OK, I have come to a road block in planing for my new and HOPEFULLY, long lived RR. I have, or will have once its finished, a 11 x 14 room in my house for it but here is what I am running into.
For the longest time, I have loved the N&W. Saw the 611 on what was now one of her last runs in the earlyer 1990’s near my grandfolks house in Petersburg, she was making a Uturn on the old Belt line there at PoeVa. After that, I wanted to build a line on the N&W.
Latly, I have been looking at more of a short time based off the N&W, but, now, I am looking at more of a line like the SS&S (Surry, Sussex and Southampton Railway) . Not realy like it, but made with normel track. But being a N scaler, looking for trains, cars and the like in N is not all there AND I enjoy DCC so its even harding to find equment in the size. so, here is what I am having a time coming up with…
Should I say in N, or go back to HO wiht what I am looking at?
That’s a tough one to advise you on, as it is your feelings toward the two situations that will have to be satisfied. Remember it’s your rr and should what YOU want. You will have to decide whether you want the ability to have more railroad in your space or a less well represented road and not as much trackage in that space.
Well, I had a decision similar to that a few years ago. Mine centered on moving and starting a new layout, and whether to stay with N or switch to HO. I also liked DCC and particularly since better sound decoders were coming out, I wanted my locomotives to have sound.
I decided to switch to HO.
I also decided not to buy a bunch of equipment right away, but wait until I got a layout started so I could make a decision on what to buy based on what I was going to model. The N scale stuff that I had, I sold at train shows and on eBay.
Looking back, I have not regretted my decision. My layout now has all sound locomotives and a full signal system, and I am enjoying it very much even though I am still working on the scenery, buildings, and details.
I think that cowman has given you good advice here. Space versus prototype. Go with what is more important to you, a lot of track or a well represented prototype.
In which scale would it be easer for me to find if I was going to set my line in the first 1/4 of the 1900’s. Running 4-4-0 or 2-8-0 and 2-6-0 type engines and still use DCC?
There is a lot of DCC ready and DCC equipped locomotives from Atlas,Walthers etc and there’s a wide assortment of freight cars spanning several eras…There’s tons of N Scale decoders.
What is it you really want?
Looking for a excuse to change scales?
Need to feel justified for changing scales?
What do you mean by normal track?
I apologize for being blunt but,you make little sense-unless of course you’re new to N Scale or have no experience…
I suspect you have no real experience with N as far as what is available.
What is available in either scale depends on how much effort you want to put into building/bashing/searching.
Do you need prototype-specific engines - models of prototypes that were actually used by the N&W? Or are generic engines lettered for the N&W sufficient? Or are you willing to repaint and/or decal a model for the N&W? Are you willing to add details to a generic engine to make it look more like a specific N&W engine? I chose N&W because you mentioned it, but it could be any prototype.
1925 in US railroading was very different from 1900 for locomotives and rolling stock. About 1912, almost all steam engines were being built with super heaters because of the extra efficiency. Which meant a shift to piston valves from slide valves, and a different valve gear than Stevenson. A 1925 railroad would have a mixture of super heated and non-super heated engines, a 1905 railroad would not. Similarly, steel underframes were pretty close to universal for new car construction after 1910. Any truss-rod wood underframe freight cars would tend to be on their last legs in 1925 - the lifespan of such a car is often reckoned at around 15 years without a major rebuilding.
Of course, how closely you model the specifics of a particular era is totally up to you.
And if you are truly looking to model the 19th Century, O scale has a lot to offer. The closer you set your date to 1925, the more there is available (in any scale). This is because some 1925 equipment was still in use during the ever popular transition era. This would not be as true for equipment built in 1900.
As for DCC, are you willing to do your own (or pay somebody to do) DCC decoder installs? The universe of available locomotives expands. Or are you insisting on manufacturer installations? Then the available universe contracts. Same applies to buying used and/or out-of-production locomotives. And for le