I’m green when it comes to model railroading but I’ve grown up around it with my dad, and his, being railway enthusiast’s. A few years after my dads death, I bought a Bachman 4-4-0 in N gauge with the intention of one day starting a layout. Fast forward a decade, and I’ve fallen into a lot of woodland scenic products, so with this steam era loco, figured I’d go with that for my layout. The problem I’m having is finding any rolling stock for that era, gauge. I know E-bay is one source but it seems peoples pockets are bigger than mine. I was thinking kitbashing may be the way to go, but finding instructions/diagrams or even a book detailing which kits would be best is as daunting as finding pre-fab, and due to size constraints, HO is right out. Appreciate any feed back and thanks for forgiving my naivety [%-)]
Welcome to the hobby first off!
I know bachmann has some old timey cars they put into trains sets that have a 4-4-0 loco in them (the locomotives are their standard line though). also, several manufacturers make 40’ boxcars (that page has some boxcars that are modern era though as well).
just found this on MB Klien too:
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Fine_N_Scale_N_2102_36_Truss_Rod_Wood_Box_Cars_p/fns-2102.htm
hope that provides a starting point for you. I’m pretty sure they were around at least during the 1940’s. as to if they’re cars from say, the mid-1800s, you got me. there’s people out there with a LOT more experience in that than me
Old times cars are quite rare in N scale indeed,specially freight.But guess what?It’s your layout and you can run whatever you wish (or can find) on it.A simple cheat is aging a more modern model car and only you would probably know until,with time and luck,you happen to stumble over a few cars you like.Ebay can be frustrating at times,specially for highly desired items but if you don’t care to compromise somewhat,great deals can be obtained…patience is the secret.You bid whatever you’re willing to pay (in the last minute) and you stand a chance.The other secret with Ebay is to learn to not let frustration turn off your sun and enter a bidding war.I’ve got most of my stuff this way.
We do an eclectic mix of early steam in N – American, British, and German image. The American stuff is in really short supply. Just the few Bachmann old-timers and Micro-Trains Overton passenger cars for off the shelf ready to run. The Narrow Gauge And Short Line Gazette is a great magazine to look at. You’re not likely to see much if any N scale in it, but the plans and models in there will give you lots to work with and tremendous inspiration. If you’re happy going freelance, there’s a lot of early period German cars available, some of them would blend in quite well with the American look; especially if you wanted to do a little kit-bashing, maybe replace teh roofs, add roof walks and American style brakewheels. Avoid the ones with the little German brake-cabins on the ends. These are pricey, but we’ve had good luck getting fair sized lots on EBay at good prices – there’s not a lot of competitive bidding on these that we’ve run into. (But we were also lucky and stocked up just before the introduction of the Euro which led to price increases, and then the dollar tanking against the Euro later on, can’t vouch for today’s market.) Era I is the earliest, Era II’s and some of the III’s can work too. You can browse them here: http://www.reynaulds.com/fleischmann.aspx?scale=N
Check out Athearn, which offers the old MDC line of 19th century Overland passenger cars in a variety of road names, and some freight cars. Your best bet for freight cars, though is the Bachmann Old Timers series. With a little work, mostly to tone down the garish paint schemes, you can have a decent looking 19th century train.
There are other early steam locomotives available from Athearn, a 2-8-0 and a 2-6-0, I believe, and from Model Power, which makes a great little 4-4-0 that hails from the early 20th Century. Atlas also offers a 2-6-0 Mogul, which is probably the best engine available for a late 19th century engine. They also offer a small two truck Shay type engine, which is good for the first quarter of the 20th century. This is the only one of the above I can personally vouch for… it’s a gem!
Here’s a Bachmann Old Timers caboose I modified.
I replaced the end railings with Micro Trains parts, added MT couplers, and blocked the middle windows on the body and cupola to make it look more “northeastern”. A little putty, a little paint, make it somethin’ that it ain’t!
Lee
I know that Roundhouse offers spectacular HO rolling stock, but I dont know if they offer them in N. So i would check that out.
Thanks to everyone, appreciate the feedback
Hello Scott, well it seems that your not the only one looking for 1800s era rolling stock, i have been trying to model a civil war layout and have had much the same problem as you are experiencing, i also thought of the Euro cars which would look prety era correct, however the euro rolling stock used single trucks and all of the american that i know of used dual trucks , im not a kit bashing expert so i cant tell you if you can change out the trucks to dual american style trucks but if you can that would be the way to go , and the flat cars and box cars are really not that expensive . hope that helps if you find out anything keep me in mind as im looking as wee
I did find this site, http://www.hobbylinc.com/index.htm, a brief glance didn’t turn up great leads as far as steam era rolling stock, but if you’re looking for buildings & accents (like me), seems promising, don’t know if that helps
I am listing on eBay what I think will interest you.
There are (6) N Scale rolling stock cars that are the old late 1800’s/early 1900’s (I think) wood 20 footer’s. There’s is no manufacturer mane but it took me years to find (6) of these. My eBay user name is “crosstown75” and they should be listed tonight sometime. Since I want an end time of about 7 pm eastern time I have to get going. I’ll probably list as n scale steam era rolling stock. Thanks, DJ
This is a nice assortment of early British wagons though, not American. It is a nice set. For currently available stock, you can also find a lot at ehattons.com Cheers, Mo