DCC decoder advice for N scalers: Any argument about powering a layout with Digital Command Control (DCC) ended for me many years ago. If you have more than one locomotive it’s the way to go, and the easiest way to get going is to purchase engines that come with the decoder already in there. This […]
Repairing older N scale handrails: Back in the early days of N scale – the 1970s and ’80s – most N scale diesel locomotives had oversized handrails. In fact, they were often so outlandish we called them stovepipes. N-scalers have always been a clever bunch, and this was just one of the colorful and humorous […]
Running N scale trains too fast: Several years ago the N scale Enthusiast national convention came to town, and I was very pleased that, over the course of one day, four busloads of N scalers from all over the world came to my house to visit my layout. My friends Andy Sperandeo and Gordy Spiering […]
Thoughts on detailing N scale diesels: I really enjoy modifying locomotives and adding or subtracting details to make them more closely represent specific prototypes. I’m most interested in my Santa Fe and Southern Pacific engines, but hope someday to also get to the engines from other lines that turn up on my N scale circa […]
Garden railroad in Australia: I have been a model railroader in both N and HO scale, and then I discovered large scale. My other pastime is the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting, so I knew my theme would be the Wild West. Space was limited on my inner-city block, so I set up a basic […]
Chris Montagna is a Contributing Editor of Classic Toy Trains and operates the Chris’s Trains and Things channel on YouTube. What Toy Train Locomotive Means the Most to You? When I reflect on the locomotives in my collection it’s difficult to pinpoint just one that I love above the rest. I was recently asked this […]
The best N scale tools: I’m going to write about what might be called “second-echelon” tools, that’s to say the tools you begin accumulating after you’ve been in the hobby awhile and have the basic tools you really can’t do without. The following is a short list of the some of the best N scale […]
If you run steam locomotives on your model railroad, you need a steam engine terminal. Even if you don’t have room to model one, your model locomotives must get serviced somewhere off layout. But there are a lot of good reasons to model a steam engine terminal. First of all, and most important to some, […]
What is the largest radius curve on your layout? If you said anything less than 24”, you won’t be running 85-foot passenger cars any time soon. Even then, a 24” curve is extremely tight for those cars to navigate. Fear not, I have the solution for your long passenger car dilemma: short steam era passenger […]
Signaling has entered a golden age in the hobby. More options exist now than have ever existed before for modelers to add signals to their railroads. Resources and online groups allow access to information and photographs at an unprecedented level. Possibilities cover the full range of options from a single stand-alone manual signal to a […]
How to keep N scale piggybacks on track: My N scale Tehachapi Pass layout is set in 1985. Intermodal railroading was well established, but on nothing like the scale we see today. Most intermodal traffic in the pass was TOFC (trailer-on-flatcar), more commonly called “pigs,” short for piggybacks. For my money there’s nothing much less […]
Facts & features Name: Norfolk Southern Salem DivisionScale: HO (1:87.1)Size: 15 x 34 feetPrototype: Norfolk Southern Locale: Salem, Va.Era: summer 1991Style: walkaroundMainline run: 80 feetMinimum radius: 22″ (branch), 25″ (main)Minimum turnout: No. 6Maximum grade: 1.5%Benchwork: open gridHeight: 40″ to 46″Roadbed: corkTrack: Atlas code 83 flextrack with Peco and Shinohara turnoutsScenery: extruded-foam insulation board and Woodland […]
