New to N Scale and Have a few General Questions Based on My Research

[Mito]

Don't worry about wrecking anything. Between Dr. Beeching and the British Railways board they did a pretty successful job! 

[Drewthegreat87]

Before you start buying track, check out places like Hattons in the UK.
In my experience its cheaper to buy track in bulk from them and have it delivered, than buying it in the US.

Regards,

John P

Yeah, I've already been using that site to order rolling stock and locos. Their prices aren't bad once you run them through a currency converter, not to mention not having to pay VAT on it as well, makes the prices a lot better! I imagine I'll probably still order plenty of stuff from them as I go along. Unfortunately this will not be something that will happen over night. I'm aiming to have it at least operational by the time my young son gets old enough to have some fun with it. Money and time will be my two biggest obstacles, but I figure as long as I have a plan and list of equipment and materials to buy, I'll be able to slowly piece it together to start when both said obstacles permit. Wife's 100% onboard and even wants to help (especially when I get to scenery etc), so I don't have to worry about that! 

I imagine that specialty items that are really only available in the UK I'll probably have imported, but otherwise, I can make things from Woodlands Scenics etc work bought from here in the US, not buildings, but landscape items and supplies/paints etc.

I want to thank you all again for the kind welcoming and useful tips! They're definitely helping me out in my planning and research! I think when I get ready to actually start putting track to table I'll definitely be asking more questions as time goes on!

[jpendle]

AFAIK you can't get paint delivered by mail so you have to buy it here.

DCC decoders are cheaper here than in the UK or Europe, for example you can pick up the Zimo MX622N for $28 in the US, it's nearer $35 in the UK.

I source local products here, point motors, decoders, scenery, paint, glue, etc, and get everthing else from Hattons, Osborns or the other big online UK retailers.

Regards,

John P

[daveg]

Don't forget you can download British style building kits from several UK websites. A really economical way of getting going and if you mess it up, you can print it as many times as you need/want.

Good luck, have fun and please keep us posted with developments.

Dave G

[Drewthegreat87]

AFAIK you can't get paint delivered by mail so you have to buy it here.

DCC decoders are cheaper here than in the UK or Europe, for example you can pick up the Zimo MX622N for $28 in the US, it's nearer $35 in the UK.

I source local products here, point motors, decoders, scenery, paint, glue, etc, and get everthing else from Hattons, Osborns or the other big online UK retailers.

Regards,

John P

That's going to be my plan. I know I can get what I want for most of the layout within the US, it's the trains and the specialty stuff that'll need to be imported.

Don't forget you can download British style building kits from several UK websites. A really economical way of getting going and if you mess it up, you can print it as many times as you need/want.

Good luck, have fun and please keep us posted with developments.

Dave G

You wouldn't happen to have links or names of those websites, would you? They sound like they'd be invaluable to me in the future! Thank you!

[daveg]

Re online, downloadable building kits.

Here's a couple that I'm aware of:

http://scalescenes.com/

http://www.modelrailwayscenery.com/n-gauge-building-kits/

Also take a look at Metcalfe kits. These are very good and available from Hattons and other online suppliers.

HTH.

Dave G

[jayncee]

Hi

Smart Models another source of downloadable prints

http://www.smartmodels.co.uk/

J

[JimF]

Hi Drew,

For anything on your list that is available in the US, you might want to compare prices with those from Blue Ridge Hobbies http://www.blueridgehobbies.com/

I have fond them to have the lowest prices for anything I have needed. Their website is a tad slow, and can be slow to reply to a inquiry, but they are dependable. I've no ties to them, other that having ordered a few times without any problems.

I would also recommend joining the N Gauge Society. The NGS Journal is a great source of info, and the shop carries as wealth of items, most at lower prices than elsewhere, and some that are difficult to source if not in the UK.

More mfrs of downloadable kits are:

http://www.3dk.ca/

http://shop.finescalebuildings.com/

http://kingswaymodels.com/

http://www.wordsworthmodelrailway.co.uk/

Any of the kits you find, if not offered direct in N, can simply be scaled down before being printed.

I started with a Digitrax Zephyr years ago, with no issues. It makes a great base to going to DCC, and you can expand on it, if you want to, at a later point, with more power, and/or handheld throttles, etc..

Good luck, and have fun, with your endeavors.

Jim

[Caz]

Hi Drew, welcome to the friendly forum, great to have you join us.  Another DCC user here and using the Digitrax Zephyr Extra, great bit of kit and easy to use plus a lot cheaper to buy all the add-ons that are needed to make full use of DCC as there are many makers of compatible Digitrax Loconet stuff.

The Zephyr Extra has ample power for N gauge, nearly all my locos are DCC with sound and I can easily run 10 at a time if needed plus quite a few more sitting around idling, modern locos take little power these days.

[Mito]

One thing that has not yet been mentioned is "fishplate finger". This will occur during track laying and is curable by the ingression of alcohol. Quantities depend on the severity of the affliction.

[Newportnobby]

Fishplate Finger is inevitable and not curable but as Mito has said, the pain level diminishes dependent on alcohol consumed
An abundance of patience is also required where insulated rail joiners are concerned.

[Drewthegreat87]

One thing that has not yet been mentioned is "fishplate finger". This will occur during track laying and is curable by the ingression of alcohol. Quantities depend on the severity of the affliction.

I have seen a few posts here and also other places that talk about the frustration that comes from keep track all together during fitting, especially when it comes to insulated fishplates.


There was a great article in Model Railroader magazine (US) about being able to link your DCC system into a computer and then to a wifi network and using a program available on smart phones and tablets, gain extra controllers for the layout. I have the equipment to do such a thing, just curious if anybody has tried that or knows of some attempts of that nature. I don't recall the name of the program, I'll have to drag that magazine out from where ever it ended up and see. I recall when I read it that I definitely wanted to set up such a system.

Hi Drew, welcome to the friendly forum, great to have you join us.  Another DCC user here and using the Digitrax Zephyr Extra, great bit of kit and easy to use plus a lot cheaper to buy all the add-ons that are needed to make full use of DCC as there are many makers of compatible Digitrax Loconet stuff.

The Zephyr Extra has ample power for N gauge, nearly all my locos are DCC with sound and I can easily run 10 at a time if needed plus quite a few more sitting around idling, modern locos take little power these days.

I'm glad to hear that the starter system will be more than enough for what I need! It's definitely look like that'll be the system I go with from the get go.

Thank you all for your continued input!

[JimF]

Hmm. If by 'fishplates', folks are talking about rail joiners, I guess I bypassed that aolment, having always used small pliers. I did imbibe said alcohol pain reliever for eye fatigue, however

Drew, regarding keeping track together, I would suggest soldering track sections as you go along. Relying only on rail joiners is iffy, especially if you are going with DCC.

As for the rest, can't help there. For me, DCC was just for the simpler wiring and ease of multi loco control, For all the rest, I want my layouts as much hands on as possible, but that's just me.

Jim

[Drewthegreat87]

Drew, regarding keeping track together, I would suggest soldering track sections as you go along. Relying only on rail joiners is iffy, especially if you are going with DCC.

Yeah, I was planning on soldering the final assembly, I was just talking about when I would be fitting the raw track pieces together to see if my track plan is valid. I think I'll probably be using the Peco printouts they have available of the points and get those in place and use flex track to fill in the gaps. What did you (or anyone else for that matter) do to maintain a proper curve radius in a bend? My experience with flex track in the past is that it was difficult to keep in a proper curve all the way from start to finish, with some sections with a more tight curve than others in the same bit of track. Are there templates or will good old fashioned math work just as well?

Thanks!

[Newportnobby]

If you use Peco code 55 there is an arrow under the sleepers showing which way to bend it.
Tracksetta forming tools are available in various radii and, when bending to the radius required, you could pin the track down temporarily using corkboard pins or, if preferred, track pins through the sleepers (the Tracksettas have slots to allow this). There is also a straight Tracksetta to avoid those wavy lines
I use Xuron track cutters to trim/cut the rails but make sure they are used the correct way round!