Model Railroad Blog

Dealing with Oversize N Scale Track

Model Power’s new Mogul easily traverses code 40 track soldered to PC ties.

The oversize appearance of N scale rail is an issue visually, particularly in photographs.  Actually, the oversize nature of many N scale components is a visual issue but for today let’s focus on the rail.

With track appearance you are dealing with two components that really stand out if they are oversize, the rail web itself, and the spikes.  Of the two, the spikes are the biggest offenders.  For the Brooklyn Terminal project I’m fortunate in that one of the advantages of street track is that the rail web and spikes are embedded in the pavement.  All you can see is the top of the track.  Problem solved for those areas.

Model Power’s recently released Mogul has proven to be a total blessing in terms of running quality.  The question now becomes, how far can I push things with it in terms of  going to smaller rail?  The driver flanges are oversize but not grossly so.  The size of the flanges isn’t that apparent.  The tender wheels are huge but, unlike the drivers, they can be easily replaced.  How will it react when placed on code 40 track?

I took the loco and pushed it down a section of Micro Engineering code 40 flex track.  As expected, I could feel the flanges riding up on the spike heads.  What if I removed the spike heads?  I took some code 40 track, removed the plastic ties and spikes, and replaced them with PC ties, and hooked up the power.   Success!  The steamer would easily glide back and forth without so much as a hiccup.  Problem solved for the exposed/non-street track, just use PC ties.

The remaining issue will be the turnouts.  Hand making N scale code 40 turnouts on PC ties is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.  The issue is, how do you throw them?  They are super delicate and there isn’t much material around the throw rod.  I don’t want to go with Tortoise switch machines nor do I want to deal with manual linkages as that would break up the clean look of the fascia.  For switching layouts I prefer manually/finger flipping the points.  Both Micro Engineering and Peco have that spring loaded feature built in.  How to incorporate that in code 40?  One thought is how would a Micro Engineering code 55 turnout would look if I trimmed off the spikes and could somehow slim down the look of the guard rails and frog?  To be determined…………

Brooklyn Terminal 4/7/18

N scale.  N scale steam.  Short wheelbase N scale steam.  Tight radius street trackage.  What could go wrong!?  Actually things on the Brooklyn Terminal are going fairly well.  However, if I’ve learned one thing in my forty plus years of modeling it’s this.  It is really, really important, to get something running as soon as possible, maintain momentum, not get bogged down sorting out mechanical problems before you do in fact start running, and finally, knowing that with certain themes there WILL, without question, be mechanical challenges.  Anticipate those challenges.

For this reason I employ a construction strategy of assembling the bench work and then immediately lay what I’ll call operationally mocked up track work.  This would be Atlas code 83 in HO and Peco code 80 in N.  Working neatly but quickly, I’ll get the temporary track down, wire it in, and start running.  This does two things.  First it keeps enthusiasm high.  Second, it allows you to test your plan and concept before investing huge amounts of time building detailed track work.  You don’t want to spend three months laying a grand total of three feet of Proto:87 scale rail, right down to etched tie plates, only to find the original plan was flawed or needs adjustment.  Or, using the same example…let’s say the design is fine and consists of a hundred feet of rail.  If getting that first three feet of it down takes you three months (and it very will might) you’ll get bogged down and eventually lose interest.  I call it the old tractor pulling analogy.  Initial enthusiasm shoots you out of the gate but eventually the scale of what you’re trying to do pulls you to stop.  I’m speaking from experience.  If you take that same example, mock up your track, then you can enjoy the layout and gradually upgrade the rail at your leisure.

There has been a fair amount of testing and adjusting on the Brooklyn Terminal but so far things are encouraging. I now have the mock up track in place as well as most of the Unitram street pieces in.   With some light filing here and there the Kato Unitram is looking more and more viable as a way to attractively model street track…..as long as you commit to short, and I mean really, really short wheel base locomotives.  The new Model Power 2-6-0 is also looking more and more like a breakthrough locomotive from the standpoint that we now have a small steam switcher in N scale that is an exceptionally smooth slow speed runner.  I can now run test op. sessions, see what I have, and then move on to more detailed work.

Boulevards

Looking west down District Blvd. on the LAJ layout.

 

Boulevards.  They put a character stamp on a place.   Bandini, District, Leonis, all boulevards in LAJ country.  The names hint at heavy lifting, industry, and yet not in an ugly, rust belt, smog choked sort of way.  Commerce is housed in structures designed almost a hundred years ago by architects with the natural gift for creating buildings personifying understated grace, elegance, and timeless beauty.