The "Dayton" for model railroaders?

[W1GUH]

I'm up here in Springfield, MA, at the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show (http://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/). Seems that the flea market rivals Dayton in size & there's LOTS and LOTS of the "good stuff" for sale. Gotten all the missing pieces for the layout(s) I"m planning. There's the main one that's the ultimate objective, but I'm starting with a small, simple one for practice. N Scale.

Very short notice, but it's a two day affair so there's still time to make it tomorrow if you're local to it.

[n2ize]

I never found trains or model railroads particularly interesting. But, nonetheless it sounds like fun. Enjoy.

[N8YX]

I would love to have enough space to put a decent tinplate layout together. Used to be into HO scale then discovered radio-electronics in high school and haven't built anything train-wise since.

[W1GUH]

I would love to have enough space to put a decent tinplate layout together. Used to be into HO scale then discovered radio-electronics in high school and haven't built anything train-wise since.

Pretty much what happened with me. Trains til radio then...

Wait for retirement!

Had one started in the 80's & it was looking very good but other things came up. This time, tho'! The stuff has advanced. The amount of detail on those tiny n-scale cars and locomotives is impressive! And the "new" foam construction techniques make it neat and tidy for an apartment layout.

[NQ6U]

I played around with N scale stuff for a while and found that because of it's small size, it's really bothered by any sort of dirt or oxidation on the tracks and wheels. Then, I joined the Portola (California) railroad museum and started playing with P scale (Prototype—i.e., real) trains. I kind of lost interest in model railroading after that.

[K7SGJ]

I played around with N scale stuff for a while and found that because of it's small size, it's really bothered by any sort of dirt or oxidation on the tracks and wheels. Then, I joined the Portola (California) railroad museum and started playing with P scale (Prototype—i.e., real) trains. I kind of lost interest in model railroading after that.


Is that railroad museum down the road from Reuben H. Fleet in Balboa Park still there?

[NQ6U]

Is that railroad museum down the road from Reuben H. Fleet in Balboa Park still there?

Not a museum, but there is a little ride-on train thing. The nearest actual railroad museum that I know of is out in Campo (http://www.sdrm.org/), along the old San Diego & Arizona RoW.

[N8YX]

Talk to me about 1ft-gauge railroads...the kind you see at amusement parks and small-scale industrial settings, such as gravel quarries and cement plants. Who makes and sells the stuff?

[W1GUH]

Is that railroad museum down the road from Reuben H. Fleet in Balboa Park still there?

Lets see... Portola? Balboa Park? Is there more than one Balboa Park? There a Model Railroad museum in Balboa Park in San Diego that's great. That what you're talking about?


And who is Reuben H. Fleet? The guy who invented the enema?

[NQ6U]

dupe.

[NQ6U]

Lets see... Portola? Balboa Park? Is there more than one Balboa Park? There a Model Railroad museum in Balboa Park in San Diego that's great. That what you're talking about?

Oh, yeah, the model railroad museum, I forgot about that. Yes, it's still there in Balboa Park in the building across the promenade from the one with the nekkid wimmins with their boobies hangin' out. I love that building.



And who is Reuben H. Fleet? The guy who invented the enema?

Early aviation pioneer, founder of Consolidated Aircraft and a big-time right-wing asshole who was on the wrong side of history during San Diego's Free Speech Movement (http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/73winter/speech.htm) in 1912. More info on Fleet here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_H._Fleet).

[ab1ga]

Didn't invent it, but sorely needed it.

[W1GUH]

Well, OK, so far I've heard from a few who don't do model railroading, any who do?

[N8YX]

Well, OK, so far I've heard from a few who don't do model railroading, any who do?

There are probably a lot here who "do" model railroading but don't have the space for a layout. Participating in a club and aiding the construction/operation of their layout and rolling stock is one way to work around the space limitation.

I would love to have the space to put up a 4" - 12" gauge road. Building cars, track and structures with a full-sized machine/woodworking shop is a hell of a lot easier than building HO-scale equipment with a Unimat, Shoptask or similar benchtop outfit.

[ab1ga]

I have a Maerklin oval from the 1970s that I'd love to set up, but space is still at a premium here, and I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to get the stuff going again.

[W1GUH]

You can do lots in a small, say 4x2, layout in N scale. That's my first "practice" layout before I tackle the main one (not much bigger, 6x3). And the stuff is gorgeous! The amount of detail on today's rolling stock is breathtaking. And those Rapido couplers are history. Everything comes standard with knuckle couplers now. AND no more "toy track" look of that code 80 track. Atlas' code 55 N scale track is much truer (exact?) to real life.

When I've had a start I noticed that it doesn't take much scenic'ing to start giving a sense of the "real world." This is the first time I"m doing "full up" scenery -- can't wait to see how that goes.

Since this is a "practice" exercise, it's evolving into a more or less "free form." Soon's I get the base put together (styrofoam -- nice and light and easy to tuck away) and then start playing with track til I get a plan I like. (And can start playing with "electric trains"! Then let it evolve from there. Scenic Woodland's styrofoam system takes a lot of the difficulties and mess out of construction.

[n2ize]

I did an N scale layout years ago. Unfortunately it got wrecked. I would love to build a NYC subway layout. The cars are available in HO and O gauge. To me railroad = subways but that is because I grew up in NYC.

Trains are awesome but my main interest these days is in model aircraft. But I won't rule out a nice train/subway layout in the future.

[W1GUH]

They're both utterly absorbing, for sure. Yea, I gotta get a set of Metro-North; rode it daily for close to 20 years. Definitely want to put a "Westport" station on the layout.

Got the base done -- glued together 4 sheets of 2'x1'x 1" styrofoam with Woodland Scenics "hot" (but not hot enough to melt the foam) glue gun. Had that done in about 15 minutes -- EASY! Put down an oval so I can play electric trains. See lots of room on even that tiny size for scenic'ing and track. First try is a double track mainline with spurs. But who knows what that'll turn into as I play?