N-Scale Model Trains

The “N” scale model train is one of the smallest available (though there are smaller, the smallest at the date of this writing is “T” scale, 1:450). N scale model trains are the smallest of the 4 popular scales, with scales ranging from 1:148 in the UK, 1:150 in Japan, and 1:160 worldwide. The 1:160 version was developed in Germany in the 1960s. A model of a 2-6-6-2 locomotive in N scale is about the length of a lead pencil!

The track gauge for all N scale model trains is 9mm, that is the space inside each rail is 9mm. That’s pretty small!

N scale is about ½ the size of HO scale trains. As such, an N scale model railroad can fit about twice as much scenery into the same amount of space as an HO layout. With N scale you can have vast expanses in your layouts, without taking up too much room! Imagine a wide prairie scene with your locomotive chugging along in the distance.

Alternatively, if you want to set up an HO scale layout and increase perspective, you can place some N scale track and train in the “background,” which will increase the apparent distance on your layout. This is an advanced trick and one that you can use quite simply to amaze your friends and fellow enthusiasts.

Some N scale modelers have actually build layouts in shoeboxes! This offers a fascinating, challenging way to use your creative abilities, while constraining yourself in very interesting ways. Imagine building several shoebox “modules” which you can connect together to create a full working railroad layout. With a few friends who are interested in the same idea, you can create a wide variety of layouts, based on shoebox sized scenes! And of course, when you are done for the day, you can store your shoebox railway in the closet!

N scale equipment is made by all the major model train manufacturers, including Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann, Bowser and others. Track, electrical controls, buildings, structures and accessories are all available from a wide variety of suppliers. Finding the supplies and equipment to replicate an older or existing railway line may take some searching, however, there are many models that have been made over the years.

The cost of N scale model trains is comparable to the cost of HO model trains. Locomotives can run from $45.00 on up, and can be configured with sound, smoke, DCC. Rolling stock is also available in the full range of detail, models, manufacturers and pricing.

Scenery is can be purchased or made by hand. Scratch building is popular, though it can be challenging to older hands and eyes. Full kits can be purchased, as well as separate components such as windows and doors. Figures and vehicles, animals and trackside equipment are all available in this popular scale. You are only limited by your imagination with N scale model railroading.

Kitbashing is becoming more popular in the N scale world. Kitbashing refers to purchasing multiple kits, and then composing your own hybrid from the components. This offers the modeler the ability to create unique buildings and scenes without the hassle of constructing the parts by hand.

N scale model trains offer another variation in the wonderful world of model railroading. When you are planning your layout, keep this useful and fun alternative in mind. You get lots of detail in a small amount of space – you literally can double the fun (over HO) for about the same cost of equipment and space!

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by Scott Watkins       beginnersguidetomodeltrains.com      modeltrainsforbeginners.com

Model Train Scenery

Bring your Model Railroad to Life with Scenery

The scenery of your layout can be as interesting and fascinating as your model train equipment. Your scenery really defines your model railroad – the place and time. Even putting just a few kit buildings around your layout can alter it’s look and feel dramatically. How detailed do you want to get?

Before you begin setting up a permanent or even semi-permanent scenery, you should make sure your layout is the way you want it, your trackwork is solid, and your wiring and switching is working perfectly. There is nothing worse than having to tear apart some carefully constructed scenery to make track repairs. The prototype railroads don’t like to do it, and neither will you!

Terrain

Begin by building the terrain of your layout. If you are keeping it simple, and flat, then a layer of 2” extruded foam insulation, solidly attached to your benchwork is all you need.

If your terrain is going to be varied, then, following your plan, build up the basic form of your landscape, by either carving into your foam, adding more foam and carving away. Sometimes plaster over chicken wire, or other techniques, are used to create mountains and higher elevations. You may need to build these higher elevations before laying track.

Scenery From the Ground Up

Once your trackwork is completed and fully tested, you can start with detailing your scenery. I like to begin with the ground and work my way up. Not to say I don’t have a kit or two in the works, but before placing anything, I have my ground set – roads, sidewalks, curb cuts, bridges. It’s always a good idea as you work to occasionally place any buildings you are using in the scene, as well as run your train through, to check the “look and feel” of what you are creating.

Model Scenery Materials

Building model train scenery involves color, shape and texture – if you look at a scene out of doors and squint your eyes, so they loose focus, you will have only a general idea of colors and shapes. Not that you are going to be looking at your model railroad through squinting eyes!

Materials used should be water soluble, so that you can use water based scenery materials, which are much easier to work with than oil-based ones. These materials can be found at hobby shops, craft stores, art supply stores, hardware stores, and home improvement centers. These types of materials are also all available on-line, however, sometimes we just have to hold the material in our hand, or see it up close before we can be satisfied it is the right material for the job.

Many natural materials are easily found by taking a walk through the woods or a park, selecting twigs, stones, and other materials, to add a natural look to your model train layout.

For coloring, consider using acrylic paint, available at craft stores and art supply. This is easy to work with, is water soluble, dries quickly. To keep costs down you can purchase “school grade” colors. White acrylic gesso can be purchased in a variety of “thicknesses,” this can be used to build up waves on water, for instance, or seal styrofoam constructions.

Texture

Adding grass, weeds, trees, stone – adding texture – really brings a model railroad layout to life. The illusion of a perfectly manicured lawn, sagebrush in the desert, dense forest undergrowth, or wet seaweed on the rocks can be obtained, creating realism from imagination!

Good sources of scenery textures are Woodland Scenics, Wathers and Scenic Express. Make sure you get at least three shades of coarse and fine green foam, leaf colored brown foam, and several colors of ballast gravel. You’ll also want a few colors of coal and dirt.

Your walks should bring you pieces of wood, sticks, twigs, even roots. Just build up a collection of materials and textures as you go, soon enough you will have a nice set of materials to add to your layout as you expand.

Trees and Foliage

Trees can be purchased, or made from weeds found in the backyard. Find twigs that are tree shaped and sturdy enough to be handled while you pocket it, paint it and apply foliage to it. Trim them into shape with scissors, and keep the trimmings for making shrubs and bushes.

Consider SuperTrees, which can be purchased from Scenic Express. These are natural trees that grow in the Arctic tundra of Scandinavia. These are dwarf tress that make excellent scenery for your layout.

Water

Realistic water features, such as ponds, rivers, lakes and others are hard to beat for adding realism and variety to your layout. New water-making materials are available to easily model realistic water surfaces. Some of the materials are Plexiglas, acrylic gloss medium, acrylic gloss gel, and EnviroTex two-part epoxy.

Construct your water features toward the end of building your scenery. Prep the water feature – painting and detailing the bottom- then, patience! Wait to finish the water until the rest of the layout is complete, including ballasting the track. This keeps the water fresh looking as long as possible.

Modeling water features is beyond the scope of this article – look for a detailed one in the future!

Track Ballast

Track ballast is the materials the tracks sit on (in the prototype). A well-ballasted track will make your scene realistic. The detailing will include weathering the track itself, adding rocks, gravel and other materials, so that the track itself blends into the scene.

Before ballasting, test your track so that your trains are running perfectly. A good test is to run five or more cars backward, quickly, around the layout. If you can run around and around the track, no wobbling or derailments, then you are ready to ballast. If not, you need to check your track, and the wheels on your train, and fix any problems. Gauges can be purchased to make track and wheel checking simpler.

Weather ties and rails using a wash of paint. Burnt umber color is a good start, wiping the rail tops off immediately. Keep the paint out of switches and linkages.

Ballast track when you have completed all the other scenery. Ballast should flow over the right-of-way to naturally blend into the surroundings. Use real stone ballast for the best look. You can test for this by dropping a bit into some water – if any of it floats, it’s organic, and won’t look correct. Real stone ballast stays put.

Use your stone size to be one size smaller than you think you need – if you have an HO layout, us N-scale ballast.

You’ll want to bond your ballast, using white glue diluted with water. You can add a few drops of dishwashing solution as a wetting agent, to help it flow. Keep ballast away from moving parts of turnouts. Keep the ballast down between the rails, not on top!

Weather ballast with a thin wash of earth tone paint.

This is a small fraction of ideas and techniques to get you thinking about the scenery for your model train layout. I hope this helps you get started.

by Scott Watkins model-train-info.com

Building Benchwork

As you get started with model railroading you are going to want to build your own virtual world, which means you are going to want to construct scenery and settings for your trains. I mean, how long can you watch your train go around in circles on the floor?

Benchwork and Layout

The more pre-planning you do, the easier it is in the long run to concentrate on  what’s really important – the operating of your railroad. Whether you want to create a miniature version of some time or place, or just operate your trains in a wonderful dream world, you want your railroad to be placed solidly.

Whether you are ready to build something permanent, or perhaps portable or modular (to display at shows and conventions), the foundation of your layout will be the benchwork. Benchwork is the platform upon which you will build every other aspect of your railroad layout. You can either build your own, or purchase a kit (or kits). Kits are ready to assemble, and you can of course take them apart if necessary, to store when you need the space, or travel with to shows.

Building your own benchworking requires some skills with wood, and tools, such as saws, screwguns, measuring, etc. Don’t worry, there is nothing difficult about this. The advantage to building your own is that you can design the exact benchwork to fit your desired layout. Oh – the layout! You do have some ideas for a layout design, right? If you do, great! If not – that’s alright, the beauty of model railroading is that you can expand on your layout as you want to, as you get ideas. Some old-timers have developed their layout over 15 or 20 years! Part of the fun is adding in new dimensions as you make new discoveries in life.

Some model railroaders have built a layout on shelving along two walls! With a 2 by 8 foot “shelf” you can build a module that can be mated with other modules to construct a full railway. Of course this only allows for back and forth switching (no loop). For some people, that’s enough!

The British have perfected the art of layout designs on shelves. There are many British layouts only 8 to 12 feet long made from smaller 2 to 4 foot sections.

You can build a diorama, which may depict a small scene of an industry. Let your imagination roam!

Some things to consider when designing benchwork (and your layout):

• How large do you want to get, and how much room do you have?  Some modelers have built n-scale layouts in a shoebox!

• How much room do you want around your railroad for scenery?

• What shape will your layout be? Square, rectangle, oval, irregular?

• Will you be expanding your layout in the future?

• Do you want all or part of your layout to be portable or modular?

Will you be building your layout in a permanent location, or is there any chance it will have to be moved? If you will have to move it, then I recommend you build your benchwork in modules about 3×6 feet – no larger than one or two people can carry! Build 6 of these and you can put them together to have a 6×18-foot table!

Benchwork Particulars

The most important part of your benchwork is that is a solid surface, resting solidly on the floor (assuming you are not building a shelf railway). Typical bench height is 28-30 inches.

The best design for benchwork seems to be a framework built from 1×2 boards for smaller layouts, with 1×4 boards for a layout larger than 2×6 feet. Place the boards on edge to create the frame, and then add more boards inside to create a grid (when looking down at it) which has boxes no smaller than 2×2 feet. This gives the best support to your tabletop.

Always construct your benchwork using screws, so that you can dis-assemble or remove them without disturbing the rest of your setup. Use a pilot drill for drilling holes, so you don’t split the wood.

I don’t recommend particle board or MDF board, which can sag and are pretty heavy. ½ plywood usually works well.

A good surface will be at least 3/8” or ½” plywood. Although some modelers like to elevate the plywood above the grid a few inches, and then cut away the plywood anywhere there is not going to be track or scenery, I prefer to use 2-inch extruded polystyrene insulation board, which can be gotten at any home improvement store.

Why elevate the plywood, or use 2-inch insulation? This allows for bridges, fills, water features, and natural variations in your scenery later on!

If you are going to have a layout with lots of variation in elevation, then you can build up from the open grid with multiple layers of insulation (which is very easy to carve away to create realistic terrain!) Make sure you use the proper adhesive, I like Liquid Nails “Projects and Foamboard” cement, to glue foamboard (to foamboard or plywood).

Note – do not use the white “expanded polystyrene” or “beadboard” because these types  have virtually no strength.

Once you have built your benchwork, you are ready to add some scenery.

by Scott Watkins model-train-info.com

We'll talk about scenery in our next post.

Model Trains

Layouts

Model Railroad Train layouts run the gamut, from a shelf on the wall to inside a shoebox to filling a basement, garage or loft space. Let’s not forget the garden trains, and outdoor ridable trains too! One of the beauties of model railroads is there is a scale to meet your space limitations!

Creating layouts can be an art form, where a realistic scene is constructed over the course of a lifetime, or, you can set up your tracks on a piece of plywood, place some buildings you’ve bought or made from kits, and run your railroad around and around! It’s really up to you!

Creating realism in your layout may mean using a few different scale trains, showing vast distance and size, in a small space. N scale model trains are great for showing large expressive landscapes in a small space, and with Z or T scale you can build city blocks inside of a shoebox and take them with you to visit with friends!

Locomotives

For many, locomotives are the most interesting part of the railroad, and who wouldn’t be excited by seeing that Iron Horse steaming down the line, whistle blowing as it approaches the crossing, pulling a mile long train behind it! Fortunately for the model railroader, manufacturers have built just about every locomotive (and every other type of rolling stock) ever made, it’s just a matter of finding the right one for your model railroad. Of course you can always scratch build one yourself – there are kits and components readily available.

Wiring and Control

If you are going to watch your model train move down the track, you are going to need to supply power. Modern model railroad trains are powered using the ‘Digital Command Control’ (“DCC”) recently developed. DCC allows for independent control of multiple locomotives on the same section of track! You can also control steam and whistles, automatic coupling and uncoupling, and switching trains from one track to the other. DCC simplifies wiring of train tracks, and you don’t need to understand very much about electricity or electronics at all to wire up your layout with this modern system. Oh, and DCC allows you to use a remote control for the whole thing. Did I mention multiple trains running at the same time – no problem with DCC!  There are many different brands of DCC.  They all operate similarly.  Pick the one you are most comfortable with and it will give you many years of use.

Details

Setting up a model railroad train layout can be fun and exciting. You can let your imagination take over and build a fantastic layout that will give you hours and hours of pleasure. The details of your model railroad are up to you. Some model railroaders go to great lengths to have exact details of every feature of their layout, from the car markings, to the billboards and ads, to car makes and models, and more. Landscaping, terrain, water features, bridges, all of these can be built, or bought, and installed on your layout to make it as realistic as you want it.

Model railroading, and model trains, can be an interesting and rewarding hobby. As you develop your skills and meet new people, a whole new world can open up for you. Stay open to new ideas, search more on the internet, keep reading, and most of all, keep on playing with your hobby!

by Scott Watkins model-train-info.com

Model Railroading

Many of us got started with model railroading when we received a small set for Christmas, and the thrill and excitement of that first set stays with many. Model railroading has been called “The Worlds Greatest Hobby,” though undoubtedly there are others that would argue for basket weaving.

Model trains have enlivened the imagination of hobbyists for a long time. It’s a great way to spend your time, and engages many talents. If you desire to go beyond collecting a few locomotives, you will be engaged in design, building, painting, working with small hand tools, and ultimately in creating a world (or at least a part of one) of your own making! There are fewer hobbies where one can say that about it!

Model railroading and model railroad trains have been around since the 1840’s when ‘carpet railways’ came about. Crude replica electric trains began to appear in the late 1900s. Modern model railroad trains often are exact likenesses of a ‘prototype’ locomotive or rail car, and layouts often are built to recreate exact locations and/or time periods.

Model railroad enthusiasts are involved in the hobby in many different ways. Some only collect locomotives, content to view their collection on a shelf, while others may have a small layout they mount to a tabletop and store away when not in use. The most ambitious spend countless hours and money creating large exact scale model railroads, building scenery and buildings from scratch.

Model railroad equipment ranges in size from 1:450 (‘T’ scale, the smallest to date) to 1:4 and larger. Live steam powered ridable models are generally 1:8 scale, these run outdoors. The most popular size is ‘HO’ scale, which is 1:87.1. The distance between tracks in HO is 16.5mm.

There are many sizes of model railroad trains. Size is also referred to as ‘scale,’ sometimes confused with ‘gauge.’ I’ll discuss gauge next. The most popular scales are G (1:22), O (1:48), HO (1:87.1) and N (1:160). Note – in various parts of the world, these scales are slightly different.

G and O scale are in the ‘large scale’ trains category. G scale uses a No. 1 gauge track. This gauge is 45mm between the rails. O scale uses 32mm between the tracks. O scale is sometimes thought of as a ‘toy train’ scale. Lionel trains use the O scale, and they certainly can be as lifelike as any other model train!

HO stands for ‘half of O’ and is half the size of O scale, at 1:87.1, and uses a track gauge of 16.5mm between the rails.

N stands for ‘Nine millimeter’ because this scale train uses 9mm between the rails.

The use of ‘scale’ and ‘gauge’ may be confusing, since many modelers and even article writers tend to use them interchangeably (HO ‘scale’). However, scale and gauge refer to two different aspects of model trains.

Scale refers to the ratio of the model to the prototype (the original). Thus with HO, 1 inch represents 87 inches of the prototype, and with N 1 inch represents 160 inches.

Gauge simply refers to the distance between the track rails.

See – that’s pretty simple, isn’t it!

by Scott Watkins model-train-info.com