplers to MT. I want to do electro-magnet switching. I might also consider the Accumate couplers as well as I have a few cars with them and they seem to work great.
For now though, I just want to get my layout done!
Enjoy the hobby and this forum… lots of great information.
Peter
Actually, they have been quite well represented over the years.
C&NW N-scale loco’s I’ve found so far:
Atlas RS3 (AT-42039)
Atlas GP7TT (AT-48105 & 6)
Atlas GP35 (AT-46503 & 4) Older release.
Atlas GP40 (AT- 48508, 9, 10) Older release.
Atlas SD60 (AT-49104, 5) Older release.
Atlas MP15 NEWER RELEASE!
Bachmann C40-8 (85063, 64, 70)
Bachmann C40-8W (86068, 69)
Kato GP50 (176-033) Older release.
Kato SD40 (176-208) Older release.
Kato SD40-2 (176-4803 & 4804) Older release.
Kato SD45 (176-3106 & 3107) Older release.
Kato C44-9W (176-3301, 2,3,7,8,9) Older release.
NEW Kato AC4400CW (176-7031,2)
Lifelike E6A (7350, 1) Older release.
Lifelike E7A (7005, 6) Older release.
Lifelike E8/9A (7162, 3)
Lifelike SD7
Lifelike SW9/1200
Note: Older releases can pop up on eBay from time to time.
Hey Trevor, i’m working with "N"scale and I find that “micro-trains” have a great number of couplers for your needs, check out there website and see the things that they have. For the cnw/up era you might want to check and see what Kato has OR go for Ebay, Good luck to you in making your “N” scale layout!!!
If you are just starting, I recommend that you convert to Micro-Trains couplers right now. Freight cars are easy to convert; passenger cars can be a little more complex, and some locomotives require cutting and drilling. The point is to start now, and keep conversions up with new purchases, or else you will have a big backlog that will be more difficult and expensive to clear.
I converted a couple Walthers cars using Micro Trains coupler/truck assemblies and it was easy. The Micro Trains assembly incudes different diameter pins and bushings for adapting to different makes of cars. Accumates are cheaper but aren’t as reliable. They also have a tendancy to come apart with long trains. Personally, I don’t care for Walthers cars. The detail is on the chunky side and they look to be made from old Austrian dies (Roco, Rivarossi, etc…) They are worth less to me than the cost of the conversion.
Kato engines are the only engines I would buy on ebay.
Have one or 2 cars “converter” cars, with the rapido on one end and Kadee on the other if you get trains running but havent totally converted.