Real Estate Disputes and Other Matters

My train room is being taken over by closet space.

Ever since the charming and lovely Mrs Hades agreed to take up space with me we've been moving things around. What was big enough for one person (me) has proven insufficient for two, so along one wall of the "train room" there is now shelving and clothing.

Everything that was along that wall has been moved to the opposite wall, where I'm pleased and somewhat surprised to report it all fits...tightly, to be sure, but it fits.  The large 4x8 N standard layout has been disassembled and all that is left in the center of the room is the uncompleted Nn3 layout.

Unfortunately it looks like that may have to find another place to live as well, or be disassembled and the parts used for something else. (Maybe I can finally do the long-planned Saltillo modules, complete with the NARCO quarry branch.) Also on the block is the proposed Z scale layout, I just don't have the room for it as things stand now.

Two things I am looking at is double decking and reducing by one the number of standard gauge N scale layouts. If I reduce the number of N standard I will be finding somewhere to put the rock quarry. I could then put the Z scale in the corner and put the Nn3 on a shelf over the top of the standard N.

Losing the quarry wouldn't be a huge blow. It has given me some experience in working with foam at least, and the performance of the Bachmann set that prompted the layout has, as is typical with Bachmann 4-4-0's, been disappointing to say the least. I can at least use the benchwork for one part of the Z scale, so that isn't a total loss either. Finding civil war era buildings for the rock quarry has been problematic as well, and the effort would be better served finishing the scenery on the other standard N scale layout.

But enough about that. Moving has been completed enough to take a little break at least, so I've been spending time in the train room tuning engines. I've finally gotten all of my Pacifics to work reliably and I've even been able to get my two Atlas 4-4-0's to run decently again (the unpainted one threw a tire after being painted and the undec didn't run well out of the box).

I've been working on the 2-8-0's as well, they don't like tight corners. The problem is some Bachmann engineer in a fit of brilliance decided that metal would be a good material to cast the cylinder fronts out of, so when the pony wheels touch it they short out. I've had to carve and cut them away to clear the pony truck wheels, they look terrible up close but after they were painted they are hardly noticeable from operating distance, and now they will actually run on the 11" radius curves like they are supposed to.

Last but not least I added a siding to the backside of the Clarinda modules.  I've been thinking of doing that for a while because it adds some operational flexibility. Now I can have a passenger train laying in wait to take a few laps while the freight train is on a siding, either in the front or in the back. I've tried it both ways and it is working as planned.

Next week I hope to get some of the scenery done on them. We'll see how that goes.

Shapeways Model Trains

I have purchased several things through Shapeways such as 2 bay East Broad Top hoppers, the EBT M-1 (I actually bought two of those because the design was updated and is much better), and passenger cars in both Nn3 and Z scale. The upside to Shapeways is you can get designs that are not available elsewhere, the downside is the process makes a somewhat grainy textured product that is quite fragile in some cases. There are some tricks to reduce the fragility, and in my opinion the bonus of being able to get what you want overshadows the drawbacks.

One of the complaints I had about the Shapeways site was having to perform several searches to find the products I wanted. Apparently Shapeways became aware of the problem, and I'm happy to say they solved it by making a dedicated model train page.

I think model railroading has a bright future in 3D printing, and I'm excited to see Shapeways leading the charge.

(Note to the FTC, I write this post as a satisfied consumer and did not get paid for it in any way, so bugger off.)

Orbisonia Station

Republic Locomotive Works finally has enough orders to produce Orbisonia Station, circa 1935. This is good news for the EBT fans who want a model of the station and don't quite have the modeling skills to scratch build.

Check it out at the Republic Locomotive Works webpage.

I've Been Working On The Railroad(s)

For the past couple of weeks I've been laying Fast Tracks turnouts on the narrow gauge, wiring them up and hooking them to Caboose Industries ground throws. I've found that the 224S, designed for Atlas code 55, is perfect for Nn3.

So far all the turnouts needed for the yard are back in. They were originally Marklin turnouts and it took a bit of fitting for the Fast Tracks turnouts to fit, but all has been arranged to work. Some of them still need a bit of tweaking but so far they work pretty good.

I brought a new plastic drawer set home today and cleared off both the 4x8 table layout and the narrow gauge that sits on top of it. The control panel has been removed from the 4x8 and the wiring has been all cut from underneath. It is now a collection of track on a piece of plywood, nothing more.

The only thing I will save is the turntable. I have no plans for it, but it will go in a box with the roundhouse and perhaps get used on something later. Tonight when Eldest Son gets home I'll have him help me take the narrow gauge off the top of the 4x8 and then deconstruction of the table will commence.

I'm also going to start clearing some of the things out of the room that I have never used and have no plans for, there is quite a bit of that hanging around. I'll probably end up with a bunch of cabinets lining the outside of the room with the layout(s) on top of them.

The clearing of this first permanent layout that was never quite finished will give room for the other projects that I have in the works, and maybe I'll get one of them done before I'm all through. I have three in the works at present; the Clarinda module pair, the rock quarry, and the narrow gauge.

On another note, the track has been ordered for the Z scale layout. I haven't figured out where it will live, but I'll make room for it. I'm using Micro-Trains Micro-Track so that I won't have to hand lay any turnouts (the AZL Mikado is very finicky about its track work, it won't run on the narrow gauge but the GP7 will) and it will be a city scape.

The tentative track plan is below.

And that's what I've been up to lately.

AZL

A knock on the door today brought me the Nickel Plate trio I ordered last week. Here are the pictures:

They are beautiful little...might I even say, tiny...models, just as detailed as the N scale offerings, far outshining the Marklins that I had been buying as donors for Nn3. I had made this purchase with the nefarious scheme of converting one, maybe both, locomotives into Nn3 locos but the Geep is a bit too short to be used for the M1 and, as can be seen in the following photo, the Mikado drivers are too small to be used for an EBT locomotive although it may be suitable for another prototype.

Besides, they are just too nice to be cut up as donors, so it looks like I may be building a small freight type layout in Z scale instead.

Motivation

Yes, it's been a while.

No, I ain't dead yet.

Plans this year are to finally get off my 5th point of contact and disassemble the table I've been threatening to disassemble for a while, then I will have the room I need to bring both standard gauge modules into the "train room" (and maybe finish the scenery on them) and finish the narrow gauge module. For now I'll keep them separate but eventually I may try to link at least one standard gauge to the narrow gauge with a bridge.

To that end I've been assembling completed FastTrack narrow gauge turnouts and throws to basswood bases in preparation for mounting to the module. I'm using Caboose Industries ground throws with the integral electrical contacts for this purpose, and I've pared the module needs down to four (three left and a right) for this purpose.

I've also ordered some new motive power, this time from AZL. They are running a special right now, a Mikado and a GP7 with a caboose, at a very attractive price. My plan is to compare the Marklin 8827 chassis to the AZL and see if the AZL will be a good stand-in to build EBT Mikes on. I have no idea what I'll use the Geep for, maybe it will be a good start for an M7.

They should be here Wednesday, so I'll do a review and write-up on both of them then.

Roundhouse

EBT modeler Russ Norris is building his HOn3 version of an East Broad Top themed narrow gauge road to include the Orbisonia/Rockhill shops complex. One of the most important building in this complex is, of course, the eight stall roundhouse.

He writes about it on his blog and mentions the fact that the first version of the model was unfortunately too small. Fortunately the next version was just the right size, and the process of building the model can be found here and here.

I made a comment wondering what it would look like for Nn3, and he generously sent it along.

Comparing it to the pictures that Russ has on his site you can see that it is quite a bit oversize for Nn3, but doesn't look too far out of scale for standard N scale.

I guess I'll just have to build it and see how it looks.