# Poor Little HO...You're So Small!



## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

Here are shots of portions of my recently completed 122-foot mainline HO layout:

You will see HO, O, and G-scale trains.

Water Stop Hal


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## GN.2-6-8-0 (Jan 10, 2013)

Dear God is that sand!!


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

Absolutely! I needed sand to simulate the Mojave High Desert, where I live. 

There are roughly 150 pounds (3 sacks) of Play Sand on the layout.

It's good, I like it!

Water Stop Hal


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## JNXT 7707 (May 5, 2013)

GN.2-6-8-0 said:


> Dear God is that sand!!


And I'll throw this out there for your consideration, trains displayed in the window - in direct sunlight - are in danger of paint fade at best and warped/melted plastic at worst. Get those trains in the shade Hal!


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

HEY JNXT7707,

I'll do, it!...I'll put 'em in the shade. 

Mountaineers are Freemen!

Water Stop Hal, Wheeling, W. Va., 1936


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## JNXT 7707 (May 5, 2013)

Water Stop said:


> HEY JNXT7707,
> 
> I'll do, it!...I'll put 'em in the shade.
> 
> ...


You that right Hal 

And thanks I'll sleep better tonight


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

You need some N scale now.


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

_Why stop there? I'll go directly to Z and be crazy in the daylight!_

Congratulate me, boys...I've just been promoted to Conductor!

(No more Dues going to the Brakemen, Firemen, and Engineers Union!)

Now, who wants my old Lantern?

Water Stop


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

That's a beautiful G.N. Caboose you got there!


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

Thanks, Old Hobo!

I get my most beautiful examples of American rolling stock from Canada!

_Water Stop, Conductor, Calico Freight Lines_


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

HEY JNXT 7707,

I've decided NOT to remove my former O-Scale train from the 2 Eastern-facing windows of my 20' x 25' Game Room/Billiard Parlor.

My game room addition was built with long roof overhangs, so the rising sun is only on those windows during the early morning hours (when it is low on the horizon and before it has become extremely hot), then it rises over the building and the windows are no longer in direct sunlight anymore!

Also, there's a psychological reason for keeping the larger-scale train so close to the HO tracks:

It reminds the HO train that the O-Scale was the original Ruler of the Road, just in case it starts to feel superior!

Water Stop Hal


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## GN.2-6-8-0 (Jan 10, 2013)

Old_Hobo said:


> That's a beautiful G.N. Caboose you got there!



now here's a GN. Caboose for ya!!


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## SBRacing (Mar 11, 2015)

Heck Yeah! What you need like a 22" radius for that GN.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

What do they do in there?

Don


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

_
Not for me! It looks stupid!_

My layout uses the following radii: 

One 36" radius curve.

Two 43" radius curves.

Two 48" radius curves.

That should be OK for your HO stuff..... 

Water Stop


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Water Stop said:


> HEY JNXT 7707,
> I've decided NOT to remove my former O-Scale train from the 2 Eastern-facing windows of my 20' x 25' Game Room/Billiard Parlor.
> 
> My game room addition was built with long roof overhangs, so the rising sun is only on those windows during the early morning hours (when it is low on the horizon and before it has become extremely hot), then it rises over the building and the windows are no longer in direct sunlight anymore!
> Water Stop Hal


It is not the heat, but the light itself -- mostly the UV radiation -- that fades colors. However, when the sun is low, its rays go through more atmosphere (at a low angle) so more of the UV rays (and the light as well) are absorbed by the atmosphere. So your argument is still valid. (As an aside, that is why we can look at sunsets, but not directly at the sun at mid-day.)

Also, in your picture, it looked like the O-scale trains are mounted on the wall between the windows. They are perfectly safe there, since the harmful U-V rays do not go around corners or bounce off the far wall and back to opposite side where the train is.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

GN.2-6-8-0 said:


> now here's a GN. Caboose for ya!!


That looks like a part of a baggage car mated with a caboose -- probably made by the same people who take normal cars and turn them into limousines.

Maybe that was designed for long runs where rotating crews took turn sleeping in beds in the front part of the caboose -- just a wild guess.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Found this on the 'net about this caboose:



> GN X100 (later re-numbered to X-181) was built from an old 50ft boxcar and caboose.
> 
> It was a "one-of-a-kind" caboose. It was originally built in April 1953 by GN's Waite Park shops as X-100. It was renumbered to X-181 in 1966. It spent most of it's life near and around St. Cloud, MN and later GN's Hutchinson branch, pulled by an equally unique NW-5 locomotive.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

First time I've seen a stretch caboose!


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## JNXT 7707 (May 5, 2013)

Water Stop said:


> _
> Not for me! It looks stupid!_
> 
> My layout uses the following radii:
> ...


I can only dream about curves that wide Hal


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## GN.2-6-8-0 (Jan 10, 2013)

Cycleops said:


> First time I've seen a stretch caboose!



Well it is quite a conversation piece when running it during our shows😆


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

That Palace Car needs another truck amidships to support fat Conductors and Brakemen!

Water Stop (A nice slim 210 pounds on a 6' 2" chassis)


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

HEY MTRR75:

*What *O-Scale train on a shelf between the windows?

There is no such thing in that picture! 

THIS is the train to which you refer...an LGB Mogul! 

An O-Scale freight is running below it on my layout, *which is now HO!* (Ignore the HO Water Tower, which I'm NOW using!)

Water Stop Harold


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## Water Stop (Apr 18, 2015)

Whaddaya mean, JXT7077? 

You don't "dream"...you "create"!

Convert one of your unused Bedrooms into a train room...use a space in your Garage, or your Basement, or your Attic...don't let anyone else in your family tell you you "can't"!

But perhaps you're a college kid living in a small dorm with no room for anything but Z-scale. In that case, consider prototype-scale Tropical Fish. (After you've paid off your Student Loan 17 years from now...) 

Water Stop Hal


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