After talking with a friend of mine with 10 years of experience as a railroad dispatcher in the midwest, I have decided that if/when I build my MRR I would like to use an SD40/SD40-2 and SW1500 loco’s as that seems to give me a good midwest time period to work with. I haven’t found anyone that makes an SW1500 model, and I believe only Kato makes an SD40. I’m interested in both N and HO scale. Am I missing something?
In HO Athearn made a SW1500 a while back. They currently have both a SD40 and a SD40-2 as well as Kato. Broadway Limited has a SD40-2 with sound. I’m sure I have missed a few but others will fill in the rest.
The rail cars are missing. You can probably find the SW1500 from Atlas. Or you can go to www.Athearn.com and they have the SW1500 as a Kit and you can build it up to your standards. Otherwise are you planning on having any more locomotives like GPs or other SDs on your layout.
If I were you I would go toward more HO since it’s easier to see but if you like both you can indeed model both.
James
SPACE is going to be a big factor on what I build. I’m hoping to get some ideas after the St. Paul show this weekend. If I had room, an HO would be the way I’d be going. But I’m tight on space (and budget and time and blah blah blah [:D]) so N might be how I get my feet wet again with MRR’ing.
Budget wise “N” scale won’t save you much money. Most “N” scale locomotives and rolling stock and accessory structures cost nearly as much as HO. As a matter of fact, since you can get more stuff in the same space it will probably end up costing more than a HO layout of comparable size. I’ve started with a HO switching layout that can be expanded to an around the walls loop when I get the time and inclination.
NovaScotiaTim:
The choice of locomotives I think depends on the kind of operations your layout will be running.
6-axle locomotives like the SD40-2s are usually used for long-distance heavy-haul trains, so if you will be running things like long unit trains on your layout, those would look good.
4-axle road switchers like the GP38-2, B23-7, Alco RS-series, etc. are usually used for local trains/switcher duty but can be drafted for road duty in a pinch, and those look very at home on smaller layouts.
Small yard switchers like the SW1500 are used mainly in very short-distance hauls and yard duty.
So you need to figure out how your layout will operate, then choose the appropriate motive power. 10 years ago, I started out wanting to run big 6-axle power like SD70MACs on my small layout, but over the years I’ve grown to like smaller 4-axle engines like the GP38-2 instead… They just look and fit better on a smaller layout. In my current locomotive fleet, my 4-axle Geeps outnumber 6-axle SD’s 12 to 3. [8D]
Good point! My layout will definitely start out as a small-scale project. I would like to be able to run at least one loop, not just a switching setup. BUT, I also want to include some switching track/yard area activity. Hmmm…
If I go with 4 axle locos then I can get away with tighter radius curves (say, 18" or 20") yes?
Yep, my GP38-2s run very well on 18" radius curves. My Geeps are truly “General Purpose” (that’s what the GP stands for of course). They look good doing switching as well as heading up a train that chases its own tail on an oval.
My pride and joy (painted up in my freelanced road’s name and paint scheme too):
Tim,
You already have good advice on locomotives so I won’t comment on that
BUT
I started my current layout using 18" curves on the mainline on my HO scale layout. After seeing what the industry was coming out with at the time, I made the switch to the larger curves to accomodate the larger locomotives & cars coming out. I have not regreted doing this!
If you are planning on expanding this initial project into something bigger, you might want to consider using 22" curves for the mainline & stick with tighter curves for spurs & such.
Just my 2 cents
Gordon
Makes sense, as I do hope to design to allow for expansion. How close do people normally run their tracks to the edge of their benchwork, and to the rear walls?
NSTim -
LifeLike made SW1500 in their Proto lineup and can be found on the Walther’s website.
JP
I have some tracks within 2 inches of the benchwork.
I don’t have a problem with this as I’m generally extremely careful & I want my kids to have access to some tracks where they don’t have to reach over much if anything that could get in the way.
Gordon