N-scale model trains aren't my life, but they do absorb a fair chunk of my spare time and funds.
I presently own around 200 engines and cars, heavy on grain hoppers.
I consider myself an intermediate-level modeler, with little interest in achieving perfection
down to the last rivet. My greatest joy in the hobby is watching people's faces light up
as they watch the trains, especially children.
The Little Layout
Yes, I actually do have a layout. This is Plan #1 from my trackplanning page, slightly altered
-- I used a three-way turnout on the upper level. The photo isn't the best quality,
but it does show what even rudimentary scenery can do to improve a simple 2x4' layout.
I'm using "glueshell" scenery, as described by Leon Honings in the Sept 1995 issue of
Model Railroader, with Woodland Scenics turf and ballast.
The factory with the smokestack is a Model Power kit, the brick building (a feed mill)
on the top level is made from DPM wall sections, and the silver grain elevator is scratchbuilt.
The Bend Track Plan
This plan is built to Bend Track modular standards - double track and a 14-1/2" minimum radius.
Some of the features include:
- I've abandoned plans for a little Midwestern town as the layout's focus. I think I'll have
more fun with a big industrial park, because:
- there will be a lot more switching.
- all those industries will look very railroady.
- I've gotta do something with all those structure kits I've been accumulating!
- I chose the industries based on the freight cars I like best and have the most of, namely,
covered hoppers and beercan tank cars. The chemical works and the flour mill will be busy places.
- The yard (yellow) is meant as a staging yard, not a place for making and breaking trains.
The engine facility will be for locomotive storage, and the three short tracks on the left
will be for short trains like RDC's and Thomas the Tank Engine.
- The two-sided backdrop divides each module into two scenes. The Acme Industries module takes
further advantage of this by running a spur through the backdrop to the other side. This
represents unseen tracks in the vast Acme complex, which can take any kind of freight car I
want to send there.
- The aisles are never smaller than 2' wide, and mostly 3' or more. I could have bent the
plan at the right end and run more modules downward, but I've decided (and a hard decision it was)
to use that part of the basement as a workshop, rather than fill my space with trains.
This is my pride & joy, ATSF #100, my best modeling work to date.
It's a JnJ F45 shell on a Kato SD45 mechanism. Both needed extensive modifications to fit each other.
The end handrails were formed from wire. Polly Scale paints and Micro Scale decals finished the job.
