# N Scale A Work in Progress



## Popz55 (7 mo ago)

I’ve been working on this layout (40” X 60” table) for going on two years nothing is permanent yet.
Using Bachmann fastrack, Bachmann diesel locomotives, a Kato B locomotive (couplers don’t match well with Bachmann), mostly Bachmann rolling stock with a few Atlas mixed in.
All buildings have been hand painted except a few Atlas kits, most are laser cut wood kits, plastic kits and a card stock kit (the ice cream joint) just glue together. Have a mountain n knoll (pre-maid), only one road (black top) working out other through town and country, will be a river running from the coal mining bldg over to the gris mill (cider mill in corner) under the bridge. Going to work on creating a section of track up on piers going around the backside of the mountain. Keeps me busy at the cottage during inclement weather (rain, wind, snow and such) or if I just feel like being a kid 
Happy Railroading 🚂 toot toot 
A retired old train nut in my 3rd childhood


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

Awesome and inviting. I feel like I would enjoy running something on it. Nice detail.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Popz55 said:


> I’ve been working on this layout (40” X 60” table) for going on two years nothing is permanent yet.
> Using Bachmann fastrack, Bachmann diesel locomotives, a Kato B locomotive (couplers don’t match well with Bachmann), mostly Bachmann rolling stock with a few Atlas mixed in.
> All buildings have been hand painted except a few Atlas kits, most are laser cut wood kits, plastic kits and a card stock kit (the ice cream joint) just glue together. Have a mountain n knoll (pre-maid), only one road (black top) working out other through town and country, will be a river running from the coal mining bldg over to the gris mill (cider mill in corner) under the bridge. Going to work on creating a section of track up on piers going around the backside of the mountain. Keeps me busy at the cottage during inclement weather (rain, wind, snow and such) or if I just feel like being a kid
> Happy Railroading 🚂 toot toot
> A retired old train nut in my 3rd childhood


Popz55;

You have a nice little layout there. Is this your first attempt? The track near the front edge looks like its a bit too close to the edge. Trains may fall on the floor. You might consider adding a piece of plexiglass as a safety railing along that front edge. Bachmann calls their snap together roadbed track "EZ-Track" not "fastrack." There is a company called "Fast Track" but they make assembly jigs for people to make their own turnouts. No big deal, I know what you meant. The Bachmann EZ-Track "turnouts" (track switches) have a bad reputation for reliability and causing derailments. What has your experience been with them?

Keep Having Fun!

Traction Fan 🙂


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

Good morning Popz,
Great looking layout, is the frosty bar in your first pic on the layout pics? Is it up in the top left, I am having a where is Waldo moment?
Gary


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## Popz55 (7 mo ago)

BigGRacing said:


> Good morning Popz,
> Great looking layout, is the frosty bar in your first pic on the layout pics? Is it up in the top left, I am having a where is Waldo moment?
> Gary


Hi Gary n thanks 
Actually the frosty bar is for my grandsons O scale, must have hit by mistake. My ice cream joint is to the right of black top.


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## Popz55 (7 mo ago)

traction fan said:


> Popz55;
> 
> You have a nice little layout there. Is this your first attempt? The track near the front edge looks like its a bit too close to the edge. Trains may fall on the floor. You might consider adding a piece of plexiglass as a safety railing along that front edge. Bachmann calls their snap together roadbed track "EZ-Track" not "fastrack." There is a company called "Fast Track" but they make assembly jigs for people to make their own turnouts. No big deal, I know what you meant. The Bachmann EZ-Track "turnouts" (track switches) have a bad reputation for reliability and causing derailments. What has your experience been with them?
> 
> ...


Hi Traction fan n thanks 
Yes my 1st attempt with N scale (due to space at the cottage), years ago 1980’s I had a HO layout on two 4 X 8 tables running two freight n two passenger trains with background scenery I got from a hobby store (2 X 3 cards attached to back side of table), double tunnel (hand made of wood scrap) with a grass airport on top, city n country landscape including a farm, cars, trucks, planes, farm equipment, etc.
Had to disassemble in the 1990’s needed room for my growing family. Pulled off the shelves bout 4 years ago n set up temp on my dads ping pong table of which in amazement all my locomotive’s still ran pretty good just needed some cleaning n lube. I have since passed some of the HO to a granddaughter that was really excited the 1st time I showed her.
Oh and I probably will put something on the table edge. So far the turnout switches are working fine no derailment’s.
Added a few pics 
Happy Railroading 🚂


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## Popz55 (7 mo ago)

pmcgurin said:


> Awesome and inviting. I feel like I would enjoy running something on it. Nice detail.


Thanks Big G


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

traction fan said:


> Popz55;
> 
> You have a nice little layout there. Is this your first attempt? The track near the front edge looks like its a bit too close to the edge. Trains may fall on the floor. You might consider adding a piece of plexiglass as a safety railing along that front edge. Bachmann calls their snap together roadbed track "EZ-Track" not "fastrack." There is a company called "Fast Track" but they make assembly jigs for people to make their own turnouts. No big deal, I know what you meant. The Bachmann EZ-Track "turnouts" (track switches) have a bad reputation for reliability and causing derailments. What has your experience been with them?
> 
> ...


Hi traction fan, I've got ez track and my experience with the turnouts is that they do get iffy when the wheels on the rolling stock aren't at gauge width on the axles (they should be just under 9mm) The adjustable ones are usually the problem. If you can get the spacing right, the turnouts behave themselves much better.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Oomowmow said:


> Hi traction fan, I've got ez track and my experience with the turnouts is that they do get iffy when the wheels on the rolling stock aren't at gauge width on the axles (they should be just under 9mm) The adjustable ones are usually the problem. If you can get the spacing right, the turnouts behave themselves much better.



Oomowmow;

Thanks for the information. I use flex track, and make my own turnouts, so I have never used Bachmann EZ-Track, or their turnouts.
However, everything I have read online says the Bachmann turnouts do not work well, so I value a positive opinion of them. The problem reported most often seems to be that the points on a Bachmann turnout don't throw all the way over to touch the stock rails reliably, thus causing derailments. The electrically controlled Bachmanns have also have generated several reports of breaking down altogether, sometimes right out of the box. I'm glad to hear that someone's having better luck with them than many others say they have.

You are right about properly gauged wheels. That's one of the critical things on any model railroad. Do you have an NMRA gauge to check your wheels? Its also useful for checking track gauge, and many critical areas of a turnout.
Nearly all brands of commercial turnouts have flangeways that are too wide to meet the specs of the NMRA gauge. Like out-of-gauge wheels, these overwide flangeways can cause derailments on turnouts. Cars may end up with one of their trucks taking one route through the turnout and the other truck taking the opposite route. This is due to "picking the points" a very common cause of derailments on turnouts. If the points don't throw all the way, up tight against the stock rail, and/or the guardrail flangeways are too wide, picking the points becomes a lot more likely.

The attached files contain more information on turnouts. Much of the info in the "Improving Atlas Turnouts" file applies to other brands as well, including my scratchbuilt turnouts, (see photo) and your Bachmann turnouts. You might consider ordering an NMRA gauge, if you don't already have one. With it you will be able to check wheels, track, & turnouts. When all three are adjusted correctly, life on a model railroad becomes a lot more pleasant. You can buy an NMRA gauge for about $12 from www.modeltrainstuff.com or www.trainworld.com Both are good, reliable, online dealers.

Thanks again for your response;

Traction Fan 🙂


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

traction fan said:


> Oomowmow;
> 
> Thanks for the information. I use flex track, and make my own turnouts, so I have never used Bachmann EZ-Track, or their turnouts.
> However, everything I have read online says the Bachmann turnouts do not work well, so I value a positive opinion of them. The problem reported most often seems to be that the points on a Bachmann turnout don't throw all the way over to touch the stock rails reliably, thus causing derailments. The electrically controlled Bachmanns have also have generated several reports of breaking down altogether, sometimes right out of the box. I'm glad to hear that someone's having better luck with them than many others say they have.
> ...


Thanks for the info! A lot (Most) of what I've been doing was and is dictated by my very limited space, and the fact that I had to make a storable layout that can be moved. But I appreciate all the info, I feel now that I know even more about turnouts! Hopefully some day I'll make a larger layout and I'll get to incorporate much that I've learned.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Oomowmow said:


> Thanks for the info! A lot (Most) of what I've been doing was and is dictated by my very limited space, and the fact that I had to make a storable layout that can be moved. But I appreciate all the info, I feel now that I know even more about turnouts! Hopefully some day I'll make a larger layout and I'll get to incorporate much that I've learned.


Oomowmow;

You said your layout is small, and has to be storable, and easy to move. Where, and how, do you store it ?
Many layouts these days are built on extruded foam insulation board. 
A 1-1/2" - 2" thick piece of foam is strong and rigid enough to be self supporting, with no plywood under the foam. It can just be laid on a dining table or a pair of saw horses (the folding, easy to store plastic ones would be ideal.) Foam is a lot lighter than plywood. Your 40" x 60" layout would likely weigh about 5-10 lbs. I built a small 3' x 7' layout for my grandson, Hudson, using plywood and wood L-girder framework. I was unpleasantly surprised by how *&^^%$$#@# HEAVY this thing is! (last photo)
We store it in a shed until my grandson is able to visit. Its about all my wife & I can do to carry it across the back yard. She's 67 and I'm 74 & partially disabled, so that doesn't help. 😄
If I were to do it again, I'd use foam, rather than wood.

Another advantage is that foam can be carved to form below-track-level scenery features like rivers, road underpasses, gullies, etc. It is also easy to stack into higher features like hills & tunnels. The stacked pieces of foam can be glued together with a thin coat of latex caulk, or Elmer's glue.
Foam can be cut to rough shape with a small hand saw, or a sharp, serrated, kitchen knife. Then a tool called a Surefoam rasp (see photo) can round things off. Final smoothing can be done with sandpaper. All these operations create a lot of foam dust, so keep a shop vac handy. Foam can be painted with latex house paint, and dirt & grass glued on top. Some of the scenery on my own layout was made this way. (photos 2-9)

Traction Fan 🙂


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

traction fan said:


> Oomowmow;
> 
> You said your layout is small, and has to be storable, and easy to move. Where, and how, do you store it ?
> Many layouts these days are built on extruded foam insulation board.
> ...


First, let me say, that's one good looking layout! Very nice! 
I tried to keep mine as flat as possible, so it can be leaned against the wall behind my grandsons dresser. We don't really have any room in our shed and no garage or basement. So everything lifts off if I need to store it, leaving just the plywood board and track. All the rocks, hills, houses, trees etc. Can go in a bin. Our house is barely 1000sq ft., so space is very limited. Here's some of my recent pics, I'm still working on it. ( The railyard is also temp in the pics)


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

That's a beautiful storable layout. Great scenery. I have been planning a layout with foam stacked, and you told me how to stick them together. Thanks.

When I lived in Florida I had built a layout on a 36" interior door that I slid under the queen sized bed. I ran the wiring through the hollow door. It was heavier than foam, though, but it slid well.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

pmcgurin said:


> That's a beautiful storable layout. Great scenery. I have been planning a layout with foam stacked, and you told me how to stick them together. Thanks.
> 
> When I lived in Florida I had built a layout on a 36" interior door that I slid under the queen sized bed. I ran the wiring through the hollow door. It was heavier than foam, though, but it slid well.



Pmcgurin;

I agree with your comments about Oomowmow's storable layout. It is very nice indeed.
Under-the-bed layouts can be mounted on small casters, or some of those furniture mover sliding gadgets on Amazon if needed. If you end up using a foam base, you can add 1/4" luan plywood to the bottom where the wheels attach.

The information about using foam layers is actually in my response to Oomowmow's post.

I'm lucky enough to have an attached garage, where my modular layout is screwed to the walls so it doesn't need to be storable like Oomowmow's. However, being sectional, it can be disassembled and moved, pretty much intact, if I ever move again.

Traction Fan


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Oomowmow said:


> First, let me say, that's one good looking layout! Very nice!
> I tried to keep mine as flat as possible, so it can be leaned against the wall behind my grandsons dresser. We don't really have any room in our shed and no garage or basement. So everything lifts off if I need to store it, leaving just the plywood board and track. All the rocks, hills, houses, trees etc. Can go in a bin. Our house is barely 1000sq ft., so space is very limited. Here's some of my recent pics, I'm still working on it. ( The railyard is also temp in the pics)
> View attachment 585039
> 
> ...




Oomowmow;

Whatever works for you. 
It must be a bit of a pain removing everything when the layout needs to be stored, and then putting it all back in place when you run the railroad. Can you do what Pmcgurin did with his door layout, and slide it under a bed? That might let you keep more of your scenery & structures on the layout permanently.

There are bed "risers" commercially available (check "Bed, Bath, & Beyond," stores) that fit under the legs, or casters of a bed frame and elevate the bed about six inches higher than normal. That might give you enough clearance to keep your railroad intact when its stored.

Anyway, keep having fun;

Traction Fan 🙂


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

Right now, I've not had to store it much. I've got a corner of a room (it's like a long narrow bedroom sort of) and I've been able to leave it up. But it's not a given, I'll not have to store it at some point, so, I've proceeded as is. There's no bed here, that's not already at capacity underneath! I'm just doing my best to enjoy the process. Making it look as real as possible within my given parameters. I know it's not likely to look as good as a lot of the layouts on this forum, but I'm OK with that. It's great to be able to pick the hobby back up after having to give it up some 30 years ago!


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Oomowmow said:


> Right now, I've not had to store it much. I've got a corner of a room (it's like a long narrow bedroom sort of) and I've been able to leave it up. But it's not a given, I'll not have to store it at some point, so, I've proceeded as is. There's no bed here, that's not already at capacity underneath! I'm just doing my best to enjoy the process. Making it look as real as possible within my given parameters. I know it's not likely to look as good as a lot of the layouts on this forum, but I'm OK with that. It's great to be able to pick the hobby back up after having to give it up some 30 years ago!


 Oomowmow;

You are wise not to sweat the details, and just have fun with what you can. Many of the layouts on this forum don't look any better than yours, and some don't look as good. You said you thought my layout looked good. Thanks, but you should know that this is my seventh layout, and some of my earlier attempts didn't look as good as yours.
Except for a four year stint in the navy, I've been building some sort of model railroad since childhood, and I'm 74 now. Also, no matter what one's skill level, rest assured, there is someone who can do it better. There are people on this forum who have ability far beyond mine. 

Keep Having Fun;

Traction Fan 🙂


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

Thanks traction fan, yeah, if this hobby wasn't fun, I'd be spending the money on important stuff! It'd be cool to see your layout, if we weren't 3000 miles apart!


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