JimG
Western Thunderer
I was digging around looking for something recently and opened a drawer full of American N scale stock. Now I remember collecting all this stock some years ago. I wanted to get into DCC and I didn't have anything running in S scale at the time, so I opted to get a DCC fitted N scale switcher and some sectional track to try things out. This was all made a bit easier since I had found Model Junction at Slough which just happened to be on my way home from my business at Denham to Yate at the weekends. So the inital purchases turned into regular visits, with bits of stock being accumulated - as they do.
With all this stock I opted to build a layout to accommodate it - another switching layout since I didn't have room for anything larger. Seeing all the stock in the drawer reminded me of the planned layout and I remembered doing some work on it - I think I actually posted some pictures in a thread on the old RMWEB now lost after their recent update. So I visited the attic, found the two baseboards and this :-
...and details of what I did came floating back. I sort of remembered how it went together but I dug out my old PC and found the original Templot file dated 2008, printed it out and placed the track parts on it.
Here's a diagram of the layout from Templot.
The two boards are 3' 6" long and the found trackwork is destined for the left hand board above. The section in the green rectangle on the right hand board is a sector plate with a connection to the long straight hidden sidding at the top of the diagram. I think I remember that most of the track on the right hand board has been laid but I can't confirm that until I dig the boards out of the attic.
Here are a couple of close-ups of parts of the track.
The rail is 40thou wire rail from the 2mm Association soldered to copper-clad sleepers and timbers from the same source. It's all constructed with continuous check rails since the track is supposed to be inset in roadways and cobbles.
Sharp-eyed viewers may have noted that the clearances seem to be a bit tight for N scale. The track is actually laid to FS160 standards which is a finer set of standards designed by European modellers. Basically they have taken the 2mm Association standards and narrowed the gauge from 9.42mm to 9mm. The web site for the standards is here.
fiNe-scale or FS160
Here's a comparison of the wheels...
...with the standard N scale wheels on the left and the FS160 wheels on the right. I machine the wheels myself using Intermountain products with metal wheels. The standard wheels and axles on RTR products are all plastic and don't really machine all that easily. The wheels on the left are the Intermountain wheels before machining to the finished size on the right. It's a fairly straightforward process taking a skim off the front and rear to get the tyre and flange width down to standard. The flange depth happens to come out pretty well spot on after these operations.
The wheels on the first locomotive were treated in a similar way although I think I remember that I got spare wheels on axles from Atlas to use so that the locomotives could be restored to normal N scale standard if I were to sell them on.
I suspect this will be another iron in the fire along with the S scale layout and the layout in the garden.
Jim.
With all this stock I opted to build a layout to accommodate it - another switching layout since I didn't have room for anything larger. Seeing all the stock in the drawer reminded me of the planned layout and I remembered doing some work on it - I think I actually posted some pictures in a thread on the old RMWEB now lost after their recent update. So I visited the attic, found the two baseboards and this :-
...and details of what I did came floating back. I sort of remembered how it went together but I dug out my old PC and found the original Templot file dated 2008, printed it out and placed the track parts on it.
Here's a diagram of the layout from Templot.
The two boards are 3' 6" long and the found trackwork is destined for the left hand board above. The section in the green rectangle on the right hand board is a sector plate with a connection to the long straight hidden sidding at the top of the diagram. I think I remember that most of the track on the right hand board has been laid but I can't confirm that until I dig the boards out of the attic.
Here are a couple of close-ups of parts of the track.
The rail is 40thou wire rail from the 2mm Association soldered to copper-clad sleepers and timbers from the same source. It's all constructed with continuous check rails since the track is supposed to be inset in roadways and cobbles.
Sharp-eyed viewers may have noted that the clearances seem to be a bit tight for N scale. The track is actually laid to FS160 standards which is a finer set of standards designed by European modellers. Basically they have taken the 2mm Association standards and narrowed the gauge from 9.42mm to 9mm. The web site for the standards is here.
fiNe-scale or FS160
Here's a comparison of the wheels...
...with the standard N scale wheels on the left and the FS160 wheels on the right. I machine the wheels myself using Intermountain products with metal wheels. The standard wheels and axles on RTR products are all plastic and don't really machine all that easily. The wheels on the left are the Intermountain wheels before machining to the finished size on the right. It's a fairly straightforward process taking a skim off the front and rear to get the tyre and flange width down to standard. The flange depth happens to come out pretty well spot on after these operations.
The wheels on the first locomotive were treated in a similar way although I think I remember that I got spare wheels on axles from Atlas to use so that the locomotives could be restored to normal N scale standard if I were to sell them on.
I suspect this will be another iron in the fire along with the S scale layout and the layout in the garden.
Jim.