I’m thinking of going with a late turn of the century style layout because the shorter trains of the day look better running on tight curves , can anyone give me any suggestions on how to do this ? Like what type of equipment to use
and what kind of buildings and figures?
Thank you Ukguy for mentioning my website. I model the 1870’s using OO/HO (4mm/ft running on HO track). I utilize the oversize HO old time equipment. I have a web article about it at:
http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/1879/why/
An IHC “HO” 4-4-0 and an MDC old time box car with OO people
Thank you if you visit
Harold
Not exactly turn of the century,but Model Die Casting has a Old Time series of equipment .The cars have truss rods,not sure if they still make old time locomotive kits.IHC Premier series has a 2-6-0 that might fit that era.
Part of my layout is a railfan train made up an old Jupiter loco from Bachman, and Overton cars from Roundhouse. And if you want a more prototypical looking locomotive, yuo can find it either from MDC or eBay.
The real challenge is to find equipment.
There are several makers of 4-4-0’s of varying runs and varying reliability. MDC makes several old time engines that are appropriate. They are mostly kits. Your best bet on finding them is Ebay. The IHC 2-6-0 camelback is in that era. The Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0 is close, remove the valve gear and change the headlight to get a more accurate engine. You can also get older brass engines for under $250 on Ebay. Look for engines with slide valves on the cylinders and Stephenson valve gear (the cyclinder is a single barrel with a box on top). The Mantua/Tyco 4-6-0 is very large. I have experimented with lowering the domes (fille away part of the base), replacing the cab with an MDC cab (or one from a Bachmann 4-6-0), narrowing the running boards to match the cab and replacing the tender with an MDC one (once again a Bachman 4-6-0 tender would be great).
Cars are also a challenge. MDC makes/made the only quality plastic models. IHC, Pocher and Bachmann also made old time cars in plastic. There are some Westerfield cars that are appropriate. The Old and Weary Car shop also makes older paint scheme cars. LaBelle Woodworking makes wood “craftsman” kits for TOC (turn of the century)cars. Bowser GLa hoppers and their short steel gons are some of the first steel cars in the era.
You can also scratchbuild your own cars out of wood or styrene. Evergreen sells both pasenger and freight car scribed siding. Tichy has excellent turnbuckles and truss rod end castings. Grandt Line has all sorts of other details. I use Grandt Line narrow guage boxcar doors on Bachmann 34’ old time boxcars.
The Overton passenger cars can be combines to make more prototype length cars. Plus Bachmann, MDC and Mantua/Tyco make other older pasenger cars.
Jordan makes HO wagons (no cars!).
Buildings would be wood framed or stone/brick. The windows need to have an arch over them or a stone lintel and the sills need to
assuming HO … the bachmann spectrum 2-8-0 , 4-6-0 and 3 truck shay will all look at home on a layout of that era (they may represent later prototypes , but they still look good).
rolling stock is a bit harder to find , although if you do a search on ebay for ‘old time’ you’ll get plenty of stuff to choose from . some of it isn’t that great quality (tyco etc.) so be careful . there are also some nice kits out there , tichy , labelle , ye olde huff and puff
some good info…
http://home.earthlink.net/~dan_d_sparks/ModelingTheGoldenAgeOfRailroading.html
buildings … there’s plenty out there especially craftsman kits http://valleymodeltrains.com/ has a great selection , reasonable prices and they ship pretty fast too
these look like fun http://www.wildweststructures.com/
people… i don’t know yet , haven’t got that far 
This site has an excellent article on 1906 modeling http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/005/560twape.asp that originally appeared in MR. LaBelle Woodowrking has a number of good kits http://www.labellemodels.com/main.htm for this time period.
Enjoy
Paul
For rolling stock, the best equipment is certainly NOT Roundhouse! Try Westerfield, Funaro & Carmelengo, Sylvan and O&W Car Shops for pre-WWI resin freight cars.
For passenger cars, your best bet is Roundhouse. Ignore the OverTON cars and look for the OverLAND 50-foot cars, as well as the Pullman Palace 80-footers. F&C and Sparrow Point also make a few per-WWI passenger heavyweights.
Art Griffin makes a huge line of turn of the century decals for both freight cars and horse drawn wagons. A link to his catalog is on www.greatdecals.com
As for engines, definitely look to Bachmann first. Their 0-6-0T is an 1890s prototype, the climax is pre-1900, the 4-6-0, although modernized, is from the 1880s, and even the largeish 2-8-0 dates from about 1905. And don’t forget their non-Spectrum 4-4-0s; with a straight stack and a black paint job, the engine will look right at home on a 1880-1930 layout. If you can find one on Ebay, the Rivarossi “Casey Jones” 4-6-0 is from the early 1880s.
In my never-ending quest for period freight car photos, I’ve recently been running across hundreds of small town historical societies that are posting images online. They’re treasure troves of detail information. Do a Google search for “online historical photos”, and you’ll come up with all sorts of goodies.
There’s a guy named Gerald McGee who , with his son, models very early 20th century - I believe that there is an article available somewhere within this site. He calls his road, the "Phuy and "- sdomething… I’m not quite certain- but the layout is absolutely spectacular! It is set in 1906 and features many scratchbuilt structures and cars. His son builds turn-of-the-century farming implements that are simply fabulous. He modifies many commercially available locomotives and- well- you just have to see this layout!
For switching service on 16.5mm (HO) gauge, there are two 1890 era 0-6-0T locos that I’m aware of. One is the die-cast side tank Tenshodo that has been the subject of a couple of threads, old but possibly available on E-bay. More recent, the Roundhouse saddle tanker. Both are models of Baldwin ‘Catalog’ engines (available from stock, with accessories to order, just like modern automobiles.)
I am running both, and am very satisfied with their performance on DC. Someone more knowledgeable might be able to advise you on DCC compatability.