SJNSLWLT#1 (1st annual South Jersey N Scale Lone Wolf Layout Tour)

Three years and three forums later I have finally dug up a few fellow N Scale modelers within driving distance. Today we got together and toured each other's layouts. Although none of us have layouts fit for public display we did get together to share our construction progress, model railroad dreams, and aspirations.

First stop: Bob (Ntrainz1) has switched his 3'x18' layout to code 55 track and is currently waiting for Atlas Manufacturing to get its China manufacturing situation corrected and resupply its track products (code 55 due in November). Bob models the Conrail Shared Access system in southern NJ (without the A frame Paulsboro bridge that dumps Hazmat tank cars into Mantua Creek).

TimHar47 was the next stop. Tim is modeling the PRR Middle Division with a Lehigh Valley interchange.

Next on to John's house and a lesson in how to build a layout without track. While waiting for a slow boat from China (code 80 flextrack) John is laying out the scenery in his 12'z28' layout room (drool, drool!). John is modeling NS in Virginia and Kentucky.

And then back to my place (PRSL early 1950s) where we finally put Mr. Reach Police (epumph - always concerned about being able to reach train wrecks in the far corner) in his rightful place (an access hole near the Camden Pavonia yard).

Taking a Break - for "S" Scale

I had the pleasure of visiting a fellow member of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Historical Society, Bill Lane. Bill actually runs the PRSLHS as a labor of love and is known for his outstanding craftsmanship. A friend and I were privileged to be able to visit with him today and enjoy his magnificent work in S scale (larger than HO; smaller than O). I'll let the pictures speak for themselves (click on them to expand them).

 

 

 

Visitors, Visiting, and Beautiful Downtown Camden

It's been a pleasant couple of weeks. Got visited by NTrainz1, TimHar47, and his son (Tim P) who is one of the moderators on the Model Railcast (podcast) Show. Evening flew by fast with such fun topics as rich model railroaders compared to  poor model railroaders (we all fit in the latter category). The senior Tim kept noticing how long ago some of my buildings were produced (and I bought them new :-) ) and making me feel very old.

Also got to visit a friend who has recently switched from HO to N scale. How I would love to have his 12'x26' finished basement room. He will be doing NS in Virginia (oh, how I miss having mountains).

Spent time cutting and painting plywood. All the ground level plywood is in and attached to the bench-work. Now I am trying finalize switch locations to service the Camden Pavonia yard. Since I have difficulty visualizing the 3D effect of plans, I pulled out tons of stored buildings to do some mock-ups of downtown Camden (this section will be non-protypical). I just wanted to see how things would look and fit into the overall room scenery.

Now back to track-work (don't even mention that dirty word (ballasting)).

Happy Belated Birthday!

My birthday present finally arrived in the mail today. My birthday was in September and all my kids gave me money towards a NS Pennsylvania RR Heritage diesel engine (Fox Vallet models; due 4th quarter 2012 :-) ) Doesn't matter, It's Here! Didn't really expect it to be on time, but I have been looking forward to its arrival and now I have another modern engine violating my 1950s layout. So sue me!

We Should Be Revered!

I met a local N -scale model railroader last week and had him over for a visit. He noticed that some of the buildings on my layout were "classics" (1960s) that haven't been around for a long while. In particular a factory and tower that were marketed by Revell in the early days of USA N scale. He sent me an eBay link for a collection of buildings that had skyrocketed in price, primarily because of the aforementioned factory model.

(pictures from my old layout)

I told him we should be revered by his son and his fellow moderators on his model podcast show. After all, besides being around at the beginning of American N scale we were actually kids and young adults when the Great Northern,  CB&Q, Southern, D&RGW, Atlantic Coast Line, and the Sante Fe were all still in their full color glory. (I think the GN's Green and Orange streamliners were one of the things that hooked me on railroading.) Plus we had the music: Freight train, freight train goin' so fast,...

Instead we are probably the butt of jokes for our code 80 rail and DC power systems.

Those young know-it-alls! 
(Still wouldn't trade places with them.)

Phase 3 Begins!

I have sold off enough excess freight cars to get the money to begin the phase 3 construction. (Wow! Wood has gotten expensive!) This phase is targeted to contain a Schuylkill River/Manayunk bridge (Philadelphia) scene, a super shrunken Philadelphia 30th Street Station scene and the PRSL Camden Pavonia yard (unlike Westville & Woodbury, the trackage here is totally fictional, only the name remains).

Anyway bench-work is well underway. I had been "tunneling" through the bookshelves of the built-in desk (nicely divides the scenes) much to my wife's chagrin and have now built the L-girder framework for the yard. This pretty much consumes the 12'x17' loft (also to my wife's dismay, but within the "legal" framework of our pre-"house purchase" negotiations :-)  ). It will also probably limit me to an operating crew of about 4 people.

Re-Doing Things

It is so much easier to do things right the first time but we don't always so we re-do them.

I didn't do a good job with the alignment of the 2 Westville modules (see 1st photo) and subsequent construction made things worse, so recently my RS3 started spending time hitting the ballast. So I spent significant time redoing the joint and the scenery around it.

Meanwhile I am having great difficulty keeping my late century Conrail Dash-8s off my mid-century PRSL trackage.

Oh well, resistance is futile!

Especially when 45 car coal drags look so good!

Trash Cans and Fire Plugs

I am slowing plodding along with Phase 3 construction (Philadelphia scenes and the Camden yard) and real operations will not begin until the main yard is functional. In the meantime, I added some fireplugs (NZT Products) and trash cans into the Woodbury scenes. The fireplugs will be the last because due to their size and color (I am red-green color-blind) I have great difficulty seeing them.



Also I figured it might as well be trash day on Washington Ave. (North Woodbury) so I added some trash cans (these I can see!)

Greenberg Trainshow - Wilmington, DE 3/23/13

I just got back from the Greenberg Train Show in Wilmington, DE. I have been somewhat disappointed in a lot of these shows recently because, in my mind, I tend to compare them to the Greenberg train shows in Philadelphia 15+ years ago. Back then they normally filled the Philadelphia Civic Center and had 20+ layouts displayed.

This show had very few tables with N scale equipment (mostly HO & Lionel) and the prices were not impressive. What was impressive were the pictures of Reading, Pennsy and Conrail scenes by the vendor situated at the entrance of the show. (Just wish I could afford the $30-$125 price tags.) His works were beautiful.

They only had 3-4 operating layouts and, as usual, the NTRAK  modules were the stars of the show. I've included some photos of New Jersey Southern NTRAK  layout below.